We heard a lot of negative things about Vietnam, before, during and after our trip there. Mainly people had an issue with how the Vietnamese prey on tourists.  There's the relentless hassling of touts in every touristic area, then there's the tourist price vs. the local price.  Those two things, added to the fact that Vietnam can easily be a package travel type country seems to have turned a bunch of people off.

I'll admit there are times you get quite sick of saying 'no thank you' or as my cousin Pat's favorite 'Thanks, but I already have one of those', but we didn't let it get to us to the level of having it be the first thing we say about Vietnam.  Often times I took it as an opportunity to have a conversation.  You'd be amazed how quickly the 'touter' can be come the 'touted' if you just respond with a simple question.  How's business this year?  Where's this place? Where is this stuff made?  All different ways to get the focus off of you buying something.

Same thing with the prices.  We accept the fact that tourists will pay more, but like anywhere, if you come into a buying situation with some information about what you're buying, you'll come out alright in Vietnam.  Sure there are always exceptions, like that $15 chopstick set we bought, then saw a local buy for $2 (may or may not have happened), but you grit your teeth, say 'you've won this battle, but the war's not over' and move on.

The level of orgnization around tourism in Vietnam can get overwhelming and slightly annoying for the typical do-it-yourselfer.  It seemed often times you can't get any information about a place without the first thing being 'but we have a tour for that, please look, here.'  But again, diligence can be rewarded here in spades. 

Halong Bay is a good example.  Halong Bay is northeast of Hanoi, in northern Vietnam, absolutely beautiful backdrop of limestone karst mountains jutting out of the ocean.  A 'must-see' for any Vietnam trip.  Most people see Halong Bay through a 2 or 3 day tour with companies out of Hanoi, which includes one night on pretty tacky replica junk boat and often a second night on the largest inhabited island in the area Cat Ba.  But with just a little more effort we heard stories of at least 3 groups finding a ride out to Halong Bay (town) then getting ferried directly over to Cat Ba island - on some pretty local forms of transport - and spending all of their time on the Cat Ba, perhaps not even seeing the "true" Halong Bay, but undoubtedly getting a good view of the surrounding landscape and enjoying everything that Cat Ba had to offer - including day trips into the waters from there, a national park, good cycling and hiking etc.

We actually opted for a tour which included a night on the boat, kayaking for a day and a night on Cat Ba.     The highlights for me were 1) kayaking, 2) the place we stayed on Cat Ba and the sunset that evening 3) the people we met on the boat.  We met Adrian and Barbara, a Dutch couple, there, then again later in the trip and had a really nice time with them.  It never would have happened if we had done the do-it-yourselfer thing... So there you go as is the case always, there's good and not so good in every situation you're in.  It's up to you to make the decision, then make the best of the situation, because in the end everything will turn out alright.

We really enjoyed Vietnam and I can bet that our great experience was in large part due to the fact that we did take our time and 'did the place justice'.  Lovely.

Welcome to the plastic chair society. We've been traveling through Vietnam for about three weeks now and taking in the culture of yet another Asian society. At first glance you see similarities, the ability to fit whole families on motor bikes, the fashionable face masks and the dedication to farming. However, one thing that Vietnam has perfected is its ability to set up a restaurant on any street corner. All you need is a creative heating vessel and a stack of red and blue plastic chairs. You see locals with the whole set up on the back of their bike and then two minutes later they have twenty people sitting at their make shift restaurant eating delicious creations. Don't go looking for a menu though, often times there's only one thing being served and it's usually dependent on the time of day. It makes the ordering process pretty easy, "how many would you like?"
For me Vietnam has always been the name of a war my father fought in and didn't talk much about. I came here expecting to be overwhelmed with signs of the War and to see massive destruction. Instead I found that people have moved on with their lives and the next generation knows a new world. They'll still talk about the "American" war and the pain that it caused their uncles and brothers but as a whole people are much more focused on themselves and their family's future, then holding a grudge towards Americans or any of the other historical occupiers of their lands. Most are now very supportive of the reunification of their country. We've visited some areas that were severely destroyed during the war and tunnels that were someone's only hope at safety but there has been a lot of rebuilding and growth that hides these battle wounds.
My new vision of Vietnam is kids riding double in uniforms on their way to school, communities of farmers all working together on the next phase of cultivation and street corners with blue and red plastic stools waiting for the next "I'll take two."