Cube Traveler

I was recently fortunate to visit the beautiful country of Vietnam. The food was great and the people were friendly and gracious, but I was most impressed with the tour guides on the motorcycles, The Easy Riders. They made my trip that much more memorable and special. My trip began in the airport of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). From there, we flew to Hoian, a central coast city. Then I took the long excruciating 16 hour bus ride to Nha Trang. As my friend and I went into a local tailor shop to have some dresses made, I came across a very charismatic gentleman in his early 40’s. He introduced himself as a rep of The Easyriders and proceeded to tell me about his tourguided journeys on their motorcycles. It sounded exciting, but I was feeling a little wiry and skeptical. By the end of the his talk, I still wasn’t fully convinced about the tour. So my friend and i decided to think it over and get back to him by the next morning. Then we asked for a seafood restaurant recommendation. They agreed to drive and join us for dinner. Most of the restaurants in the tourist district are overpriced (though in our western standard, it would be regarded as a bargain). They took us to an outdoor restaurant, more like tables and chairs set up outdoors with a large BBQ grill, near the seafood market district. My friend and I were the only foreigners there. After spending couple of hours with them, I was convinced it would be an opportunity of a life time. We sealed the deal to begin our journey the next morning for three days.

The next morning, two motorcycles arrived to my hotel, so began our journey to Loc Lake, enroute to Dalat, a highland city in the interior part of vietnam. We hopped on the back of the motorbikes and headed along the coast. Along the way we stopped at various points. We stopped at a fishing village. The people were poor yet very much proud and humble who greeted us with smiles and invited us to their homes. The homes were simply built like shacks with dirt floor. No modern conveniences were present. Two men were working away assembling a giant wicker basket using long bamboo strips under the blazing hot sun. The older women were cleaning and preparing the fish to be dried. A 2 year old boy gave us the biggest smile with dirt smudges on his face. I began to reflect the fortunate, blessed life I led in the USA and how I took it for granted all these years. I never thanked my parents for their sacrifices to make sure I was in synch with my fellow peers to vacation in Cancun for springbreak, the Guess designer logo was present on my ass, a car was provided for my 16th birthday, etc….etc… But today, I came to a revelation that none of that really matters. We are trapped in a society where consumerism and superficiality are highly valued; lacking that genuinality and sincerity so much needed today more than ever. Though many Vietnamese people don’t have a lot to offered in material possessions, they have given me more unforgettable impressionable moments in my two weeks than anyone has ever given me in a life time.