From The Land Of Smiles: Insights From A Trip To Vietnam

Catherine Sheehan
Staff Writer

Hey Flyers! Welcome back to From the Land of Similes.

I am now traveling outside the country so *full disclosure* this post wasn’t actually written from Thailand.

Let’s start where my travels began in Vietnam. Only a short flight (okay, since flying to Asia all flights seems short) away, Vietnam is another major country in Southeast Asia and, to me, it was majorly different. 

Vietnamese people pay attention to time!

While I have been loving the laid back Thai lifestyle, being able to expect places to be open in the morning made it easier to explore the country in the short time I was there. 

One of my favorite things to explore was the food. In Thailand, everything is fried (fried rice, stir fried noodles or veggies) with lots of added sugar. In Vietnam, food is full of fresh veggies; I loved Pho (vegetable and noodle soup) and Bahn Mi (a type of sandwich). 

The hardest thing about being in Vietnam was trying to pick up on the language!

While Thai is also an incredibly difficult tonal language, if you’re even a little off with your pronunciation in Vietnamese, the person you’re talking to will have no idea what you’re even trying to say. 

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Even with the communication barrier, I always ended up enjoying something delicious with someone friendly. It definitely served as a reminder that I was still in Southeast Asia!

Look out for my next post if you want to follow my travels around the region and until then, Jai Yen! 

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