Passage to Vietnam : Part 1

During my stay in Vietnam, a friend once asked me ‘Describe Vietnam in 1 word?’

‘Chaotic’, I replied.

Though chaotic would be a bit harsh to describe a country that houses one of the friendliest group of people I have seen so far (But given the word limit and that she asked me to describe the country and not the people, I came to the above word). And when I say friendly, I do not mean the standard smile followed by a ‘hi’ and a wave of the hand. The Vietnamese, there is something about the way they treat guests that is truly admirable.

There was an occasion when I was invited to a dinner with the vice-principal of a school with which my group was going to work with. For a vice principal, he lived in a house (the size of my bedroom) where his bedroom, living room, study room, dining room was all in one room. His roof was quite rundown and there was no kitchen to speak of. Even then, he went to the extent of preparing a mini steam boat and even killed one of his chickens, just to keep us filled.

And though with a tinge of guilt, it certainly felt good to be at the receiving end.

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