British tourist recounts 'surreal' journey of discovery in Vietnam in 1994

Simon O'Reilley, a British tourist, traveled to Vietnam in 1994. While traveling by motorbike in Da Nang, his motorbike suddenly ran out of gas. He was lucky to have villagers buy him gas, bring him food, drinks... even though they were extremely poor.

Vietnam in 1994 was quite an adventurous place to explore but the people were generous, honest and full of pride. Simon O'Reilley, a British tourist, recounted his brief youthful experience in Vietnam in the Hong Kong newspaper SCMP :

In early 1994, a friend and I flew to Vietnam. As the plane taxied into the terminal, we passed old planes, including many military planes from the war, lining both sides of the runway...

Ho Chi Minh City is bustling with cheerful drivers. We stayed in a hotel in a 6-storey building overlooking a busy street. On the ground floor there are places selling Vietnamese filter coffee and canned beer.

A water stall with friendly Vietnamese people at a location near Nha Trang in 1994

PHOTO: Simon O'Reilley

There were a few stalls selling Zippo lighters, a very popular gift at this time in Ho Chi Minh City. Other stalls sold jewelry made from bullet casings and many other strange things I had never seen before.

We exchanged some US dollars for dong. At that time, 100 US dollars was worth one million dong. The largest denomination of the bill was 5,000 dong, and we both had a thick stack of bills in our pockets.

Our original plan was to travel along the coastal roads by bus and train, to see if we could get to Hanoi . The trains were crowded but comfortable and less frantic than the trains in India at that time.

My most vivid memory of the train ride? Early in the morning, people started grilling dried squid for breakfast on small round charcoal grills in the space between the benches. The aroma was unusually strong.

The pictures were taken in a rural area near Da Nang in 1994.

PHOTO: Simon O'Reilley

On another leg of the journey, we took a bus that was older than us, and packed with people and all their belongings, some of which made the sounds of chickens and ducks...

The bus broke down after an hour or two, and we all got off and stood around while the driver and conductor pounded on the old undercarriage.

While Hong Kong, Japan and most places in the region were crazy about karaoke and nightclubs, Vietnam’s main outlet for stress at the time seemed to be dancing. It all seemed quite formal and we saw these dances, usually in a house with a roof but no walls, in most towns.

We stumbled upon a hammock place and decided to sleep outdoors under the stars among the coconut trees on a deserted beach. After renting a motorbike in Da Nang, we headed out into the deep blue.

Then, as it got dark, we searched for coconut trees spaced out by the dim light of our headlamps. We staggered across the shallow and deep sand until we finally found the spot, hung up our hammocks, and fell asleep.

Simon O'Reilley stands by a bus preparing to leave for Hanoi in 1994.

After a rather uncomfortable night in a hammock, we decided to go find some coffee. We had no idea where we were, but we were confident that we could find our way back to Da Nang. But when we reached a small village along the road, we ran out of gas.

The first people to come and "investigate" us were the children of the village. We had conversations where both sides spoke their own language but the message still got through.

Simon O'Reilley on a cyclo in 1994

Then the adults arrived. Two minutes later they brought us a large bottle of gasoline, some water, and a snack. We wanted to pay, but they politely but firmly refused.

It was an unforgettable experience for us, very typical of the Vietnamese people we met. Despite their poverty and decades of struggle and hardship, they are generous and honest, and truly proud of themselves.

We were always offered food and drinks, and often couldn't pay.

We planned to go to Hanoi by motorbike and unfortunately never made it. Sunny weather in the south gave way to torrential rain as we headed north. We returned to Da Nang after a few days stuck in the rain in Hue...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khach-anh-ke-hanh-trinh-kham-pha-viet-nam-sieu-thuc-vao-nam-1994-185250409152909449.htm