Travel Series: Vietnam
Nothing is ever static here. From wheeled bhan mi stands to zooming motorcycles; everything’s in constant motion.
With every glance, one’s senses are overwhelmed by bustling vibrancy. Fuchsia rambutan is haggled for in the back of a vendor’s bicycle. Shrimp-topped rice pancakes are flipped next to a pot of bubbling pho. A Suzuki narrowly misses me while I cross the road before I notice the dangling cages of cackling hens on either of its side.
The cities have an ever-present buzz, and not just due to the swarms of motorcycles in every street and alleyway. Early morning hours are embellished with sounds of old men playing Cờ tướng (a type of chess game) while they sip on steaming green tea, while the evening is echoed with loud conversation over the sizzling of pork skewers.
Even outside the city, there’s an ever-present human vitality. In the most remote of streams, the burble of water is interlaced with the whistling of a fisherman who steers the calm waters. The rice paddies that envelop the hillsides are speckled with the motion of farmers trickling between the fields. Vietnam; a rich/vibrant natural landscape only made richer/ by its people.
