(this is probably going to read like a guy that breaks up with the love of his life and settles for another girl, only to constantly compare his new girl to his old girl…)

 

Thailand (April 2015):

Earlier this year I went to Thailand with 2 friends over the course of 11 days. I endured over $1000 of adversity which was a combination of several missed flights, breaking bar windows, and crashing mopeds, and even with all that, Thailand was still one of my favorite international experiences.

FOOD!!! Thai food has all of my favorite elements in majority of their dishes. Sweet, Spicy, Salty, and Sour. Their four primary ingredients tend to be include lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar, thai chilis.

Favorite dishes: Green Papaya Salad, Tom Yum/Kha soup, Pad Thai, Sticky Rice w/ Mango, plenty of garlic chili chicken dishes, Pineapple Fried Rices, fresh coconut water, watermelon smoothies. And all of these options were available in the street food.

Culture: 90% of Thai people are Buddhist. The same way hoods have tons of churches, most Thai cities have tons of Buddhist temples (Wat’s) but without the crime and degradation associated with it like in America. One of Buddhisms primary teachings is tolerance and it is quite evident in how Thai people interact with their fellowman regardless of nationality, religion, gender, creed, etc.

I also learned that the concept of Jedi’s (Star Wars) derived from Buddhism, and Buddhism derived from the Egyptian Priesthood which were essentially Jedi’s protecting Egyptian and Ethiopian Royal Lineage until they were conquered by that whole Mesopotamia stuff (remember learning that in High School? Never thought it would be one day relevant to my life), forcing those Egyptian Priesthood to flee East towards India/Southeast Asia and spread their teachings/gospel currently known as Buddhism.

Being a black-American, I’m hyper sensitive and conditioned to getting mysterious and worrisome looks when I travel areas that are dominated by white culture, so it was refreshing…rather unnoticeable that people didnt notice me or treat me like a nuisance, novelty, or a threat.

Also, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country not to be colonized by any Western power, so their culture has remained in tack since its inception. Which also means they weren’t ravaged by war.

Vietnam (November 2015):

I had fun in Vietnam (I can have fun anywhere), with that said, Vietnam felt mediocre compared to my experience with Thailand. I went with 8 people over the course of 10 days. Everything went fairy according to budgetly planned. With more people you always run into the possibility of group dynamic conflicts Cost of living compared to the US is obviously cheaper in Vietnam, I’d say most thing were half the cost of what it would be in the US, food, accommodation, shopping, etc.

To understand the difference in experience it’s important to understand the recent history of Vietnam. In the past 100 years Vietnam has been colonized by Japan and France, prior to that, they were colonized by China for over a millennium (1,000 years). Colonization tends to replace the existing culture for the culture of the incoming country. Culture displacement/replacement. (i.e. The colonization of Africa via the Berlin Conference…Gentrification of major American cities is microcosm of how colonization works)

Most people are already familiar with the Vietnam War with the US (that’s where Lorenz Tate, Chris Tucker, and Bokeem Woodbine were fighting in Dead Presidents) of the 1970’s because of Vietnam’s Communist relationship with the USSR (Russia). The war and chemicals used, devastated the infrastructure, health, and psyches of the Vietnamese. In the early 1990s they began to prioritize revitalizing its infrastructure and developing its economy, so they decided to open its borders up to the rest of the world, creating global interest.

It typically takes at least 100 years (I just made that # up, but it sounds believable, right?) to create a sound infrastructure for an entire country, so here we are 40 years removed from a devastating war and 20 years into building an infrastructure in a very rural (countryside) country with 2 hugely dense metropolitan cities in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi (each of those cities house between 8 million people each). Shit was still fucked up and the upcoming generation was diligently striving to overcome it.

Vietnam is also an impoverished/Third World country (A Third World country is a country whose views are not aligned with NATO and capitalism or the Soviet Union and communism. The use of the term Third World started during the Cold War and was used to identify which of three categories the countries of the world aligned with. The First World meant that you aligned withe NATO and capitalism, and the Second World meant you supported Communism and the Soviet Union.) Most of our clothes, shoes, and other products are manufactured in Vietnam (check the labels of your clothes and shoes) because of cheap, exploited labor. So it seems like most the people are merely trying to survive.

As a result of all that, it cultivated a pervasive attitude where everything is 1st come 1st serve, especially in the big cities where they majority of the money funnels through due to business systems and tourism. Imagine being at a car dealership with over eager car salesmen badgering you to buy their car, now imagine that with flea market/swap meet products. Also throw in hella homeless women with children with puppy dog eyes and their hands out.

OK, thats enough context.

Food: Ehhhh, wasn’t a fan of the food. No particular reason why beyond not being able to understand what was in it. I had mediocre Pho and whatever else. I did have this bomb ass native fish called Cha Ca that you cook at the table.

The higher end restaurants had decent food, but I truly believe the strength of a countries food is related to how good their street food is. And Vietnam’s was merely “aiight” to me. I would’ve preferred a McDonalds Filet o’ Fish 😀

Culture: As my context previously described, because of the 2 stints of colonization from Japan and France, the influence of Communism, and the American War, Vietnam’s identity wasn’t clearly in tact. There were few customs that stood out beyond people aggressively trying to get in where they fit in. I saw very few religious institutions and schools. Just hella people trying to figure it out. The younger generation was working towards assimilating into the worldly ways of the super power (First World) countries i.e. France, Japan, USA, the UK, etc. So they were more open to new ways versus the older generation wasn’t as open to the change.

Being black there was different than Thailand. As a large group of black people in an ethnically Asian dominant country with minimal exposure to us real ones, we got a few pictures taken of us and even got FaceTimed during a taxi ride so the driver could prove to his friends and family that he was with black people.

My favorite experience of Vietnam was our 2 day/1 night trip in Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. It’s a bay of hundreds of limestone formed islands with forestry covering it. It’s a huge tourist attraction where they have hundreds of junk boats (mini boat cruises with 12 to 24 cabins on board) going out every day touring the vast bay. We got to go kayaking through caves, swim, meal buffets, yoga, tai chi, and take a spring roll cooking class.

All in all, I’m quite certain if I went to Vietnam before Thailand, my perspective and experience would have been different.

 

Here’s some slap I recorded while wondering the streets of Vietnam:

 

*it aint trickin if you got it*