The Overpacker

Dateline: Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) – Monday, July 19, 2010

Money can’t buy happiness.—A. Non.

The above is just about the silliest saying in the world. Really. It’s a cliché uttered by people who either (a) are already rich or (b) lack the ambition to become rich. To everyone else, the saying makes no sense. Read more…

Dateline: Saigon, Vietnam – Sunday, July 18, 2010

Street food is one of life’s true joys. Give me an exhaust choked, outdoor, sitting-on-plastic-stools-next-to-a-gutter joint over a health department A-rated Denny’s any day. It just tastes better.

The risks are overblown anyway. If you think the back kitchens of the places you eat at are any cleaner, you’re deluding yourself. Out of sight, out of mind may make you feel better, but it doesn’t make the place any cleaner. Read more…

Dateline: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – Saturday, July 17, 2010

“Far East” medicine evokes images of acupuncture, acupressure, heated rocks applied to the body, herbs, roots, and tiger penises. People come from around the world to learn alternative techniques. To explore non-scientifically derived ways of curing what ails you. Back home, people pay good money to have an “Oriental” mix them up a black, sticky concoction to cure a sour throat or remove warts.

Not me. Not today. In the midst of a bout of pink eye I wanted the most Western Far East medicine possible. I wanted sterilized halls, doctors in white coats, a whiff of ammonia, antiseptic wipes, and latex gloves. Most of all I wanted drugs. Lots of drugs. Drugs whose names I couldn’t pronounce. Drugs not derived from weasel testicles. Read more…

Dateline: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam – Friday, July 16, 2010

I’ve discovered many things on this trip including the fragmentation of Chinese culture, the fluidity of race, and why Americans dismiss the world’s game.

This trip has also reinforced certain notions including the one that your health is the most important thing in the world. Forget your job. Forget your lofty ideas of what it means to live a purposeful life. Forget your mother, your father, your wife. Forget your kids, even. If you don’t have your health you will struggle to see beyond your own feverish nose. The world will collapse into your barf bucket. Anyone who tells you otherwise has never really been sick. Read more…

Dateline: Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam – Thursday, July 15, 2010

I’ve been eating a lot of sit down Western food lately. This has had me feeling a bit fat. Asian food, particularly street food, tends to be light. Outside of the more oily Chinese, you’d be hard pressed to feel bloated after an Asian street meal. Read more…

Dateline: Hanoi, Vietnam – Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I’ve had The Conversation a million times over the last 30 odd years. It varies some, but the basics go like this:

Stranger: What’s your name?

Me: Mervyn.

Stranger: What?

Me: Mervyn.

Stranger: Marvin?

Me: No, MER-vyn.

Stranger: Merlin?

Me: No, Mer-VYN.

Stranger: Oooooohhhhh. Okay.

[Whereupon Stranger spends the rest of our time together referring to me as “Marvin.”] Read more…

Dateline: Hanoi, Vietnam – Tuesday, July 13, 2010

For your information, the 6:55 a.m. Sapa-Hanoi train actually arrives in Hanoi at 4 a.m. This is a problem. I’ve previously marveled that people in Vietnam get up early. They still do, but even here 4 a.m. counts as early. Read more…

Dateline: Tram Tom Pass, Sapa, Vietnam – Monday, July 12, 2010

I’ve already discussed my delight in motorbiking the roads around Sapa, so I’ll spare you a repeat of that discussion. With my previous sentiments in mind, it should be no surprise then that I opted to spend my last day in Sapa riding around the hills on a motorbike. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Before we get to the pictures, though, let’s talk briefly about watching the World Cup final overseas. Read more…

Dateline: Bac Ha Sunday Market, Vietnam – Sunday, July 11, 2010

Bac Ha is a small town (pop. 8,000) just 100 km from Sapa. It feels further, though. I visited for the famed Sunday market, frequented by the minority Flower Hmong people from the surrounding hills. This brand of Montagnard (a French word meaning “highlanders” or “mountain people” that is used to refer to all ethnic minorities) are characterized by their brightly colored clothing. They’re a lot more Chinese than one might suspect. Read more…

Dateline: Valley south of Sapa, Vietnam – Saturday, July 10, 2010

Kids are smarter than you think. They’re tougher and more adaptable than you assume. The secret’s out here in Southeast Asia, though. These parents know this hidden fact: kids know quite a bit of how to take care of themselves.

I’ve been in Asia for more than four months and a big takeaway is how much American parents baby their kids. Children in the U.S. live sheltered, cushy lives. Parents don’t let their children play in the front yard unsupervised. They won’t let them run barefoot in the park. Kids aren’t allowed to walk a few blocks alone to their neighbor’s house to play. Parents believe the world is dangerous and that kids can’t be trusted to take care of themselves.

Here, though, things are different. Here, you’re surrounded by evidence that children are capable. That they’re not helpless, death-seeking bundles of flesh. Read more…

Dateline: Sapa hotel room, Vietnam – Friday, July 9, 2010

I spent a good portion of yesterday falling ill. Today, I was ill in earnest. I woke up early but couldn’t be bothered to get up. I spent the day in bed drifting in and out of consciousness with the TV on. It wasn’t pretty.

Now, I know this is dated for Friday, but back in the States, my illness coincided with LeBron’s live Thursday night announcement of the “NBA Apocalypse.” Between that and a bunch of mediocre TV, I have a few observations. With that, allow me to resort to one of my favorite column gimmicks: The Bulleted List. No need for transitions or a coherent narrative or a connecting idea. Easy peasy.

What can I say. I’m sick. Read more…

Dateline: Sapa, Vietnam – Thursday, July 8, 2010

On Monday Bec, the Aussie girl on my trek, complimented one of the Black Hmong girls on her long, lovely hair. The girl replied that it was how girls in her culture were judged. If her hair was long, healthy, and clean, people determined that she would make a good wife because she’d take care of her household like she took care of her hair. If a girl’s hair was damaged and dirty, presumably she’d do the same to a home as a wife. Read more…

Dateline: Mountain roads to the north of Sapa, Vietnam – Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I came back to Vietnam in part to spend a few days touring the north of the country on a motorcycle. The idea of tooling around mountain roads, stopping to take in grand vistas, and meeting local people, all with the help of a local motorcycle guide, sounded like something I shouldn’t miss. Read more…

Dateline: Sapa, Vietnam – Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Our Black Hmong guide, Sihn, is 19. She speaks three languages: her native Hmong tongue (it rhymes!), Vietnamese, and English. She’s married. Her husband works the fields and tends livestock. He often goes into the mountains to collect wood to build a new home. Collecting all the necessary wood will take 5 years. Read more…

Dateline: Sapa, Vietnam – Monday, July 5, 2010

Americans exaggerate. That cake was “the best cake ever.” That was “the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen.” Obama is the “first Black president” (ummm. . .he’s half White). Hyperbole is part of American-speak. Unfortunately, all this crying wolf has made it hard to take Americans seriously, at least according to travelers that I’ve met on the road. Read more…