The Indian Contractor visits Vietnam and China on a Shoestring

If you've made it this far, its either because my travelogue was realllly good or you have lots of free time on your hands! I do hope its the former case.

This trip was my fourth and most expensive backpacking trip. My earlier trips to various parts in India, Thailand and Cambodia were far cheaper especially because I did not indulge in so much shopping.

Lesson 1): When going overseas, please plan a proper budget and prepare for eventualities. I took ATMs for granted and withdrew money regulary thus accumulating a handsome service charge!

For Vietnam, bring in US$ and change them to Dongs at banks etc. VND is a soft currency and very few people would change Dongs to any other currency outside Vietnam. Even if they do you'd defenitly get a ridiculous rate of exchange. Get rid of your dongs when leaving the country. Changing Dongs to any other currency in Vietnam requires a confirmed overseas travel ticket and a passport. Vietnamese accept US$ payments but they will bluntly refuse taking any dirty dollar bills. So keep your money clean.
I changed my residual VND (1,000,000)in Singapore and lost out a good SG$50. (~30usd)

The same applies for China. However the US dollar is only accepted at tourist locations. I dont know the exchange rates they offer as I did all my transactions in RMB.

China has a counterfeit problem so don't be surprised if all your notes above RMB20 are thouroughly scrutinised by vendors etc. My friend showed me a counterfeit 20 yuan note (that he got conned with) and only after seeing it really up close could I spot the fake.

And have a buffer amount in hiding just in case you too get into the Guangzhou disaster like me. My debit card saved my ass then.

Lesson 2: Dont get stuck with the guidebook. The lonely planet guide might be a bible for travelers but even christians use the bible on weekends only. So dont walk around the street and make a mask of your guide book. Let your face be seen and see the faces of the locals too. We only used our guide books before leaving the hotel to check for modes of transport and for maps. Other than that we were walking around and seeing people and places. The best time to read your guide book is before packing your bags at home and when taking long flights/ train rides.

Lesson 3: Don't mistrust everyone. This was a lesson learnt at Danang. We were told a hotel had closed down and our refusal to believe the taxi driver costs us more money. But then again its not easy to see the honest cabby from the dishonest one. So dont kick up a huge fuss if you get conned. Just take it as a lesson and carry on enjoying the holiday.
The Vietnamese people are some of the most hardworking people I have ever seen and most of them are honest and trying to make ends meet by doing their job. Cut them some slack and bargain if you have to. There's no rush, just say out your preffered price and walk away if they cant give you that price. Most shopkeepers would ask you to come back and give you the price you asked for. But then again, be reasonable, Don't try to get ten T shirts for a dollar!!

Lesson 3: Photography: Being an amatuer photographer it puzzles me to see people who click ten times at the same subject. Especially if that subject is some little kid minding his own business. I am film user and I take two pictures of a willing subject and thank the person. I wonder just why do people with digital cameras have to take 10 pictures of the subject to finally be satisfied with what they have. Read my Bac Ha section and you'll see what I mean.

Guys and girls, the people you shoot with the camera are human beings too. Imagine if you were photographically "assaulted" by a chinese or vietnamese tourist who chased you around or offered you money to have your picture taken. Now put yourself in the kids shoes.

It is always polite to ask permission before taking pics.
Paying them for thir pictures only keeps them away from school so please think twice about doing that. You should not fund illiteracy!
And just because you are on a guided tour does not give you the right to shoot what you please. Some people in Vietnam believe that the camera takes a part of the soul away(especially the tribals) hence they will not like to have their picture taken. But there are also those who just love the camera (like the girls I shot and the construction workers). Hence please ask before taking pictures. All the pictures you see here were taken with full consent of the subjects. Nobody's emotions were hurt in the making of this travelogue(to the best of my knowledge).

Lesson 4: Transport. If you're planning to make trips by train, book your tickets well in advance. This is more a problem in China than in Vietnam. It is possible to get comfortable berths in Vietnam a day or two prior to departure but its a nightmare in China. The problem in China is that there is an active blackmarket for train tickets so once the reservation opens(4 to 20 days before departure), the blackmarketeers buy out most of the tickets. So the lady you saw with the little kid outside shanghai station asking people something will sell you a ticket for a handsome price. Unlike the indian railways that underwent reforms and implemented a superb ticketing system, the chinese railways focussed on the improvement of the railway infrastructure and little has been done to alleviate the ticketing ordeal! Alternatively you can be like me and settle for whatever seats are left behind in the train. In most cases you'd get a hard seater. There are no known budget airlines in China so internal flights may be a bit pricey. But fast trains are very efficient so use them to your comfort. Vietnam's budget airline, Pacific Airlines, offers very cheap flights within Vietnam and neighbouring Thailand. The prices can be compared to train fares so its viable to use the local flights.

Lesson 5: Food: If your vegetarian, like me, just remember the three magic words in Vietnam and China.

For vietnam the mantra goes, Pho Khong Tit and/ or toi an chay (doi un chay). The former means noodles without meat and the latter means "I am vegetarian".

In China say, Wo Buyao Ruo (I dont want meat).

However, in both these countries sea food is still considered vegetarian. So do find out how to exclude fish. I cant tell you everything can i? I was fortunate enough to get food that was free from seafood.

For the non vegetarians, the boundaries are non existent. However restaurants in China serve everything except a submarine from under the water and anything except an aircraft in the sky! So dont be surprised if you get a chopped up python for dinner. And the list of exotic food is endless. There's a street in beijing known for this. Cant remember the name though.

Lesson 6: Language: Although english is getting more common in Vietnam and China (more in the former), it is still considerably difficult to understand their accent. Vietnamese use the roman alphabet for their native language too hence they might mix up some of the pronounciations. So please listen carefully and speak slowly!

More importantly, dont pick faults with their english phoenetics. I am sure they can have a ball making fun of your Vietnamese pronunciations! The bac Ha chapter once again speaks of this problem. English is learnt as a second language and almost never used in day to day proceedings. Most vietnamese will write down the prices on a piece of paper and show you. You can bargain by writing your price next to theirs!

English is unheard of in many parts of China so do get a map that has english and chinese names on it so you can ask for directions. Chinese people can read the "english" version of chinese called the hanyu pinyin whereby every chinese word has an official english spelling. But I dont know how effective it is so do pick up a word or two in chinese. I was travelling with chinese people from Singapore so I did not require any guidebook. PLease get one if you speak only one language. Shopkeepers in tourist places will speak a word of two of english but their vocabulary can probably be counted on your hands and feet.

These lessons are probably mentioned in any guidebook too but since you've come this far I might as well include it inside.