If you had told me that I was going to spend three days on the back of a motorbike when I came to Australia, I would have just laughed. However, that is exactly what I did over spring break. I had the opportunity to spend part of my break time in Vietnam, where I explored Hanoi and went on a tour through the Ha Giang loop.
The first day there, we explored the busy streets of Hanoi, where you have to watch your step. There are bikes lining the sidewalk, forcing you to walk on the street. However, there are also heaps of bikes there as well, with almost no road rules, so you really have to pay attention to where you are going. The streets have shops selling anything you can think of, from ceramics to clothes, to stoves; anything you need can be found at one of these little shops. After walking around for a bit, I grabbed a banh mi for lunch and made my way to Train Street, where I got to watch a train drive so close to the restaurants on either side of it that I could have reached out and touched it. By that time, it was time to get on our sleeper bus to drive us six hours to Ha Gaing, where we would start the loop in the morning.
The loop was 3 days and 2 nights, where we rode the bikes off and on, stopping for coffee and pictures often. I was a part of a small group that was all close by the end of the experience. We all shared meals together and went to pubs together at night. The first day was the most culture shock I have faced since going abroad. Seeing how different the way of life is there, with children only five years old helping with farm and household chores, or walking down the road alone. Something that you would not commonly see in the United States. It was also a shock at how kind and welcoming everyone in Vietnam was; they made me feel safe and comfortable around them, even if it was just someone taking my order for food. The second and third days were relatively the same, but the experience of sleeping in hostels and meeting strangers from all over the world is something that I will forever cherish. I learned so much from the stories they would share about their homes. I also learned a lot about myself, as riding on the back of a motorbike gives you lots of time to reflect. I believe that this experience and learning about Vietnamese culture really helped form my global mindset by witnessing a society so vastly different from the United States.
