5 Senses Review: VIETNAM

Sight:

The sight we saw the most of has to be the view from inside a bus. As boring as that may sound. the things I saw while looking out the window are on the top of my list of sights for Vietnam. Tiny villages with children laughing & playing, gorgeous mountains meeting the edge of the South China Sea (as the bus narrowly curves to avoid the 100-foot drop-off nearby), countless skinny cows grazing, even more rice fields, the Vietnamese workers in their cone-shaped hats, motos packed full of people and supplies (I saw a couple motos that fit their whole family of 5 on board, and plenty of others that stacked their catch-of-the-day in cages whether it be pigs, chickens, or dogs). It was truly a drive-by view of Vietnam.

Sound:
The never ending sound of cars beeping their horns. Not the typical noise but rather a two-toned rhythm of beeping, used for every time a bus wishes to even pass a motorbike (which is every 30 sec at least). Additionally are the tunes the cars play while they back up... the music-box version of "happy birthday" or other classic tunes are belted out by cars everywhere.

Taste:

One word: Pho. The wonderful Vietnamese traditional meal is as simple as they come- just rice noodles, sprouts, a few veggies, and flavored broth. They can make it right there on the street for you in a matter of seconds for less than $1. From our first night to our last we loved the delicious noodles!

Touch:

At the end of each day I cannot wait to take a (typically cold) shower to clean off all the dirt from from the day (which some days is a lot more than others!). But as a birthday treat we actually wanted to get muddy-- we spent the better part of an afternoon at a natural mud spa! So much fun- the feeling of the gritty and watery mud that coated my skin was definitely refreshing, especially the feeling of my skin afterwards- the softest it will be in a very long time!!

Smell:
Nothing truly positive comes to mind. The most unique smell was the mixture of sweat and dirt that you could not avoid while climbing through the Cu Chi Tunnels (used by the Viet Cong). While hunched over trying to make it to the 30 meter exit point it was not a smell you could forget.