HaNoi - life on the road
Trip Start
Feb 17, 2007
1
2
53
Trip End
Sep 06, 2008
HaNoi,
Vietnam
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Warm greetings from Vietnam! No, I have not fallen off the edge of the earth. Merely adjusting to life as a tour leader in a 3rd world country. After a 56-day stretch of touring, I've got a week off to sleep and email.
I am enjoying tour leading and living on the road quite a bit. About 80% of my time is spent away from our bases in Saigon and HaNoi. I'm seldom in a city for more than a few days. After a few months, I've acclimated to the pace and demands fairly well. Much too adventurous to sit in an office.
One thing I've already learned is that there will be no end to the challenges. That holds true even if you exclude personalities and changes in the destinations. But it all depends on your perspective. Sometimes I get frustrated but in the end it's just more learning opportunities. Right?
I love the cuisine here. The food is delicious, healthy, fresh, abundant and affordable. This is, however, a developing country. On one tour I got food poisoning. I was the only one even though I had breakfast and lunch with my passengers at the same restaurants. The timing was such that I vomited three times on the banks of the Perfume River right in front of my passengers. If you can't find it on the maps it's probably because the river has since been renamed.
My best story so far is the classic bus breaking down in the mountain pass. After a few minutes, some curious little faces started appearing across the street. It was a preschool. Initially the children were a little frightened by all these big, new foreigners. So I took my phrasebook over to the teacher. Pretty soon the children were singing songs. Then we returned the favor. We sang all the songs we knew: Happy Birthday, A-B-C... and I'm A Little Teapot. One of my passengers was a 6 foot 2 inch, 220 pound colonel in the Australian army. He grabbed me and started dancing the Hokey Pokey in front of them. By then, many villagers had come to the school to watch it all. An elderly lady walked up and gave me a large knife. Then she came back with some sugar cane and showed me how to cut it for everybody to eat. Enough break - the children had to start back to class. So they showed us their classroom and what they were working on. And then, of all things, the bus got fixed. Probably the most rewarding part of tour leading is the cultural exchange. And it's a treat for my soul to say the least.
Vietnam is the land of irony. I love it! For example, the French base during its colonialization here was converted into The Revolutionary Museum. It took me leaving the most technologically advanced, industrialized country to get my first cell phone.
Since arriving, my biggest education has been outside Vietnam. Try taking an eight hour flight south. My company is based in Sydney. Over two thirds of the passengers and tour leaders here are Australian. Mates are still helping this seppo wrap his head around cricket. But it's been a pleasant surprise. One thing I've learned is that my relaxed friends from down under will be relatively easier to service. At one dinner, an Aussie was asked by a Brit where she was from. Originally. After a pause, the Aussie laughed and replied, "we're not all criminals."
Going overseas to a new employer can be a bit dodgy. So before coming over, I did as much due diligence as I could. They received positive reviews from a travel website and travel agent. When I arrived, the other tour leaders were really welcoming. Since then, I've found out the company was recently named one of the top 50 employers in Vietnam. On tour I keep encountering guides from other companies giving me their cards to pass on to my manager. So I feel good I've found a good home.
How can I lead tours without a foreign language or specialty? Those are usual requirements back in the states. Here, western tour leaders accompany tours from start to finish. Our primary responsibility is logistics. At each stop along the way, we're joined by local guides who are native to the area. They provide detailed narrative into the culture, history, art, etc. They also have more reliable contacts and means of navigating the culture. There's no way I could ever offer the same. So the combination of western leaders and local guides makes perfect sense. The passengers receive a better tour and the locals gain employment.
One of the benefits my company provides is free housing in Saigon and HaNoi. Each accomodates about six tour leaders while they're in town. Included is a partially stocked kitchen with FREE MILK. How long do you think until they ask to revise my contract? Also included is a living room with TV, DVD and lockers, laundry, housekeeper and watchman at night for security.
The best part about this job - no phone calls at night. Some friends of mine who led tours told me they'd continually get solicitations to send girls and boys up to their passengers. Not yet for me. My company supports programs that provide training to disadvantaged and disabled people. It can take many forms, for example, the restaurants we patronize. The idea here is to make a positive impact in the countries we visit. In a nutshell, that's our responsible travel policy. It's very nice for this little trooper after seeing how mass tourism can exploit people and cultures.
I wish everybody chuc se khoe, chuc vui ve and chuc mi muong - my best Vietnamese for healthy, happy and lucky. Be careful who you show that to lest you get slapped.
Next, Phnom Penh.
Eric
