MỘT PHỤ NỮ ĐỘC THÂN DU HÀNH KHẮP VIỆT NAM 

BẰNG PHƯƠNG CÁCH ĐI QUÁ GIANG./-Mt68

Honest Journal

The trip didn't live up to her expectations. She brought out the corruption in the government, and the difficulties in getting around, including being on a bike that kept breaking down, riding in back of a smoker (which she hated), a traveling companion that she wouldn't have chosen if anyone else had wanted to go, but she couldn't find anyone. She purposely didn't stay in tourist hotels, wanting to see the 'real' Vietnam and so she had to deal with a lot of inconveniences. She got the flu twice and also scurvy. She didn't complain a lot, but just reported what happened, Some experiences were good, some bad, and she was positive about the villagers, she just reported their living conditions with honesty.

I got a very positive view of the people and she said that they treated women well due to their Buddhist beliefs. She was treated like a sister by the men and women alike. We can't be surprised that there is poverty and poor living conditions in Vietnam, especially among the minority peoples, such as the Hmong, of whom she reports prejudice from the Vietnamese people. All she wanted to do was be in a village which she kept having trouble getting to do. Because of government restrictions she was not allowed to stay with the villagers, a rule that she broke when she could, preferring to stay with them. They were extremely hospitable.

Also she tells of her sadness that all the animals are gone, eaten or used in traditional medicine or sold on the black market. And she never said she was fluent in Vietnamese, but she did learn some. She is also a good writer which made the book enjoyable.

Would I want to travel to Vietnam after reading this book? No, but I already knew about the living conditions there and didn't want to go anyway, but isn't that one major reason we read travel journals--to be an armchair traveler and let someone else have all the discomfort so that we can read about far-off places?

One small experience that stands out for me is when she went to have a meal and she said that as soon as the proprietor saw her he took out his wok and began preparing her favorite dish. She had gotten a disappointing letter and cried, then closed her eyes. When she opened them, a cake had been put in front of her and she saw the proprietor smile and go back to his work. She figured he had seen her tears

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reviews

I'm a terrible book reviewer, so here's the review from amazon.com:For seven months Karin Muller traversed Vietnam--sometimes by motorbike, often by foot--covering 6,400 miles from the Mekong Delta to the Chinese border. Along the way she survives 52 motorbike breakdowns, 14 arrests, and one awful bout with scurvy. She plants rice with farmers, saves a few leopard cubs from the black market, learns to drive a passenger train, and gets to know a lot of people on her Ho Chi Minh Trail trek. Told honestly and humorously, the culture, pace, land, scents, problems, and beauties of Vietnam are evoked as Muller and Vietnam interact. Snippets of letters home (like "I traded some of my antihistamines for Tampax yesterday. What a relief" and "Am I really blood type A? It's important") highlight the details, while the strong narrative holds them together. Her pictures are excellent, the story riveting, and the writing a pleasure--good reading for a flight to Asia or a day at the beach. --Stephanie Gold