16th and 17th of October, 2024.
Hitchhiking in Vietnam: Ha Giang and Books Cafe
Lan leaves in Ha Giang with his wife Trang and his kids. He has a wood furniture shop, but he’s also building a homestay now. His English is great and we chat all the way. He has met many foreigners in Ha Gian because Trang, his wife, has a coffee shop which attracts quite a few tourists due to it’s lovely atmosphere. At some point, Lan tells me I can stay overnight in this coffee shop, as it is connected to his house. I am super happy and of course I accept!
When we arrive to Ha Giang, he first shows me the site where his homestay is under construction. It is in an amazing location! And it’s almost done. I think it will be a lovely place to stay and to have some coffee, as the plan is to move the coffee shop here.
Trang is a very energetic and lovely woman. We start chatting right away and she already invites me for dinner. I meet also her son and her daughter, who is a great artist, as I see one of her drawings.
Time + Books Coffee Shop is adorable! It’s full of books and some wonderful wooden furniture. And a gorgeous wooden statue of the Four Spirits. There’s a beautiful mirror with the saying “Mirror, mirror on the wall / Who’s the fairest of them all?”. Love it! And some beautiful photographs of Vietnamese people and culture. It’s a lovely place to chill and enjoy some quiet and peaceful time.
After a delightful dinner prepared by Trang, I start making my signs for hitchhiking tomorrow. Some young people come by, two girls and a boy, and we start talking about life and happiness. I advise them, but mostly the boy, to go traveling and see the world in order to figure out what is that he loves to do, what makes him happy. He is unhappy working in a bank right now.
Before going to sleep, I arrange my tent around the coffee shop so it can dry overnight. The couch is very comfortable and I have a good night of sleep.
In the morning the kids go to school, we have a nice breakfast and I try Trang’s lovely coffee. She has so many friends and they keep coming over. She tells me that they are actually like family to her.
I wish them all the very best, and start walking towards outside Ha Giang still early morning.
I think I could’ve liked Ha Giang if I had spent some time here.
In only a few minutes, I get very lucky and a lovely man going to Hanoi picks me up. Yay! I was already expecting that but still, it’s nice to have your thoughts coming true.
I didn’t get his name but he is very nice. He can’t speak English though, so we don’t chat much, apart from some questions here and there. He seems like someone very tidy and organized, also polite and quiet. We stop for coffee in a small but nice place. Here, I see the only Vietnamese guy who I actually thought it was attractive. And he is actually very charming and handsome. But young. And for whatever reasons, he kept on looking at me. Laugh.
Just outside Hanoi, we have some Banh Mi and fresh fruit juice. Yummy! Crossing a bridge which allows me to see the capital of Vietnam approaching, I hear my voice in my head telling me that I cannot believe I’m back here.
This really nice man drives me as close as possible to the highway which leads South, to the city which I hope to arrive tonight: Vinh. But he must go into the centre and it’s super complicated to drive around here, plus with the traffic jam, so I understand why he didn’t drive me all the way there. Plus, he also tries to pay for a grab to take me there, but I kindly refuse.
So I walk.
I know that somebody in a motorbike will take me closer to that highway, or there, so I keep going.
First, a very young man stops for me. He says he wants to take me all the way to the highway, but he must go to work. I tell him I totally understand, and whatever distance he takes me, it’s already fine. Second, an Indian man, Sushil, and we have a nice chat on the few km we ride together. Third and last, another very nice man who takes me all the way to the highway.
Once in there, I walk a little bit and then find an actually really good spot for hitchhiking. I first pass by some police officers, who are checking something on the cars passing. I think, for a moment, that they might stop me, but they don’t.
In a few minutes, Oai, going all the way to Vinh, stops for me. He seems really happy to help me, which is nice. He is going back home after a work meeting in Hanoi. We chat for some time but I guess that we are both tired so sometimes I just enjoy the views.
We stop in a small town, about one hour before Vinh, for dinner. I wasn’t expecting such a nice meal, it’s really lovely. Oai actually orders a few different dishes, and they are all delicious! But he eats so fast that I can barely keep up. After he finishes, it still takes me sometime until I can finally finish.
We arrive in Vinh quite late already, and I make a difficult decision about which road / highway I should take to keep going South, down to Da Nang tomorrow. In the end it would all suck!
After a few fail attemps to find a place to spend the night for free (that happens a lot in Vietnam, it’s an up and down of very nice, lovely and welcoming people, to the ones who are scared shit of me or don’t give a shit about me), including a half acceptance in a hospital, which turned out failed, and I had to leave after I was already lying in a hospital bed and trying to sleep; I finally encounter a nice family who allows me to spend the night in their garage. They even lent me a sleeping chair, so I don’t need to put up my tent. They are nice and kind, but deep down I think they were still a bit afraid of me. What to do, I must be a bit scary I guess.
Ah! And I forgot to say that, this family’s grandmother, and actually this street itself is full of Banh Mi food stands. But not the sandwich Banh Mi, only the bread itself.
In the morning, the father of the family gives me a bag with two steaming hot baguettes, which smell just like heaven. There’s also a small plastic container, which I can’t tell what it is at first, but I am just hoping it’s not ketchup.
It’s not. It is condensed milk! Yep! Believe it or not, it’s a small portion of condensed milk, like these take-away packages of ketchup which you get on McDonald’s, for example. I don’t want the bread to get cold, so I sit somewhere and start eating. Oh, It’s so yummy! While I am eating, a mango fell from the tree which I am under. It smashes on the floor and I am happy it didn’t fall on my head. And then I ate it.
10 Years Around the World 