Embracing the chaos of Vietnam

by Sarah Wanden

With just my tent, I had just circumnavigated Australia for three months and was looking forward to finding somewhere to stay with a proper roof for a while.

Without any particular plan I logged onto Trusted Housesitters and began looking for an interesting house sit within the southern hemisphere.

Vietnam was coming up trumps so that’s where I focused my efforts.

I make contact with Aiden and Susana in Lam Dong Province, Da Lat, Vietnam - yup I've no idea where that is either. I see pictures of Toby the dog, seems small and cute, and we start chatting on WhatsApp. Aiden seems fun and sends me heaps of info. I do a little research and discover a good flight price, from Melbourne (where I am) to Bali then Ho Chi Minh City and on to Da Lat.

Getting there takes patience

Very soon I am on the first flight and realise I've left my air-pods at the money exchange desk inside the airport. Dammit… I begin to think I’ll not see them again! I LOVE my air-pods... podcasts and Ted Talks keep me sane on flights!

I'm told I can leave the plane and go and find them if I'm fast. Christ, here goes, I run off the plane and back into the terminal. I'm aware I may look quite dodgy charging through the middle of the airport like a mad woman, but I'm on a mission. Arriving at the money change desk I explain my predicament and before I reach the end of the sentence the lady passes me my airpods. I smile and dash back to see the whole plane is seated and ready to leave. Gosh I've now become THAT passenger, the one holding everyone up. Meekly I return to my seat.

I make it to Bali intact of mind and arrive in the familiar and fragrant Denpasar airport. Having been here before it brought back some good memories. But I’m here just long enough to navigate immigration, leave arrivals and head quickly back into departures for my flight to Vietnam.

It’s about 38 degrees and I'm running late. I check in, dump my backpack and proceed through security. I grab a takeaway vegan bowl and arrive just in time to board my flight. Wow… who booked this schedule... oh yes it was me!

The flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) goes smoothly but by this stage I've no idea what the local time is and choose not to worry. Arriving in Ho Chi Minh is an experience of its own. Huge crowds of people all travelling with so much luggage, boxes wrapped in string, strange looking packages containing who knows what.

Just enough time to get the visa sorted

I know I've got three hours until my flight to Da Lat, but I still can’t relax – it’s time to sort out my visa. I had managed to get a pre-visa letter online before travelling, meaning I've been “prechecked”. So in essence it should be a breeze, but experience tells me not to count my chickens.

I arrive at the visa area where it’s heaving with only three people serving. In many countries I’ve found people don't queue politely like we do in the UK, and here it's kind of slightly less polite carnage.

I join a messy queue and wait.

Shortly I reach the front and approach an official, showing him my letter. He in turn sends me to a corner on the left and says “photo”. With no idea what I've to do, I ask those around me, and it appears I need a passport sized photo.

No problem! I have an old one in my purse, knowing I’d need it one day. I rejoin the back of the ever growing queue. I reach the front again and triumphantly show my photo. This time it’s taken and attached to my form. Next I’m asked for my pre-approval letter which I show him on my phone.

Not good enough. He points me to a computer, instructs me to log in to gmail and print it. Huff! I do as requested although it takes several attempts… I mean who knows their gmail password? Now I'm getting nervous, it's 7.10pm and my flight it at 7.45, I've still not collected my luggage, checked in or been through immigration. So I grow a pair and go straight to the front of the queue, strangely no one bats an eyelid, I can imagine it being quite an issue at home.

Finally I’m asked to take a seat on the other side of the room. By now I’m resigned to missing my flight and spending the night on the airport floor. I watch as everyone on my side of the room is called up in turn, and after a payment they get their passport and visa. I listen intently and fifteen minutes later I hear my name. $30 dollars later and I’ve got my visa and once again find myself running through the airport. Fortunately my flight was delayed by 40 minutes so I can breathe again on arriving at the gate!

We take off from Ho Chih Minh City but after just ten minutes we start our descent. It was actually a 20 min flight, the shortest I’ve ever taken. Had I known I would have taken a train!!

Happy times with Toby

When I arrived in Da Lat, Luc the taxi driver was waiting. His English wasn't great but we made small talk for the hour journey to Lam Dong. Arriving at 10.30pm, I said hello to Aiden who was struggling to stay awake, met Toby, who seemed delightful, and hit the hay.

I’ve stayed in non-touristy places in different countries before. This however is a fairly new kind of experience. Firstly, I’ve got sole responsibility of a dog, that’s a first. Lucky as I am, Toby the Bichon Frisée is as calm as you like, never begs, sleeps all night and is generally more easy-going than most humans.

Secondly, I am super remote, literally haven’t seen any other westerners apart from the owners since I arrived.

Aiden took me to the bigger town before he and Susana left for their holidays. Da Lat is about 11km away - there is a supermarket there and a large night market so I picked up a few things and he helped me to sort a local SIM, super cheap and quite easy.

It’s now a week later and I’m getting low on food so I venture out to the nearest village. There’s no supermarket as such, just a series of small wooden, corrugated buildings selling locally grown produce, baby milk, crisps, snacks and pop. There are very few other groceries.

Mainly it’s all veggies which I enjoy, including some I’ve never seen before but there are carrots, broccoli, cabbage, and lots of leaves. I can’t find mushrooms or lemons, and apples are super expensive. You can however get a big bagful of seasonal stuff for about £2!

If I want more choice I have to venture into Da Lat but I’m not overly bothered. It’s nice living so simply.

The house I’m staying in is huge with five bedrooms. It’s tiled everywhere, has very big doors and tall cowlings - again simple not palatial. No curtains, no hot water apart from one small electric shower in a bathroom in the kitchen (?)

In the kitchen there’s no oven but there is a two burner gas job (large gas bottle underneath), sink with a cold tap and a kettle, microwave and fridge freezer.

I’m living quite comfortably with these basic amenities and it makes me realise just how much extra “stuff” we have in the west. One thing I would swap is the mattress... it’s as hard as rock! I’ve come across this before in Asia, I wonder what they would think of our softer versions! My body is slowly getting used to it.

Toby and I walk around the small village a couple of times a day and sometimes go further afield to visit temples or to town to the large supermarket. To my relief he’s fine in a taxi too. I appear to be the only western person in the area and get stared at often. I guess I’m that strange tall woman with the white dog, but you quickly become used to this and ignore it.

Toby is a four year old a small white dog and Da Lat is dry hot and dusty, which means every now and then he takes on the brown orange hue of the local dust, so I bath him. The first time I did this he ran outside and rolled in more dust. Damn my inexperience! But then I got wise and shut all the doors! I brushed him and groomed him and loved him and we had a nice time exploring and walking his little legs off.

With all the time I had and a good internet connection I attempt to teach myself yoga, with mixed and humorous results, and also manage to watch the whole series of Breaking Bad (yes I'm ashamed that I became a total couch spud for a while!)

Christmas came and passed unnoticed by myself and Toby (just how I like it, not a big fan) and soon it was time to move on, next stop Thailand for some sun and sea!

Sarah Wanden is a traveller who uses house sitting and Workaway to circumnavigate the world. She’s been on the road since 2018, and her travels have taken her from the UK to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, America, South East Asia.

She's currently escaped the British winter by driving her campervan down to Spain taking house sits along the way. You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

instagram.com/sarabop/