Hard to believe just 50 years ago that it had been a war-torn place

Image above: Wet early morning markets in Hue.

A journal extract from 2017 Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize student Hannah Brown about our early morning walk along the Perfume River in Hue on 9 October 2017.

The energy was infectious!

Something I will miss about Vietnam is the positive energy and buzz of the streets. Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the first things many of us noticed were the motorbikes. They raced down the street as an endless stream, whizzing past our bus, dodging obstacles, and sometimes carrying objects bigger than the bike itself. Any jet lag I had felt seemed to wash away on that first bus trip from the airport to the hotel, as I took in the excitement and energy of this new city. This was a common thread anywhere we visited- it was always a hive of activity. It seemed to me that Vietnam never slept! I assumed that our group would be the only people on the street during our 6 am walks- but I couldn’t have been more wrong. In the early hours of the morning people filled the local parks exercising. From aerobics classes to badminton, to weights or Tai Chi, it seemed as though every person was up and about. The energy was infectious! No one looked the slightest bit tired, and instead were smiling, laughing and enjoying themselves (although in the ‘laughter yoga’ group, I’m not sure how much of this was genuine). It became clear to me that the Vietnamese valued their health and well-being to a high degree. On other mornings, we walked through bustling market places where the locals could be found preparing their fresh food for the day ahead. I admired how hard they worked, even in the very early morning, through intense heat, or rainfall. And once again, everything was done with a smile.

Yet this liveliness wasn’t only found in the morning; it continued through the day and late into the evenings too, where light shone bright, music filled the streets and cyclos rode by. In other countries I have visited, the crowds have really bothered me- but not in Vietnam. The welcoming, cheerful and polite attitude of the locals towards foreigners like us made the experience very enjoyable. It was hard to believe just 50 years ago that it had been a war-torn place of violence and fear.