In Xach Ba Lo Len va Di (Take a Backpack and Go), Nguyen Thi Khanh Huyendescribes her "unbelievable" two-year trip through Asia and Africa on abudget of 700 USD.
Her story was so "unbelievable"that Vietnamese audiences didn't believe it. "Applying for visas alonecosts that much. You couldn't survive on 700 USD. She's definitelylying," one commenter wrote on Facebook.
But theHanoi native, who goes by the nickname Huyen Chip, insists she istelling the truth. At a recent book introduction, she showed dubiousreaders her passport and went into painstaking detail about her journey.
"I want to make clear that 700 USD was my initialbudget when I started the trip in 2010," Huyen said. "I planned 25,000USD for the trip and asked a company to sponsor me, but I eventuallyrefused the funding because of the sponsor's requirements. So I had towork many different jobs."
She recounted writing forwebsites such as walyou.com, which paid 10 USD or 15 USD per story,working as an MC at a casino in Tanzania for 150 USD a week and doingacting gigs in Bollywood for 500 rupees. At times, she survived on only 5USD a day.
In response to the visa question, shesaid it was "so easy" to obtain a visa in countries like Nepal, Zimbabweand Tanzania. However, her application was refused in Pakistan andAfrica and she could not get permission to cross into Sudan from Egypt,so she ended up in Ethiopia.
"I went to 30 countrieswith diplomatic passports, but that does not compare to her trip toAfrica. I have to take my hat off to her courage," Professor Nguyen LanDung wrote in the introduction.
Nguyen Hoang Anh, alecturer at the Hanoi Foreign Trade University, checked the truth ofHuyen's story along with Dung by verifying the stamps on her passport.
"I've travelled to 40 countries in the world and Ibelieve that Huyen is telling the truth. We checked her passport and sawseals from Thailand, India, Nepal, Bolivia, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe andTanzania," Anh said. "Plus, a good travel story is meant to inspirereaders more than anything. In the end, nobody knows if the story ofRobinson Crusoe is true."
But a student at the HanoiForeign Trade University pointed out that the Robinson Crusoe story is anovel, while Huyen's trip is allegedly a diary.
Questioned by a representative of an online forum, vozforums.com, on howshe was able to get a visa to Israel, Huyen replied that she could notexplain how she did, but stood by her story. "Africa taught me the skillof acceptance. If you cannot prove that I lied, you should believe me,"she said.-VNA
Her story was so "unbelievable"that Vietnamese audiences didn't believe it. "Applying for visas alonecosts that much. You couldn't survive on 700 USD. She's definitelylying," one commenter wrote on Facebook.
But theHanoi native, who goes by the nickname Huyen Chip, insists she istelling the truth. At a recent book introduction, she showed dubiousreaders her passport and went into painstaking detail about her journey.
"I want to make clear that 700 USD was my initialbudget when I started the trip in 2010," Huyen said. "I planned 25,000USD for the trip and asked a company to sponsor me, but I eventuallyrefused the funding because of the sponsor's requirements. So I had towork many different jobs."
She recounted writing forwebsites such as walyou.com, which paid 10 USD or 15 USD per story,working as an MC at a casino in Tanzania for 150 USD a week and doingacting gigs in Bollywood for 500 rupees. At times, she survived on only 5USD a day.
In response to the visa question, shesaid it was "so easy" to obtain a visa in countries like Nepal, Zimbabweand Tanzania. However, her application was refused in Pakistan andAfrica and she could not get permission to cross into Sudan from Egypt,so she ended up in Ethiopia.
"I went to 30 countrieswith diplomatic passports, but that does not compare to her trip toAfrica. I have to take my hat off to her courage," Professor Nguyen LanDung wrote in the introduction.
Nguyen Hoang Anh, alecturer at the Hanoi Foreign Trade University, checked the truth ofHuyen's story along with Dung by verifying the stamps on her passport.
"I've travelled to 40 countries in the world and Ibelieve that Huyen is telling the truth. We checked her passport and sawseals from Thailand, India, Nepal, Bolivia, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe andTanzania," Anh said. "Plus, a good travel story is meant to inspirereaders more than anything. In the end, nobody knows if the story ofRobinson Crusoe is true."
But a student at the HanoiForeign Trade University pointed out that the Robinson Crusoe story is anovel, while Huyen's trip is allegedly a diary.
Questioned by a representative of an online forum, vozforums.com, on howshe was able to get a visa to Israel, Huyen replied that she could notexplain how she did, but stood by her story. "Africa taught me the skillof acceptance. If you cannot prove that I lied, you should believe me,"she said.-VNA
