Sydney (VNA) – The Sydney Morning Herald on January 29 published an article by Brian Johnston, an Irish travel writer now based in Australia, describing Vietnam as one of the most popular travel destinations, with the number of Australian visitors to the S-shaped country surging sharply in recent years.
However, he wrote that there are still many things about this endearing nation that continue to puzzle and fascinate international travellers.
According to the article, one of the first things that most impressed Johnston was Vietnam’s street food, which he described as fabulous. What he found almost impossible to understand was how such fresh, flavoursome and extraordinarily diverse dishes could be produced from the smallest and most primitive kitchens, in sweltering heat, by such unassuming cooks. He also marvelled at how Vietnamese chefs manage to balance flavours and textures so magnificently, and even wondered how baguettes in Vietnam could be better than anywhere else outside France.
Johnston was also delighted by the way Vietnam’s famous street food is served on what he jokingly called “the world’s smallest tables”, where diners must hunch over on tiny plastic chairs, their knees almost up to their ears, as if playing restaurant in a kindergarten.
The Irish writer was also struck by the friendliness of the Vietnamese people.
However, what truly amazed him were Vietnam’s traffic skills. He described how countless motorbikes, growing numbers of cars, street vendors with carts and pedestrians all move together through narrow streets and intersections that sometimes lack traffic lights, yet the flow continues without chaos. To him, it was a brilliant showcase of zig-zagging, dodging and split-second decisions that somehow works.
He was also fascinated by what Vietnamese people can transport on motorbikes, from gas cylinders and livestock to bags of clothes and groceries enough to stock a corner store or feed a family. He could hardly believe how riders are able to balance both themselves and their cargo with circus-like skill.
Another mystery, Johnston wrote, is how Vietnamese identify one another, given that about 40% of the population share the surname Nguyen, while Tran and Le follow far behind at around 10% each. He joked about how difficult it would be to address people or make restaurant reservations if everyone were called by their family name, as in Australia./.
