The rudest place in Asia (the Asia we know)

Now before you jump on us for generalizing, we are generalizing because that is the best we can do in the situation. But Maria and I agree about the fact that the Vietnamese on average were the rudest of all the places we had been to. Of course we can't say much about the places we have not been to yet. And we are speaking of the general case, not the ones you get to know or have any interation with.

In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia we were spoiled because it did not matter who you flashed a smile at; man, woman or child, they smiled right back at you. On the other hand, in Vietnam we were greeted with a less than warm reaction. However, it seems that if you interact with the poorer people you get a much warmer reaction. We were also struck by all the propaganda and how pervasive it is especially as you get out of the city. The amount of propaganda is probably about the same, just that as you leave the city, the billboards get larger and louder.

When we got off the minibus that brought us from the airport to the Old Quarter in Hanoi, we were assaulted by a barrage of touts trying to get us to come to their guest house. We had already booked a guest house and told them that we were going to Venus GH at which point they said that they were from Venus. Others insisted their relatives ran Venus. (more to follow ...)