We are lucky to be here in Vietnam as older travelers. By custom, the Vietnamese honor people older than themselves, even those, such as our presenile selves, who are proceeding blissfully into the future. They are known also for overwhelming hospitality. We have experienced these expressions in spades and so have felt honored and welcomed beyond any expectation. We are amazed by it all.
Take Dr. Nho, the professor, mind you, who is a decade younger than I am. He and his family—wife, daughter, and son— have taken us out almost weekly to restaurants where the food is authentically Vietnamese and unmistakably excellent. Two of the restaurants were located deep in Chinatown, another in the “New City” across the river, and the others scattered about in our district. He finally relented and let us take him out: we had great pleasure of taking him and his family to dinner on evening of his birthday.
And he presents us with unexpected gifts. First, it was a half dozen mangoes, next two bottles of French wine, and after I admired the strong Vietnamese drip coffee, he arrived with a coffee press and half kilo of fine-grind coffee from the central highlands. About two weeks later, he brought a second blend for consideration; so, I’m sitting here with almost 1 kilo of coffee and the jitters! Also, at first, he insisted on having one of the neurosurgeons pick us up and bring us home from the hospital, at a huge imposition on their time. Our appeals to allow us to travel by taxi went unheard until, we think, the doctors threatened mutiny. So, he purchased a pile of taxi vouchers for us to use back and forth to the hospital. We take motorbike taxis only rarely.
Tags: Vietnam