VIETNAM – Travels stories tend to be long and complicated. Ask me what I love about travelling in Vietnam, and I could probably go on for hours, expounding on the merits of the food, the hospitality of the people, and the beauty of the scenic waters and countryside. However, the small moments that you usually forget along the way are also what makes travel great. During the weeks I spent in Vietnam, many moments stood out to me as times I did not want to forget. Here are a few short vignettes from my time in Vietnam.

I sit down to eat supper in a local tourist restaurant. I order a bowl of Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup), which is delivered promptly. I am halfway finished eating, when the waiter comes over and says, “This is how you eat pho.” He grabs the chopsticks and spoon eat out my hands, and pantomimes how to eat. He shoves the utensils back into my hands and walks off. I do not finish my soup.

I board a shuttle bus that runs from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. We drive a major road out of the city, and I gaze out the window, watching the shops and people as we cruise by. I notice a lonely-looking restaurant, with one man sitting at a table out front. I look again and realize that it’s a table store.

I sit on my lounger at Tan Thanh beach, sipping a local Hanoi beer and eating spring rolls. A flicker of movement catches my eye. A five-foot long snake slithers across the chair next to me, and then under my chair. The snake emerges from under my chair and takes off down the beach and into a copse of trees.

Our small wooden cruise ship docks for the evening on the waters of Ha Long Bay. We fish for squid, and play games on the bow of the ship. One of the passengers cuts her toe on a stray nail sticking out from the deck. We ask the tour guide for a first aid kit. He comes back with a what appears to be a torn strip of dirty dishrag. He then disappears and we do not see him until the next day.

I book a bus from Hue to Hoi An through my hostel. The ticket includes a transfer from the hostel to the bus departure point. I wait for the pickup downstairs in the hostel, my only luggage a large backpacking backpack. My transfer finally arrives, a slight man on a small motorbike. I doubtfully strap my pack to my back and hop on the back of the bike. This is only my second time on a motorbike. We pull out onto the busy main road.

I walk through downtown Hue, in search of an ATM that will accept my debit card. It is nearly fifty degrees celsius, and within minutes I sweat through my clothing and look like I have just emerged from a dive into the river. I go to five different banks before I find a machine that will accept my card. I walk in triumph down a main road. An elderly Vietnamese man stops me to ask if I’m okay, concerned at how much sweat is pouring down my face.

I search for lunch in Ancient Town Hoi An, and settle on a Banh Mi stand with a sizeable line. I get my sandwich and cross the street to stand and eat in the shade of a small tree. It is another nearly fifty degree day. I finish eating and cross the street again, headed for a stand with fresh juices. The owner of the stand notices how much sweat is dripping down my face. She hands me a box of tissues and says, “For your tears.” We laugh.