Reviews for Hitchhiking Vietnam

The average rating for Hitchhiking Vietnam based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-02-14 00:00:00 Mike Grim So...she didn't actually hitchhike much. And she was not solo for most of her trip. Caveat: I would never, ever have picked this book up if not for Bookish's "42 days of..." being Vietnam. Karin Muller set out to fulfill a dream--to travel the Ho Chi Minh trail, find a small Vietnamese village, and live there for a few months. Why was this her dream? I'm still not totally clear on that--something to do with romanticizing her mother's African childhood. What does Africa have to do with Vietnam? I'm not quite sure. Something generally about finding a simpler way of living, family, and a general romanticization about poor minorities having beautiful lives (in this case, the Hmong). This wasn't a bad book per se. It was interesting--especially her descriptions of travel and transportation, and life in the cities. I also appreciated her descriptions of how the north and south Vietnam climates and topographies are very very different. Mostly, though, this just left a weird taste in my mouth (unrelated to balut). There is too much of “tiny, graceful women”, “beautiful women”, and “beautiful, innocent children”. It made me want to scream. These are people, not tourist attractions.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-06-27 00:00:00 David Votaw I read this book some time ago, and I enjoyed it VERY much. (So why only 3 stars? Read on...) It was a tale of just the kind of adventure I would love to have and still hope to have one day. The woman in question seemed to make a real connection to the people she met in Vietnam (especially her first guide, who she referred to by his name a number of times and seemed to become a real friend). But here is the funny thing...shortly after reading it a good friend from high school who is from Vietnam came for a visit. She saw this book on the shelf, picked it up, and started reading. She burst out laughing. The guide's name in the book, the name of her friend who she forged this close connection, was just the Vietnamese word for "guide". Somehow, that says something to me. Something a little sad. The author (and I)thought she had this meaningful connection with this guy, something that transcended their very different cultures, but she never really knew his name.