A new destination – the Philippines, Myanmar or Vietnam?

Though a bit delayed, but at the end of October I finally received the postcard that I sent to myself to the future during my last trip in Malaysia. I imagined I’ll forget about the fact I sent a postcard to myself, even more the message. As if 30+ years were not enough to get to know how my brain works… obviously I was counting the days till it was delivered. Still, re-reading the lines I wrote to myself was pretty impactful.

Late summer I was already complaining about not traveling enough this year and how much I’d love to. My dear friends discreetly reminded me, that the first two month of the year I spent backpacking in Asia and ever since I kept on traveling within Europe, therefore my self-pity is really foolish. But I already knew, that the time will come soon to pack and leave again. The last push was one of the lines on my postcard: “[…]remember how much I love you for the life you live.” On the same day when I received the postcard, I bought my ticket to Bangkok.

Yes, to Bangkok, but Bangkok was never the final destination. The world is just too big to go back to the same places I already visited, even if I loved them. I admit, the thought of returning to Koh Phangan was appealing, but I can’t deny that the unknown is more attractive to me. So this is what I choose.

Alright, but where to go then? In the beginning, whenever I closed my eyes I saw myself in the Philippines. Slowly Myanmar appeared as a possibility. The final piece of this lovely trio became Vietnam. I was never really fond of beaches, but by the time I learned to appreciate them. The diversity, the many colors of blue and green and the jaw-dropping scenes that I only experienced in the mountains before. And the Philippines has a promise of many of these scenes. But is it enough for a month? And what about Myanmar? I was dreaming about the sunrise in Bagan, when the light breaks through the morning mist above the forests and the temples as I fly above in a hot balloon. A place where I’d inhale the buddhist culture and history and I even could attend to an authentic vipassana retreat. But do you remember why I chose not to go to Myanmar the last time? How much I was thinking about the ethical questions opened up by the present days of Burma? And do you know, that nothing actually changed since then?

If I listen to my belly, I definitely travel to Vietnam. The diverse scenes, the imagined scooter rides, the world’s largest recently discovered caves, the Mekong Delta and the long list of UNESCO World Heritage sites make up a good pro list. But in the meantime it is so mainstream and popular. Everybody goes to Vietnam nowadays and I don’t necessarily want to be part of this crowd. So then, what now?

This was an internal debate for more than two month already. I was not really in the rush. I bought by flight ticket to Asia, the rest will just follow. I considered what is the most important to me at this moment that can lead me to a decision. First I crossed out the Philippines. It was not obvious. Traveling there is a bit more expensive than to the other two countries, plus though there are huge constructions going on in the country that may destroy the once amazing sites (such as Boracay), but there are so many islands there, so the charming face of the country (at least some of it) will be still there after a couple of years as well. Once I realized that this decision was not painful at all, I knew the real dilemma is: Burma or Vietnam.

Here I made the little mistake of asking some advice from a couple of friends, so I ended up having a smaller Burma-fan and another Vietnam-fan group around me.

I have to admit, there is something unreasonable how much I’m attracted to Myanmar. I can’t really explain what it is. In the same time I don’t want to travel to a place where all the money I spend as a tourist directly supports the government. The same government that is not open to accept international observers and does about everything to cover the facts about the suspected ethnical cleansing happened in the country in 2017. Myanmar is a country with a Nobel Peace Prize winner politician in a leading position, who is getting closer and closer to have this prize withdrawn. The country, where the first democratically elected government is not really up for democracy and bonds with the military leadership. My presence there is just a fine number in the statistics that is supposed to show what a great tourist destination this country is.

One of my good friends asked me: Jucó, would you travel to Tibet? And I immediately knew that I confront my own reasoning, but my answer to this question in a clear yes. I realize that with this hypothetical travel I wouldn’t support the autonomy of Tibet but more the Chinese oppression. And I’d also travel to Iran, and to the US still maintaining Guantanamo, and I didn’t quit my plans about the Philippines because the current government in its fight against the drug cartels is hitting hard on civilians as well. So why am I so disturbed by the Myanmar crimes? I had a long discussion with a Burmese girl, and while the picture got more clear I’m still not convinced pro or contra.

What’s up with Vietnam? When I started to plan my previous trip in 2017, the first (and only) country I checked really thoroughly and made a list of sites I’d love to check was Vietnam. But I never made it there. Somehow the flame is up again. I visualized how I buy a scooter in the North or in the South and ride through the full country. But then I realized – don’t laugh – that a month won’t be enough for that, plus the timing is not ideal either. The rice terraces are not green yet in the North, the weather is rough if the North-Vietnamese mountains and seeing Halong Bay without mist is not guaranteed either.

None of my plans are perfect. But wait a second, wasn’t I done with “perfect” in 2018? Because it never will be perfect. Perfect is simply non-existent. But I don’t really need it either, I just have to step on the road and enjoy what comes next. I tried to get rid of all the expectations attached to my to final options. And also to forget about Myanmar being more expensive, Ninh Binh not having greed rice paddies, the entrance fees of Bagan flowing into the state budget, Vietnam being mainstream. I just listened to my heart. Where do I open the travel book, what do I read about when I get excited, what keeps me awake at night when I think about the possible adventures. The answer came pretty quickly: I travel to Vietnam.