Too many cars, too little culture and someone on a motorbike tried to steal my phone (unsuccessfully, thankfully). So I spent only 24 hours in Saigon and got myself out of there on the first available bus.  I literally just went to the nearest bus office and asked for any ticket with a trip duration less than 4 hours.  The first picture below is me in Bên Tre at a farm stay in a village where I could finally take a deep breath and relax.  The next couple of days were spent exploring the beautiful countryside of Mekong Delta and trying new exotic fruits.  

One of my first impressions about Vietnamese people was that smiling happened very seldomly and the only people who did it without restraint were kids and old ladies.  I also began to realize that it greatly depended on a neighborhood you were in.  In some places people were happy and smiling, no garbage around and dogs were chill and in others: people had the most stern faces, garbage was in abundance everywhere you looked and dogs were always ready to attack, well at least the barking never stopped.

This is all a grand generalization but that’s my personal impression from my first week in Vietnam, which has altered as I traveled more in this beautiful country and got to know its people better.

I have to say that nature in Vietnam is just so wonderful it makes up for all the uncomfortable experiences. 

But people I've met on my journey had quite different opinions about this country.  Many were impressed by how warm and friendly Vietnamese people are.  I've heard some refer to Vietnam as "backpackers paradise" and it certainly could be seen that way, especially if you are traveling on a tight budget.