5 Misconceptions About Traveling In Southeast Asia

I’ve been living in Vietnam for the past 6 months. Before deciding to move here, I spent some time in Thailand and Cambodia. Over time, I discovered that a lot of the things people said about it or the things you see in the news were not accurate. Here are some examples:<br><br>**1. Poor infrastructure**<br><br>My first travel in Thailand involved driving through the countryside. I was expecting to see dirt roads and I had no idea what to expect. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was paved and in good conditions (better than in Portugal). Not only that, but the highways were pretty much very similar to European highways in terms of quality. The intercity bus system was also pretty well developed. We could easily find buses to travel between cities on a short notice.<br><br>**2. Asking for directions**<br><br>People that travel frequently and live in cities know that a lot of times when you ask people for directions, they have no idea. People seem to use their GPS a lot. I had no idea if this was going to be an issue in Asia, where English wasn’t spoken as much. But in my opinion, it really wasn’t an issue. A lot of times locals would help us out and even open Google maps to show us where to go. When we were in Thailand, we frequently stopped at gas stations to ask for directions and people were very helpful. In Vietnam someone even took us to our destination and refused to accept money for gas.<br><br>**3. Is it safe?**<br><br>I’ve been surprised with how safe this region is. I’ve heard horror stories from certain countries in South America and Central America. In Southeast Asia, we were able to walk around cities at night, leave our stuff around and nobody bothered us. I never saw any shady areas and we crossed paths with very few homeless people.<br><br>**4. Asking for directions in English**<br><br>If you travel to Europe and speak English, you won’t have any problems getting around. Most young people speak English fluently, especially in the north. I wasn’t sure what to expect in Southeast Asia. I imagined that I would have to learn the local language to get around. But people that work in tourist areas or with foreigners usually speak English fluently. Many times, locals would be interested in talking to us. They’d come over to talk to us and ask us where we’re from and what we do for a living. It was a great way to meet new people.<br><br>**5. Not speaking the local language**<br><br>This is kind of related to the previous point. Yes, people don’t speak English fluently everywhere. But a lot of times locals were willing to help us out even when they didn’t speak English. They’d try to describe in English what they were saying and frequently use hand gestures. When I moved to Vietnam I didn’t speak the language. People would write down what they wanted to tell me in Vietnamese and open Google Translate to communicate. People that already lived here told me that they’d had similar experiences in the past.