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Vietnam’s Generation 8X – Born to be wild

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Vietnam’s twenty somethings are headed out on the highway and looking for adventure. 

Phuot and du lich bui, meaning “dusty travel”,  are the holidays of choice for the “8X” or eighties generation, reports Saigon Tiep thi, a business paper with a keen eye for trends.

Du lich bui means opting for backpacking tourism, self-designed and low-cost tourism with four ‘nos’: no tour, no guide, no bus and no hotel.

Meanwhile the phuot travellers are adventurers and explorers.They like traveling to mountainous areas, where normal Vietnamese tourists would not think of going. They want to discover new lands, culture and people.

Their motorbikes are a means of escape allowing them to breathe fresh air and admire beautiful landscapes on their way.

Westerners may see the trend as replicating what first happened in Europe and North America in the fifties and sixties.   Now, in Vietnam young people with money in their jeans and bikes of their own are becoing eastern easy riders.  They want to marry later and are bored with traditional youth group activities.

There are many phuot groups in Hanoi organised around a common love of travelling on motorbikes, reports Saigon Tiep thi.  Generally, a young man who calls himself TtvnSpace, an experienced member of the phuot community, said that phuot groups always prepare well before trips.  Born to be wild they may be – but they still carefully plan routes to follow and draw up itineraries.

Packing is not a simple business either: tools to mend punctures, dried alcohol for cooking, pots for preparing meals, coffee, fast food, medicine and dressings in case of injuries. Everyone is assigned duties.

“When we travel on motorbikes, we can do many things during our trips,” said Thanh Nga, a phuot enthusiast. “I can touch branches of trees and blades of grass, and breathe the fragrance of mountains and forests,” she said

“We can stop for a while on our way if we like, perhaps to brew a cup of coffee,” Nga continued. “We can admire beautiful landscapes at any time we want, take pictures or relax.”

Accidents are the thing phuot travelers fear most.  Because they typically travel to remote areas in the northwest, northeast or central region, and go over bumpy roads, they face big risks: motorbikes may break down, or travelers may be thrown from the bikes.

However, the phuot groups are ever optimistic and they never shrink from challenges. One traveler said: “Thanks to the trips, I have experience of traveling on long-distance roads, and dealing with troubles”.

Thu Hoai, another member of the phuot community, does not remember accidents. She remembers instead the moment when she was so excited as her group crossed a pass and saw far below, the smoke of cooking fires rising from a valley village, children and dogs, mountains and forests and terraced fields.

Romances are common too. A bond forged over thousands of kilometers.  All the Phuot community in Hanoi know of the love story of TtvnSpace and his bride.  The honeymoon Phout’s first couple was also spent on bikes, a trip to four provinces in the northwest, including a first ever circuit of remote Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai).

Le Trieu Duong, nicknamed Dugia, now in his fifties, was a pioneer among phuot travelers.

Duong is not an indifferent traveler. When he hears about the damages caused by typhoons and floods, Duong collects money, food and clothes from other people and takes them on his motorbike to areas where people need aid.

VietNamNet/Saigon Tiep thi

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