On 2 Dec, my family returned from a 10-day trip in Vietnam (Hanoi, Catba, Sapa). A friend asked if I think Vietnam is a suitable place to bring our autistic boys. I shall try to answer this question here.
Traffic
The most challenging aspect was probably the traffic. In Hanoi, motorcycles and cars were always zipping and they would not hesitate to use the honk. The vehicles wouldn't stop for us at zebra crossings and they continued even when the green man flashed. The green man changed to red man really fast, when I was still in the middle of the road! Basically one has to be assertive to cross the road - and trust the motorcycles to maneuver around you. Instead of pedestrian pavement, we often had to walk by the side of a road, repeatedly reminding Calder to walk in a single file. I told him that he was Number 3, walking behind Daddy and Meimei. I helmed the back, watching out that he didn't step too much towards the middle of the road.
Pavement
Where there were pedestrian pavements, the sides were often made of slippery stone slanting downwards. Both Calder and I made the mistake of stepping onto this part of the pavement, and we slipped. Calder delivered his usual howl when he had a fright. But he righted himself in time. Unfortunately, I slipped all the way down and hit my back against a sharp curb. That part of my back became stiff and inhibited lifting of the right leg. But I was able to complete all the trekking and climbing that was the main activity in Sapa.
Food
Ethel enjoyed the food in Vietnam. She said they felt so healthy, with all the vegetables. It is true that the mains were not oily. And the rice noodles had a wonderful texture. Calder, however, didn't like the herbs that were commonly used in Vietnamese cuisine. I think they were mint and dill. Consequently he did a lot of spitting out of food. We learned to give him a plate or bowl to spit on, otherwise he would spit right back into the meal bowl and waste an adult portion of food. Fortunately there were many pizza places in Hanoi, which made Calder happy. Calder was also happy to eat eggs in all forms at breakfast, beside his staple of bread with butter and jam. It was good of me to pack Milo so there was something familiar to delight him. We found a dessert that looked like tau suan with pieces of chewy tapioca, that Calder could abide too. Though he ate some, he didn't seem to like rice noodles, especially with soup, but would eat sticky rice.
Utensils
In several tourist attractions, the utensils supplied at the table were just knife and fork. That was the case even when there's rice at the meal. I was wondering aloud why and a Caucasian tourist at our cruise told me they eat rice with a fork (the bunch of young European tourists like to drizzle soy sauce over their rice too). I supposed it's possible to eat rice with a fork in Vietnam because the rice sticks together. At local eateries, you would find just chopsticks. Calder is most comfortable eating with spoon and fork though. What I did was to keep the disposable fork and spoon from the airplane and pizza takeaways, for his convenient uses. I would suggest packing such utensils for the trip especially if your autistic child is not used to chopsticks.
Activities
Shopping along the streets was tricky because of traffic. The weekend night market also blasted very loud music. Other than these, Calder was fine trekking and cycling. He was unsure in kayaking, so afraid of tipping over that the Dad stowed his oar in case he dropped it into the water. But he was a natural in mountain climbing, his long legs often carrying him to the front of our hiking groups. Once in a while, he would turn back to look for us.
Temperature
The weather in Hanoi was pleasant around 26 degrees but Sapa was so cold (12 degrees?) that Calder would shiver in the shower. Good thing I packed heat tech innerwear from Uniqlo. It drizzled on our first night in Sapa. Thereafter the sun came out such that we didn't need our coats when we hiked. If it had rained, the steps would have been too slippery to climb comfortably at Fansipan or Ham Rong Mountain. Fansipan was a 600-step climb while Ham Rong was 300-step. The most challenging climb was Catba National Park for its steep rocks.
Language
Hotel staff and tour guides could speak English well. And local sellers used calculators to show the price or spoke into their handphone for translation into written English. Hence communication was not an issue. The noisy environment made Calder retreat into silence, however. He wouldn't tell us if he wanted more food or if he had enough. Instead he would touch the table or the plate to indicate he wouldn't mind eating more. And spit out if he had enough. Thinking this a regression in communication, I tried asking him to verbalize his preference. But it upset him and he showed his displeasure by hitting the table. The second time this happened, he swiped at the dishes too and made a din. Before he could hit other items, we quickly removed him to the hotel room to calm down.
Coach
It took us around 6 hours to travel by coach from Hanoi to Sapa. Fortunately Calder was happy in the coach and even dozed off twice. I saw him grinning in excitement as the coach travelled the long roads that looked like expressways. There were 2 rest stops for each journey and we could walk around the canteen and merchandise area for 15 to 20 minutes. Twice Calder strided right into the toilet without paying (15 cents or 3000 VND), so purposeful that no one stopped him. We paid up when we caught up with him.
Flight
For checking in and boarding, apparently it's possible to use the priority queue by showing Calder's disability card. However, we didn't make use of this privilege consistently because the general queues didn't take long. Now the gantry works by facial recognition so Calder just had to stand still at the allocate position for the door to open for him. Calder was fine taking the plane; I didn't have to give him snacks to chew during takeoff or landing. Vietnam airlines didn't have individual screens for us to watch shows so I was doing Bible study on my handphone. We returned home with Singapore airlines and they had individual screens for Calder to watch documentaries. The trick about airlines is you do not know when food would be served or would reach you, so it's good that I had jam bread with me to feed Calder. He didn't like the soft fish fillet served on Vietnam airlines but ate the rice and the given bun which I spread with butter and sugar. Singapore airlines gave him beef with mashed potatoes (alternative was spicy chicken) which he ate. But the meal came in a small square box and he didn't lean forward enough as he ate and so dropped the mashed potato all over his shirt and pants. Good thing I had wet wipes with me to clean him up. The juices, of course, he downed quickly. On the return flight, I was glad that he answered me vocally, when I asked if he wanted apple juice or orange juice.
Finally, if you ask me if I'd bring Calder to Vietnam again, I would say yes - provided he can trek and cycle and the temperature isn't too cold.
