You don’t have to take any drugs to “space out” in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese culture is so different than anything you are used to in the West that you are guaranteed to go into a trance when you first arrive here. And it will last longer than a few days!
So many of your “out-of-awareness” assumptions upon which you base your reality will be stretched, broken and sometimes thrown back into your face. How much you suffer is really depends upon your necessity to “control” your reality.
The more you bend and flow; the more you will laugh at yourself and life. The more you expect here to be the same as “home”; the more you will suffer — frequently falling into a “low-level depression” state. The more you make people laugh; the better time you will experience.
The more you expect “predictable” outcomes; the more you will be disappointed! The more you expect things to go awry; the more you will “go with the flow.” (It’s taken me 10 days to find DVDs that will “verify” as a valid “burn” — more details in a future post.)
Of course, the rigidity of your upbringing, your family authority style and your culture will play a part in your experience. Some Germans have a hard time here; some love it and don’t want to return to Germany except to visit once a year.
Expect to be “knocked on your ass” if this is your first trip to Asia. Anywhere in Asia will “push many of your buttons”, but Vietnam, being more isolated for so long and less Westernized in their mindset will tend to push the buttons even more.
Of course, if you don’t want your buttons pushed — stay at home. Everyone is a tourist when they are more than 20 miles away from home. Just that the “amount” of being a tourist changes. Here, you will stick out like a sore thumb. You cannot hide. It’s like being “black” in the USA. (Will I get “hell” for saying that?)
Just remember when everything goes as you expect, you have nothing to talk about. Most conversation is based upon outcomes being better or worse than what was expected.
You feel overjoyed/disappointed — you have a story to tell!