Hi BPL, greetings from Vang Vieng in Laos. I created this thread to share my experience of a long, shelterless night in the mountains of northern Vietnam and help anyone who was having the kind of internal debate I had when packing for this trip. Before leaving, I changed my mind about 50 times while deciding whether or not to bring my Hexamid. Knowing I wouldn’t use it much (I had no plans to camp) if at all, and knowing that if I decided I wanted to, I could rent a tent, I chose to save some weight and space in my pack and not bring it along.
Fast Forward two months, my spontaneous adventures had me in Nothern Vietnam embarking on a solo motorbike trip through remote villages with not much planning. I could have really used my shelter these two weeks. Most night I easily found a town with a bed before nightfall; a few times it was not so easy. One night, however, I had no luck: by the time it was 11 pm, pitch black, cold, and raining, I was on a sketchy mountain highway, lost and demoralized. I couldn’t do anything but slowly ride in the dark until morning. Many other ngihts I spent a few hours stressed about finding a bed. I learned my lesson, that carrying my ~1 pound shelter for a few months would have been more than worth to have it with me for this (and I’m sure, future) adventures.
Thanks for reading, and I hope I convince anyone on the fence!
PS I am currently in Laos for another week, and then heading to Cambodia for a month, and then a thorough month long tour in Thailand. If anyone has any recommendations of places to go (and especially hike!) in these areas, please let me know :)
