Goodbye Hanoi; Hello Hong Kong

I left Vietnam three days ago after traveling up most of the country ,from Saigon to Hanoi, over the course of two weeks. People have asked me what the differences were between the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. Like most countries, what sets them apart are separate histories. The Philippines is much more latin than one would expect in Asia, because it was colonized by the Spanish. The language incorporates Spanish and English words, so that you often pick up a bit of what is being said(when I say a big, I mean a tiny bit). What made traveling in the Philippines really great was that such a high percentage of people spoke very good English, and it wasn't just limited to the well educated. This made it easy to converse with teh locals, which in turn made it a more complete experience (like adding a third dimension to the trip; whereas, it was much more difficult in Cambodia and Vietnam.) The Philippines was also very, very poor and I saw far fewer tourists. Most of the tourists that go to the Philippines must go to large resorts, and probably don't use public transportation to get there. I was never on a bus with another foreigner in the Philippines; however, in Vietnam there are separate buses for backpackers like myself, so foreigners take up the majority of the seating on the buses that take you from town to town. This also means that once you arrive there are far more tourists around, because they are not as spread out as they might be in the Philippines or a country where you buy your own bus tickets. Something that struck me about the Vietnamese was how clever they were. They were clever in the way they defended themselves against the Americans and they are still clever in the way they approach tourism. It was common to be ripped off in Vietnam, and I constantly had to be on guard up or I'd end up spending 5 times what something was worth. (I don't mind a 25% tax on what I buy, because it feels reasonable and seems fair, but %500 is another story.) Haggling and bargaining are exhausting, and for that reason alone, I was ready to go after a couple of weeks. I really think the way I felt was common among the travelers in Vietnam (I spoke to many who shared my opinion that it was time to move on), but it seemed to be a side effect of the dense tourist areas that have been created through the way tourists are "managed" in Vietnam. At first southeast Asia seemed so un-Asian to me, compared to Korea and Japan (I have not visited mainland China); however, it's really just a different kind of Asia. The cultural rules and traditions that I have encountered in Korea seem much more relaxed. The cities are densely populated, but chaotic and inefficient, which is totally unlike Seoul, Osaka, or Hong Kong. Now that I am in Hong Kong I feel as though I'm back in the modern world. I might as well be in New York City; whereas, Manila, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi were still far from modern. Hong Kong is totally cosmopolitan, and an amazing place; I'm exciting to be here. It seems like the perfect place to end such an amazing trip.