Originally Posted by
axolotl
Utter nonsense. Are the Vietnamese people shorter, on average, than in most developed countries? Yes. But to say that all Vietnamese are 5 feet tall is ridiculous. You lose all credibility when you write things like that.
Yet you seem to have gone out of your way to find unhealthy processed foods.
Included in my cycling in Laos was the beautiful road from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. Very mountainous with multiple long climbs over 3 days. This was by far the most difficult cycling I encountered in 4 countries in SE Asia. But I had no problem getting enough calories eating 3 meals a day and a few snacks during the day, even though parts of that route are in remote areas.
That wasn't me making up numbers. 5 feet is the actual real life statistical average height of female Vietnamese. Males are taller yes.
Yes, I go out of my way to find the most unhealthy foods available. High fat, high sugar, deep fried. I'm complaining that these are not available enough here. The nice healthy noodles and fresh vegetables everyone eats here, as well as their sensible restaurant portion sizes, I applaud it. It's very good for normal life, prevents obesity in their society. But it's killing me. Insufficient calories.
Not to diminish your accomplishment but I found that section south of Luang Prabang to be by far the easiest portion of Northern Laos. That's the road connecting to Vientiane and is the most touristy road in all of Laos. If you had continued north of Luang Prabang you would have been in for a rude awakening in both terrain and lack of service.
There's no point in us arguing. It's just calories consumed vs calories burnt. If you and I have vastly different levels of calorie expenditure, then naturally we will have different opinions about the ease of eating enough in SE Asia compared to in other countries. I had no problem eating enough in other parts of Asia, but here it is much harder. That's all there is to it. And if it makes you feel better about yourself to attribute the difference between us to my "metabolic problem", then sure, go ahead I don't mind
