Young backpacker’s book remains hot topic of debate Huyen Chip at the release ceremony of her book "Dung Chet O Chau Phi" (Don't Die In Africa) in HCMC on September 22, 2013.   The hall on the 5th floor of the Muc Tim Newspaper building in District 1, where the conference took place, was full of people, both Huyen’s fans and opponents, who had come to question the author on her book.   Many attendants are willing to stand since the hall is full. TUOI TRE On September 22, Huyen Chip, or Nguyen Thi Khanh Huyen, continued to draw major attention from local media and readers at a press conference to release her latest book, “Dung Chet o Chau Phi” (Don’t Die in Africa), in Ho Chi Minh City. The hall on the 5th floor of the Muc Tim Newspaper building in District 1, where the conference took place, was full of people, both Huyen’s fans and opponents, who had come to question the author on her book. “Dung Chet Chau Phi” is the second part of the series “Xach Ba Lo Len va Di” (Get your backpack and go), depicting Huyen’s journey as travelled through 25 countries with only US$700 to start with. The first part is “Chau A La Nha, Dung Khoc” (Asia is Home, Don’t Cry), which was released last year. Through her journey and her book the young woman has attracted many fans who have expressed their admiration for the young girl and her brave, incredible spirit. However, the book has also met opposition from people who say Huyen wrote the book based on her imagination, not real-life events. According to them, it’s not a problemk if she wrote it as an imaginary story, but she can’t lie and call it her travel diary. Many have said they can’t believe that Huyen was able to get visas and jobs in 25 countries as easily as described in her book. Others even claimed that she had never even been to the countries. The book release in HCMC seemed to be more stressful than it was in Hanoi on September 19, since after the Hanoi event, a lot of people were dissatisfied, saying Huyen dodged and gave rambling answers to questions. Unlike in Hanoi, Huyen refused to show her visas as proof of her journey, for the reason that she isn’t responsibile for showing them to everybody. “I used to post photos featuring my visas on the Internet, but then people accused me of using Photoshop to make the pictures,” she said. “I’m not showing them to you because I don’t like to do it,” Huyen told one reader who asked to see her visas. For people who are not satisfied with Huyen’s previous answers on the book’s details on how she worked in the countries she visited to earn money for the trip; how she got visas to those countries; as well as how she lived with locals when she couldn’t speak the native language, Huyen explained that she wrote the book based on what she remembered, so there are some incoherent parts as a result. “My Africa journey lasted two years, beginning in 2010 and ending quite a long time ago. If I have to tell the whole trip in detail, I probably need a store to keep my books, not only one book like this.” In concluding the conference, Huyen said she has had a shocking, tiring week. “People doubt me but I can’t explain or prove what I wrote is true. There would be doubters for every single thing I say. I didn’t want today’s conference, but it was part of the plan. I came here for people who are interested in my book.” Since the two book releases, Huyen’s book has also remained a hot topic on many forums, blogs, newswires and social networks. Standing out from the two teams of fans and opponents, a number of people have shared their neutral opinion, saying it’s just a book, and those who love it should buy it, while those who hate it shouldn’t. TUOITRENEWS