Viet Nam

Viet Nam was spectacular. The people were so friendly and welcoming, you never would guess that we fought one of the most gruesome wars with them not so long ago. It was some of the worst heat I’ve ever encountered but it was a beautiful country with great culture and awesome food.

A lot of parents came to meet their kids at Ho Chi Minh and travel around Vietnam with them. We were welcomed in the morning with them down on the dock waving to all of us and with a group of Vietnamese women holding a welcome sign. It was so good to see parents again but it made all of us who didn’t have parents there really sad and kind of bitter. Michelle’s parents made the trip though so I got a hug from a mom and dad at least.

The first day was spent exploring the city, but we had a specific agenda. We hit up the Chinese market first to buy really inexpensive and beautiful silks and materials and walk through the narrow, crowded, hot stalls with people bombarding us from all sides trying to get us to buy their wares. It was great. Unfortunately, our first meal in Viet Nam was not so great. I think we just picked a really bad restaurant because we paid far too much for not so great food. Oh well, it happens. The next goal was to find a good tailor to make our dresses. And we found a really good one. If you’re ever in Viet Nam, look up Tam Silk on Pasteur Street. I’m so thrilled with how mine turned out! The rest of that day and into the evening was spent walking the streets, experiencing the crazy Ben Thanh market and getting swept away by the evening market. It was such a fun day! Everyone realized how much they loved the country within the first couple hours of being there, you just can’t help it.

The next morning I took off for my Mekong Delta trip. The Mekong Delta is the largest river in Southeast Asia and a center of activity for Vietnamese people. We took a long bus ride there and hopped off at the river to take a boat ride exploration down it. It wasn’t as beautiful as some of the other places we’ve been but you can see so deeply into the culture just from observing. We saw how the people lived on the river and off of it, how they interacted with it, how they used it and how it sustained them. It was really extraordinary. They took us to a place where we got to watch them make popped rice candy (similar to rice krispies), coconut candies, and rice paper. They served us tea (nearly unbearable in the stifling heat) and snacks and we were on our way again. Boats carrying families laden with everything from pineapples to baskets to watermelon to lettuce to a fresh-cooked meal passed us. Children would peak out from the windows and wave, we saw people asleep in hammocks on their boats, taking a break from a day’s work on the river. And everywhere, the activity we saw was just people going about their lives, making it day to day.
We got back on the buses and headed to our hotel. To get there we had to take a ferry, which meant we all had to get off the bus and walk amidst the mopeds and motorcycles vying for space. We have ferries at home but imagine all the cars on the bottom floor right, and then replace them with about five motorcycles for every car. It was crazy! That’s another thing about Viet Nam, is the motorcycles everywhere. The driving isn’t as unorganized as some other places but the main form of transportation is by motorbike so you kind of take your life into your hands when you get onto one. I only thought I was going to die a few times. The real danger is in crossing the street because they just keep coming and there’s no break in the sea of motorbikes. You just have to walk out in the middle and keep reminding yourself that they drive around you. It took a couple days but put me on the corner of any street now and I’ll cross it like a pro. So we got to our hotel and settled in and a few hours later went to dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant on the banks of the river. We were staying in Can Tho which is a city right near on the Mekong.

The next morning we got up early to go experience the floating market on the Mekong, a convention that has taken place for centuries. People load up everything they have to sell and their families onto their boats and take off for this market and stay there and live there on their boats until all their goods are sold and go back home to do it over again. It was so fascinating. On long bamboo poles sticking straight up from the boats would be attached whatever that boat was selling, for example lettuce would be strapped to the pole, so you can look at the poles and find whatever you need to buy. We came across the fruit boats and bought delicious fresh fruits that they cut up for us right there. That was a really wonderful morning and we got to see so much of the local culture. This isn’t a tourist attraction, it’s a way of life that we got to peek into. These people are there to go about their business and provide for their families. I’m so glad I got to see this.
We went back to the hotel to eat lunch and grab our stuff and head back to the ship.

That next day I let myself sleep in a bit and then planned on heading out by myself to explore some of the historical attractions in Ho Chi Minh (still called Saigon by most people). Sean found me right when I was leaving so he joined me and we had a fabulous day. We first went to the War Remnants Museum, probably the most famous attraction in the city. It was an intense, emotional experience but I think something everyone should see. It was really interesting to see the way it was perceived here vs. what we learn about in the states, which I discovered was not very much. The things I saw there were unbelievable, for the first time in my life I saw the depth and immensity of human cruelty. I saw things that I can’t bring myself to write about. It made me very aware of being an American as well, which is something I had never felt that strongly. It was again, a very intense experience. My friend’s dad put it in perspective, “It’s like going to the Holocaust museum, if you are German.” He is right I imagine.

After that we needed some food in our stomachs, although come to think of it I don’t know how we brought ourselves to eat anything. But we got some wonderful Pho and then went to the Ben Thanh market for some more wandering of the vast marketplace. I picked up my dresses from the tailor later and was so happy with them that I had to go out that night in one of them. En route however, I incurred the infamous motorcycle burn on my leg apparently from getting on it the wrong way (a rookie mistake). Let me tell you, IT HURTS! But I’m alive and at least I’ll come away with a few scars and some good stories from Viet Nam. That night we sat down at one of the many street eateries that pop up at the night market and sat and ate amazing food and talked for hours, people watching and soaking up the culture. Those are my favorite experiences.

I had an early next morning going to the Hy Vong 8 School for deaf children. Before 1989, there were no schools for disabled children in Ho Chi Minh. The Hy Vong 8 School was set up and now provides classes and opportunities for deaf children. We went to visit the school and were greeted with some prepared dances by the kids and then got to play with them a little bit there. They were so cute and friendly and fun loving. We each got a child to buddy up with and headed out to the zoo with them. Most of the kids were young, like 5 years old, but the guy I got paired up with was 21! It was kind of funny actually because while I was watching all my friends running around chasing their kids, Tan, my guy, was kind of in charge and went around making sure the kids behaved. It was really interesting communicating with them because there was a double-language barrier, our inability to speak Vietnamese and their inability to hear. But somehow we all found our way and it was a really great day. We had some free time in the park after seeing the animals and got to just hang out with them and play some games with them. A lot of the older kids were really into hip-hop and were really great dancers. None of us had skills that could even compare. We eventually exchanged information and said goodbye to our new friends.

After getting back to the ship I had some things to finish up in the city so I took off by myself for a goodbye tour of Ho Chi Minh. I went to the General Post Office, a beautiful historical building unchanged since 1880, stopped by the Notre Dame Cathedral, a reminder of French rule and influence, and finished up my shopping around the markets and busy streets. It was a great day, a great country in whole.
I really truly couldn’t help but love Viet Nam and all the people there. It was such a touching, wonderful experience. All of Southeast Asia has been fantastic and I look forward to returning someday. One thing I wish I had done was go to Cambodia, I heard fantastic things about it so for you future SASers out there, I recommend taking a good look at that. Personally, I can’t wait to go there myself. But for now I have to prepare for Hong Kong in the morning. It seems impossible that I am already in China and have to gear up for another country and cultural experience. I am excited of course, but a little time to rest in between ports would be nice. I caught a nasty cold in Viet Nam so I’m trying to battle that as well.
Hope all is well at home! Love and Peace