Vietnam February 26-March 2

Vietnam time….

Abby, Tyler, another Abby (Abby Y), Austin, and I got off the boat and walked around Vietnam. The one thing that we were told to do is get a made-to-fit dress/suit in Vietnam. So we went looking for a place. The girls and guys got separated unfortunately. Abby, Abby, and I all got dresses…for pretty cheap. I wanted a certain dress but with a certain cut and they couldn’t make it that way. So I settled with the original cut, which sucks because it doesn’t fit me very well. But for the price that I paid, it at least makes for a good story. Plus, when am I ever going to get a hand made, made-to-fit dress again? After we were done we realized we lost the boys. However, the plan was to get these clothes made and then go to the War Remnants Museum, so we knew where they were headed. So we hopped a cab there and when we went to pay Abby and Abby got ripped off…again. Abby Y was in the front seat ready to pay and Abby had some money out in the back and the driver reached behind grabbed all the money and gave us change. Either way, the definitely over paid. We got to the museum and they weren’t open yet and as we were walking to find lunch, we saw the boys. The 5 of us found this hotel sort of place and had a small meal. After which, we went the museum. It was one of the most devastating things I’ve ever seen. Before we went into this museum we saw some of helicopters, planes, and tanks from the war. We followed this sign to the Tiger Cages. There we saw a guillotine and cell rooms. There were even wax figures inside. One looked so real, and was looking straight through the peephole, that it made you jump. Inside, there were two floors of pictures and articles. My favorite part was this small gallery room that had pictures kids, from the ages of 11-15, drew. They were amazing and all about peace…definitely drawings I could not have done at that age.

From there we went to the Reunification Palace. When we were in line to buy tickets these three guys asked us if we knew this guy on Semester at Sea…we didn’t. We all got to talking and they were in Vietnam for the weekend because they were studying abroad in Singapore. One of them has an aunt and uncle who live in Blawnox…what are the odds. They were pretty cool and we invited them to join us at a club (where all the Semester at Sea students would be) later that night. We walked around and it was pretty cool. It wasn’t until 3 days later did we find out that we missed the whole second and third floor. It was cool nonetheless. After the Reunification Palace we went to the Ben Thanh Market. This market was huge and it was inside. Now the temperature was in the 90’s with 0% chance of rain. It was humid and then you had this market that was indoors, jammed packed to the point where you could hardly move in between stands. It was soooo hot. I don’t think I’ve sweated that much in forever. This market was pretty cool because at five o’clock it turned into a night market on the street. This market was just like the one in Shanghai and Hong Kong but with different things. We were told the other thing to do in Vietnam was to buy pirated movies…and of course I did. I bought a ton over the span of the 5 days I was there.

We received this list of places to eat and we picked this one called Blue Ginger to go to. It was a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. It was super cheap. I got shrimp spring rolls, both Abby’s got a meal, and Tyler and Austin essentially got two meals. The total cost ended up being 40 dollars, with Austin paying about 12 of it. They also had traditional live music. Overall, it was a really good restaurant and we kept recommending it to people. Now, eating in Vietnam was probably the worst for me. I tried a ton of different things but I also had French fries with every meal. However, the Ketchup had like the after taste that tasted like wine…no joke.

That night everyone was going to this club called Apocalypse Now…go figure haha. We got there pretty early and I just wasn’t feeling it. Abby and I had a pretty lousy time. The drinks were expensive (we’ll expensive in Vietnamese terms, not in American haha) and it was just overrun, again, by SAS kids, but this time I just didn’t have a good time. It got a little better when the three boys we met earlier that day showed up, but in the end…not so much fun and headed back around 1ish.

The next day it was just Abby, Tyler, Therese, and I hanging out. We wanted to go to this Mangrove park thing but it was like a full day/overnight thing and it would have cost about 55 per person. No one really wanted to do that so we spent the day walking around again. It wasn’t as much fun because there really is not too much to do in the city after you see the museums and whatnot, but I still had a great time. Anyway, we got some lunch at a local café that had, Vietnamese food, American food, and French food. It also had a bakery attached to it. It got a pizza and it was delicious. Tyler eventually split off. The three of us girls ventured back to the Ben Thanh Market to look at the movie selection. We ran into these two other girls who told me about this Disney movie collection/box set at this mall right by the Rex Hotel, where we got dropped off (via shuttle from the pier). At most stands you could get movies for a dollar. There was one right outside our ship every night that was one for a dollar, but on our way over to the mall we found this place that sold them for about 80 cents. There I found this box set label “Oscar Awards.” I assumed it was the tapings of all the awards shows. I realized when I got back that it wasn’t. It was every Oscar Award winning movie plus a few. While finding every taped award ceremony would have been like finding the Holy Grail, getting 125 movies for super cheap isn’t something I can complain about. After that we finally got to the mall and of course I got the Disney box set. It’s amazing. We headed back to the ship to figure out what we were going to do for the rest of the night. We decided to go to the Rex Hotel. They had this bar and live music on the roof. We went there and it was filled with a ton of people, with a lot of SAS kids mixed in. It was nice just sitting there and having a few drinks, but it was also a little expensive in comparison to other bars. We didn’t stay out too late because Abby and I, as well the other people we were with had trips the next morning.

The next morning Abby and I woke up and headed out for our SAS trip of the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels. We had a small group of people, which was nice, and I knew most of them. On the way to the temple we learned about Caoism (as a religion). Once we got there we had some time to walk around. There was a long courtyard, for a lack of a better term, with puppet shows about the religion and the temple. We finally went inside, but first we had to take our shoes off. Our tour guide could not even go inside with us because she had to stay outside and watch our shoes. Once we got in there we were able to observe a service, which was a little boring…not going to lie…but only in the sense that, from an uneducated person (of that culture) like myself it seemed like they weren’t doing that much. Yet at the same time I was fascinated. After the temple we stopped to get lunch. Here is where I tried probably the most Vietnamese foods. It tried their many types of noodles, the most popular being Pho (pronounced Pha). I also had several spring rolls, which I think contained some pork. Overall, the food was delicious.

From there we headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The first thing we did was watch a film, from the eyes of the Vietnamese, on the Vietnam War. We learned more about the tunnels and their purpose. Next they took us to one of the hatches in the ground. Our guide from the Cu Chi Tunnels (different than our overall guide) showed us how to get in and out of the tunnels. We all got to try. The space was extremely tiny and there were some really tall guys on the trip; one I think was about 6’3” or so. He had some troubles once he was inside. I, on the other hand, was kind of comfortable. Considering, I am about the size most of the Vietnamese soldiers were, I fit pretty well inside. From there they showed us fake set ups of different bunkers, a real U.S. army tank that was left in the woods (with AK-47 gun holes in it), and all the different types of traps they used. Now, I was really excited because I had heard from trips that went the day before that we were going to be able to shoot machine guns (M16, M60, and AK-47). They took us to the shooting range and I was so pumped…not because I like guns or anything, but how many times can you say you shot an AK-47 or rather shot an AK-47 in Vietnam…you can’t. I bought 10 rounds and headed down to the gun. There was someone there to help you and I needed help. They loaded the rounds for you and got you set up. Because I’m so short I had to stand on my tip-toes in order for the gun to rest on my shoulder properly. Instead of just pulling the trigger and let it go, I fired one round at a time. They gave you earmuffs but it didn’t do much. After you had shot, your ears were clogged. It took a few minutes for them to clear up. And I was down there for 4 other people helping them take pictures, so it took like 15 minutes for my right ear to “de-clog.” But It was so much fun. I don’t think I’ll ever shoot one again, but it was quite an experience. After this we headed to an actual tunnel. For tourists, they took a tunnel and widened it so that they could get through easier and they also added lights. It was awesome. I fit down there pretty comfortably. I mean you had to duck either way. The tall boys were struggling. By the time we were done their backs and quads killed. We didn’t go too far just about 20-30 feet. I really wanted to go further but that’s where they tourist tunnel ended. I had a fantastic time. It was absolutely amazing. When we got back to the ship, Abby and I opted to stay in for the night and watch a scary movie she had bought. We both fell asleep around 12:30.

The next morning I had my Mekong Delta trip and Abby had a service project trip. Luckily, I knew several other people on the trip. The first thing we did was go to a Buddhist monastery and saw another gigantic Buddha. From there we traveled about to hours to the Mekong Delta. We then got to these boats and headed down the river and got off and headed into this little village. We then sat down and ate all these different types of fruit. I tried something called a Jackfruit. It was like rubber on the outside and texture was weird but it wasn’t bad. Then we saw how they make coconut candy, which was very cool. All of this was taking place in huts. It was very touristy but interesting nonetheless. As we were heading to the next stop along the river trash got caught in the engine of the boat and in the middle of the water we had to get from one boat to another. It was humorous. :) Then we stopped off at another dock and saw some more coconut candy making. We walked through this area and everyone was just hanging out in hammocks. Now, this is really cool in Vietnam…rest stops were just huts and hammocks and tables. It’s very cool. Anyway, all of a sudden we see these horses with carts behind them. We took these horses through the village area, which was very cool…again very touristy but I had a blast. We got off the carts and walked a little to another part of the village where we were to have honey tea. But before we sat down for tea, we were allowed to hold this snake. Not just any snake though…a python…a friendly python.

After tea we got back in the boat and went to lunch. Lunch was pretty decent we had elephant fish and prawns. I tried the fish rice wraps and it wasn’t too bad. We also saw a water buffalo just hanging out in the water right next to where we were eating. After this we walked a little ways and got into a canoe…the type the women and fishermen use. The villagers paddled us down the river and back out to the open Mekong Delta and then hopped back into our boat and headed home.

The last night was one of my favorites so far. As soon as I got back a bunch of my friends, who were coming back from Nha Trang, wanted to go to the Hard Rock Café…ya I know, we’re in Vietnam and we went to the Hard Rock Café. The group was Austin, Kate, Rebecca (a professor’s 18 year old daughter), Abby, Martin (from Norway) and me. What made the night even better than good American food was that they had Southern Comfort and Lemonade (my favorite). Part of the reason I wasn’t having a fun nightlife the first day was the lack of my favorite drink and Hard Rock had it, which just made my night. Because I knew that wherever we went there wouldn’t be SoCo and Lemonade so I had three in the span of about 2 hours and because I’m tiny and can’t hold my alcohol I was a little drunk haha. From there we went to a hookah bar. Austin has smoked in every country so we went along with him to fulfill his Vietnam quota. So the running joke of the night was that I was drunk by 8:30, dizzy by 10 and sobered up again by 10:30. After the hookah bar we went looking for another one and decided to head back to Apocalypse Now…I wasn’t happy about this. On our way there these women who owned this small bar literally dragged us into their empty bar…Hot Chili. It ended up being a great time. Kate convinced them to give her a free tequila shot if she bought two. Then she did a bunch of card tricks and bet them another one. They were amazed! Absolutely astonished that she continually guessed their cards. After a few more drinks we left, promising them we’d return, and headed to Apocalypse Now and it was just as bad as the first night. Austin, Abby, Kate, and I left and went back to Hot Chili where we played extreme Jenga. It was ridiculous. The shapes they made out of the Jenga blocks were crazy. Abby, Austin, two bartender ladies, and I played several games, while Kate taught two of the other women how to do card tricks. We hooked up our ipods and rocked out. It was one of the best nights I’ve had so far. We came back at about 2 am that morning and woke up at about 7:30 for my trip the next morning.

It was our last full day in Vietnam and I had one last trip. This trip was a short four-hour trip to a local elementary school. It was by far my favorite trip. Kate was on the trip with me, as well as my LLC’s (my RA) and his family. Words cannot describe how much fun this trip was. Once we got there they gave us a little information about the school. The headmaster couldn’t speak any English so our guide had to translate for us. After that they let us go in the courtyard where the kids were playing and just hang out. At first it was like “ooookkk, what do we do?” But then kids started coming up to us and then they all started bombarding us with their notebooks and pieces of paper for us to write “Hi, my name is Natalie,” or some variation of that. You felt like a rockstar signing autographs. After a bit of that Sam, my LLC’s 8 year old son, and I wanted to play hacky sack with the kids. Now, their version of a hacky sack is not an American version. It has feathers and it’s flat, but has like foamy springs to it. It’s hard to explain. Anyways, Sam and I wanted to play but we didn’t know if/how we should ask. You almost felt like you were back in elementary school and sheepishly going up to people and asking if you could play with them. Well, we ended up asking and had a great time trying to play this game.

After they were dismissed we were separated and went to different classrooms…about 4 of us per room. The first room I went in was full of 8 year olds and they immediately started throwing paper at us to sign. Then they too started writing their names for us. I have a pile of them that I will keep forever. There was this one girl, who probably spoke the best English in the class, who was absolutely awesome…definitely my favorite…probably because she kept giving me hugs. It was precious. I was in heaven…high on life. We then rotated room and the next two or there were really well behaved. You definitely felt awkward because of the language barrier and if they weren’t asking questions, you didn’t know what to say. Each class sang us this song that of course I recorded. I came back to the ship about 12 in the afternoon, soooo hyper. I had an amazing time and it just made me high on life and giddy. I was bouncing off the walls, nuts.

The day before a friend of mine Aaron told me of this place where I could get 2 movies for a dollar…so of course I wanted to go there. Back at the ship, after my trip, I met up with Rebecca (a professor’s daughter, who I’ve become good friends with), Kevin, and Austin and the four of us hit up this movie place. We were there for at least 2 hours going through every bin of movies. I was in heaven. I mean why would you not raid the store…when else are you going to find 50 cent movies.? Austin and I headed back right after that and then hung out on the pool deck of the ship and played some ping-pong. At about 8 o’clock the boat left Vietnam and was sailing for India.