Good Morning Vietnam!

Xin Chao and Hello from Saigon!
My Vietnam experience started at 5 am on March 22nd. I woke up early to watch the sunrise before we ported in Ho Chi Minh City. We had to take the Saigon River up into the city which is very small for a cruise ship the size of ours. The ship winded in and around these tight corners until you get to the city. It was a beautiful sunrise and just amazing experience to see the ship swing and swerve around the rice barges and small fishing boats. People were out getting the first catch of the day and you could see across the vast amount of trees and forest around the river. It was just beautiful. As the sun slowly began to rise, I was even more excited we were going to Vietnam. I learned that Semester at Sea was the first group of American tourist and first American ship other than the navy to come to Vietnam after the war. That’s pretty revolutionary. After we ported, I ended up just staying on the ship for an hour because my side trip to Cambodia left at 11 am. It’s a process once we dock to get cleared, get the passports (1000 of them) stamped and then possibly have a diplomatic briefing by the US embassy or consulate before all of us can get off. So I met up with my group (59 of us total) to go to the airport to catch our flight to Phnom Penh. It was an overall hectic, beautiful, emotionally draining and trying adventure.
But I am so so glad I did it. After having the short twenty minute flight to Phnom Penh we went to the National Museum to see some of the status from Angkor Wat and other art pieces. There was a beautiful courtyard in the middle of the building all the museums and government buildings we went to were either open or partially covered with no air conditioning. It was very hot and humid the entire time. I’m excited for China to be a little cooler than some of the places we’ve been so far. Afterwards we had a river cruise on the Mekong Delta, which was beautiful at sunset. Before dinner, we were able to pack in one more activity during the day, which was a visit to an orphanage in Cambodia. I love going to these even though they are emotionally draining-it means so much to reach out into the community instead of just spending money and taking pictures. It was run by an organization that some Semester at Sea Alum’s started. It’s amazing that being on this trip you really become so well connected with different people from all over the world who love to travel, learn, and volunteer.
There was a student who was working there who did Semester at Sea last year and told us about the organization before we were giving a tour of the facility and played with the kids. Immediately after walking through the gates a girl went up to me and gave me a HUGE hug without even knowing my name. Her name was Sous and she was 15 years old and showed me around the entire orphanage. She held my hand the entire and we exchanged e-mail addresses. I have been to a lot of orphanages and volunteered a lot on this trip and I have never met kids so welcoming and trusting in my life. I’m really glad I have been able to do service projects in most of the countries I have visited. Even though I might miss out on a few hours of touristy sites or some place to check out, every second is worth spending with the kids I played with and the places I helped out by volunteering. I can totally see myself just dropping everything after graduation and going back to one of the places I visited. 
After the orphanage we went to a restaurant for dinner and had some traditional Cambodian cuisine. The food was just okay and because the trip was through Semester at Sea the menu is set which is frustrating, but it was still pretty good. I ordered some coconut juice and it was served to me in a coconut, twice the size of my face. It wasn’t as sweet as I was used to, because the coconuts here are a little different than the ones we get in the U.S. and the ones I enjoyed in Thailand.
The next morning we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which was a school converted into a torture facility during the Khmer Rouge regime. To spare you the details, emotional draining and heart-wrenching stories I learned from this place it would signify a Holocaust museum. But, in many ways a lot worse than a beautiful building well planning out such as the one in Washington, D.C., all of the museums here were outside and very open. This was something I will remember the rest of my life. For those unfamiliar with this part of history, it happened during 1971-1975, where Pol Pot basically killed off half the population of Cambodia. He despised all people who were educated in anyway, shape, or form which included doctors, lawyers, professors, dancers, and any musicians. Those who lived in Cambodia during this time were sent to torture centers such as the ones I visited. At the centers they stayed for about two to eight months depending how long they lasted, until they were burned or taken to “The Killing Fields” where they were then killed.
It was horrible and nauseating to see the photos of these people who did nothing wrong. There was no race involved in this discrimination it was just as if you opposed the regime or in some way were educated you would be killed. Families whose father or mother had some education, all the children were killed. For me that would be every single person I currently know. It was beyond emotion and just sick to hear the stories.  The government did not allow ANY international journalists into the country, so literally most of the world had no idea this was happening. It occurred after the Vietnam War when the United States bombed the allied countries around Vietnam to destroy the Cu Chi tunnels. This was stupid, because one bomb may have only killed one person and it would have taken 300 bombs to destroy most of the Cu Chi tunnels, not smart thinking, then again either was the Vietnam War in general. This lead to strife in Cambodia and a civil war where the Khmer Rouge started to develop afterwards. Today, Cambodia still has problems with education and their healthcare system because there aren’t enough people who survived from that era to teach the next generation.  After the museum, we drove to the killing fields where ditches still remained from where they dumped the bodies along with a memorial. There are other things I saw which I will spare you just because it’s one of those places you’re not excited to see, but it’s somewhere you need to go and learn about.

To lighten up our moods, we visited the Royal Palace of the current King of Cambodia, and made our way to the airport to fly to Siem Reap, where the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat still remain. The flight was short, and we landed just in time to drive through the small city (which is now largely built up by five and four star hotels), on our way to the temple to see it at sunset. Angkor Wat is the largest religious site in world and is over 900 years old. It was beyond incredible to see it with my own eyes. All of the carvings and detail was in incredible condition and though the sunset wasn’t great, we had an option to see it at sunrise. The site was just incredible. I got a lot of awesome photos to show you when I get back home! I will try to upload them when in China or soon afterwards. We went to a restaurant for dinner and watched a traditional Cambodian dance, which was beautiful. Most of the women were double jointed and it was crazy to see them move in ways I had no idea was possible. Attempted to go to the night market that evening, but just walked around a park instead, it’s weird though-I didn’t really feel unsafe in Cambodia at all. Although the day we left there was an article in The Economist saying that Cambodia is among some of the most dangerous countries in world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. So many countries with problems and here I am in one of them not feeling the least bit alarmed. It was strange.
The next day we were on the bus at 5 am, and arrived at Angkor Wat to see the magnificent sunrise. It was an image I hope will remain with me forever. I loved every second of the sky becoming brighter and the temple towers becoming more and more visible. I decided I now have a slight obsession with seeing great monuments at sunset and sunrise; it amplifies it so much more. I will be doing that at the Great Wall as well, and I’m really looking forward to it. After the sunrise, we went back to the hotel to get some breakfast, and then we visited some of the other temples within Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom the small village within Angkor Wat which used to house about one million people. It was so beautiful to see the stories along the rock, the large rotating faces and dozens of pathways and hiding spots. I felt like a little kid again walking around the ruins. Go watch Tom Raider, it was partially filmed here!
We explored a few other places, went back to the hotel for lunch (had some delicious Khmer ginger chicken) and then went back to Angkor Wat from the east entrance to walk all the through the back to the front. It was very hot outside and very humid, so a good amount of us got dehydrated and some sick. I was lucky and spent the dollar on a bottle of water and was happy I did.  We eventually left to get to the airport to go back to Ho Chi Minh and get this…the airport had a Dairy Queen in it!!! I don’t think I have ever had such a good Dairy Queen as I did that day. It was delicious and yummy. The airport was small, but a bunch of people were watching Japanese baseball, which is pretty popular in Southeast Asia. We might try to get tickets in Tokoyo. :-) We flew back during sunset, which was beautiful and our flight was only 45 minutes. We arrived late, went back to the ship and I quickly passed out before midnight.
        The next day in Ho Chi Minh, I slept in a little till 8, had some breakfast and met up with my friend Laura to go see the War Renants Museum. Even though I didn’t spent a lot of time in Vietnam, I really most just walked around and explored and just took it easy. It was nice break, and was very badly needed. I walked around all over the city and met a lot of different people which was fun.
Semester at Sea provided a shuttle for us from the port into the city center, because there were few taxis around the port area. Before going to the museum, we went to get Laura’s dresses fitted and I ended up getting a lovely suit made along with a sari top which I didn’t get in India. We then took a cab to the museum, which wasn’t too far away. The museum was a tough thing to see. There were a lot of photos and it was the war from the North Vietnamese perspective. They call it the American War here because the Americans really did just come in and participate in a war that was unnecessary.  The photos were very graphic, but it’s along one of these things I am glad I went to see. It’s somewhere you just need to see. There were a lot of photos about the affects of Agent Orange chemicals, which were nauseating. We also saw “tiger cages” where they kept people and tortured them in these small cells. It was a lot to take in.
Afterwards, Laura and I needed to get our mind off everything we saw, and though my mom my cringe at this thought we took motorcycle taxis. It was an adrenaline rush. I’ve never had so much fun on a motorcycle in my life. Though it was really dangerous, because Ho Chi Minh is the motorcycle capital, there’s more than anywhere else in the world. It was awesome. We took those (for one US dollar, so cool) to the Ben Tawn market. It was crazy!! We had a blast just walking around and looking at everything they had to offer. There were kitchen supplies, perfumes, fabric, ribbons, purses, jewelry, and all other types of things. We had a blast just walking around and seeing everything. I bought some beautiful bamboo bowls and smaller bowls for my kitchen (roomies prepare for some noodle dishes next year!). I bought some Marc Jacobs perfume (just for fun, cause I never get label stuff) for only ten dollars. It was awesome.  We had a true Vietnamese lunch at little place in the market which they cooked the food right in front of us. We also had some delicious coconut jelly dessert. After the market, we kind of just explored around a bit and took the shuttle back to the ship. The rest of Vietnam was really relaxing. I did a little shopping and walking around and just observing people. That evening was a highlight as well, I went to dinner with my friend Lindsay from Ithaca and it was sooo delicious. I had some Vietnamese coffee and I don’t really don’t like coffee. But it was AMAZING. It’s delicious!!! I bought a bag in the market to bring home too…if it makes it that far. We met some girls at the restaurant and they invited us to go out dancing with them. Little did not know we would be at the top of high rise building swing dancing. We learned lindy hop in Vietnam!! It was so much fun! We met people from all over the world who loved to swing dance and there was a beautiful view of the city. It was such a fun night.
        The next day I went with my two friends Derek and Mike to see the Cu Chi tunnels. It’s about an hour and half outside of Ho Chi Minh (which everyone here calls Saigon still), and it was an interesting experience. It was really cool to see, but also conflicting emotions as so many Americans were killed because of these tunnels. We were able to actually fire M16’s, which the boys bet I wouldn’t do. Yeah right, I did two shots, but that was enough for me. Unfortunately didn’t get my mom’s jeans and didn’t even make the target. We then went through the tunnels, which had three levels. As the levels became lower, the holes became smaller. It was really cool to go through them and see how small these spaces were and how people sometimes had to live in them for a week at a time.
After the tunnels, we went back to Saigon and ate at this cool little market with a bunch of Vietnamese and tried sugar cane juice. It was so sweet and delicious! I bought a bunch of DVD’s, for like a dollar each so that will be nice to bring back with me. They had a bunch of seasons of different shows and all kinds of other movies. I even bought movies that weren’t out yet. I was happy with how my suit and top turned out, they’re beautiful. I bought yet another Vietnamese coffee on my way back and a large cup of frozen yogurt from where the shuttle picked us up. I really liked Vietnam, and next time I want to go to Hanoi in the north, and I hope someone will come along. It really was a beautiful country and there’s so much for to see. But, that’s same with every country I guess.