Vietnam!!!

Hello Everyone!

I just returned from my 8th port, Vietnam, and it was amazing! I had so much fun and my time was even more enjoyable because my sister was able to meet me there! I arrived on Monday April 9 and stayed through Friday the 13th. The ship docked in Ho Chi Minh City (the hottest port I’ve been to) but I spent the majority of my time further North in Ha Noi (where it was a lot cooler). The currency in Vietnam is the Dong. The exchange rate is about 16,000 dong = $1 US. This was by far the most confusing port for me in terms of money! Vietnam is really busy and crowded, there are people on motorcycles and mopeds EVERYWHERE!!! Crossing the street was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do….Really, I thought India was bad, Vietnam was even worse! The traffic in Vietnam was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen….I don’t think I knew that so many motorcycles and mopeds even existed!
Only pictures and video can begin to explain this phenomenon….I have both, so be prepared to look at my footage when I get back!!

On day 1 Jenn and Eduardo (her boyfriend) met me at my ship at about 12:00pm, and after a quick stop at their hotel, we headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. Cu Chi is famous for its 200 kilometer network of underground tunnels. These tunnels were created and used buy the Viet Cong forces during wars with both the Americans and the French. Beginning in the 1940’s the tunnels were used as a base from which the Viet Cong could launch strategic attacks and then seemingly disappear in to thin air. The tunnels had well hidden entrances and thick roofs capable of withstanding the weight of the tanks and the impact of bombs. Unknowingly, the US even built a base camp on top of an existing tunnel network and suffered extensive casualties before they discovered their mistake. Most of the tunnels were only about 2ft wide and 5ft high. Some of the passageways and tunnel rooms have been enlarged for easier access for the thousands of tourists who visit the tunnels each year. Jenn, Eduardo and I attempted to crawl through one section of the tunnels, but Eduardo was the only one to fully complete the task….I chickened out about half way through, and Jenn got about a quarter of the way in before turning back! The tunnels were so dark and small, and we were even in a section where they were enlarged! I felt really claustrophobic and couldn’t even imagine how it must have been for the Viet Kong who practically lived beneath the ground using these elaborate tunnel systems. The tunnels also had a shooting range where we were able to shoot some real guns like those used during the war. The AK 47 bullets were all gone, so I shot an AK1, a huge gun that was soooo loud that I screamed every time a bullet was fired! Every little while we could hear the gun shots going off in the background and it made our experience at Cu Chi even more real….It was kind of scary, but also really cool! After leaving the tunnels we headed back to Ho Chi Minh to prepare for our trip to the Me Kong/Delta area. We left Ho Chi Minh at about 7:30 pm and our drive was about 4 hours. We checked into a hotel and called it a night.

On our second day we woke up bright and early to take a ferry ride down the river to the floating market. Here we saw many people selling various things, mostly fruits and vegetables, but everyone was selling their goods from little boats, it was really neat. We purchased a mango, melon, and a bottle of water, and way over paid, but even so, we only spent about two bucks! Our boat driver stopped and purchased some pineapple from one of the vendors and gave us some….even though we weren’t supposed to eat fruit that had been opened for us, we did it anyway, and it was delicious. After spending some time at the floating market, our driver began taking us further down the river. We stopped at what looked like somebody’s personal home. We got out and were greeted by a little Vietnamese lady who told us to look around the gardens. As we wondered through the gardens, we crossed over little bridges and walked along little paths next to ponds and pagodas. The woman met us and offered us Vietnamese pears off of one of the trees in the garden…they were pretty tasty, it wasn’t until later that I realized that I may have eaten an insect located on the outside of my pear….it was only a little one and I think that I spit most of it out!! The woman then offered us some Vietnamese coffee and asked whether we wanted iced coffee or hot….Again I broke the “no ice” rule and chose iced coffee. It actually looked and tasted pretty good, but I said my prayers just to be on the safe side. The woman then taught us some words in Vietnamese (keep in mind that this spelling is probably completely wrong, but this is how the words sounded to me)
…she said that iced coffee was café de-I, and hot coffee was café dang. She also told us that thank you was pronounced like cam on! We had a lot of fun learning Vietnamese from this woman. As we finished our coffee she brought me a flower and then began tearing off all of the petals, eventually there was only the small center and stem left, then the woman told us (with a huge grin) “rabbit”- she was right, the flower now resembled a bunny rabbit-this was quite fitting since this is the first year that I didn’t receive an Easter bunny! We thanked the woman and then headed back out towards our boat.
We continued cruising down the river, observing all of the people who actually live on and along the river as they went about their daily business.
We finally made it back to our hotel, we checked out and headed back to Ho Chi Minh so that we could catch our flight to Ha Noi. After a 4 hour bus ride We made it back to HCM and stopped to grab a snack at Pho 2000…Pho (pronounced like FUH) is a Vietnamese soup that consists of broth, veggies, some kind of meat or tofu and noodles….it was pretty good and Pho 2000 is highly recommended!! Former president Bill Clinton even ate there once! After a 2 hour flight, we arrived safely in Ha Noi. It was already pretty late in the evening when we got there, and we didn’t have any hotel reservations. As we traveled from hotel to hotel searching for a place to stay, I began to feel like Mary and Joseph….there was no room in the inn! We finally found a hotel and after a quick drink at the bar, hit the sheets.

Day 3 we woke up early and (After a delicious breakfast at our hotel) we headed out to go and see some of the city’s main attractions. Ha Noi is a really beautiful place filled with lots of cool little shops and cafés and tons of stuff to do. The first thing we saw was the mausoleum of former Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh. We had to wait in a long line of people (both tourists and locals). We weren’t allowed to take our cameras into the mausoleum and had to walk through metal detectors and check our belongings. Once we reached the doors of the actual Mausoleum we were surrounded by guards who strictly enforced rules of solemnity and respect for Ho Chi Minh. We weren’t allowed to put our hands in our pockets, laugh or look through books (Jenn and I had to find this out the hard way as we were scolded by one of the guards for snickering and attempting to read the rules from our Vietnam lonely planet book!) We entered the tomb and were able to actually look at the body of Ho Chi Minh which was incredibly well preserved….almost to the point that I felt a little skeptic….Ho Chi Minh (also known as Uncle Ho) died in 1969 and looked pretty good for being dead and gone for some 30 odd years! Anyway, the experience was really cool and after viewing the body of the late president we were able to look at his “vestige in the presidential palace area”-more commonly known as his home and office.
After this, we headed to the temple of Literature which was really cool. There was amazing architecture and we had a really good time walking around and looking at various temples and gardens. Once we’d seen all that there was to see, we headed over to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Ha Noi Hilton….this is the prison where they kept the American pilots who had been shot down as Prisoners of War. This sight was really interesting and sad…We were able to look at some of the original cells and even take pictures inside of them. Many of the photos that were displayed inside of the prison seemed to be in large part propaganda…for example, some of the US soldiers were shown playing volleyball, cooking, and having a great time….It was really interesting to see another side’s viewpoint of these events. After we finished at the Prison we headed over to the Ha Noi water puppet theatre. In the evening we had originally planned on seeing a puppet show, but were disappointed to find that all of the shows (during the time we were in town) were sold out! In light of this new information, we began searching for something else to do. After checking into a new hotel in the old quarter of Ha Noi, We decided to get foot massages and found an extremely nice place where we could get hour long massages for about 11 dollars each! Our massages began with our hands and arms, continued onto our legs and feet and ended with our heads and shoulders. The massage felt amazing and the women who performed them were really sweet. We were given hot Jasmine tea to enjoy during our procedures and after our massage ended I got a fresh coat of paint put on my toes! This was one of my favorite nights….we had a lot of fun!

On Day 4 we woke up early to embark on a 3 hour ride to the Ha Long Bay. The bay is a very popular tourist sight. The bay itself is full of ships and bustling with people. There are these massive rock formations that shoot out of the water making for beautiful scenery. In all, there are about 2,000 rock formations in the bay. Prior to boarding our boat for our bay tour, I was convinced to buy some pearl earrings from some women vendors. They are really pretty and I wish now that I had purchased more. When we finally got onto our boat, we headed for the top deck where chairs were set up for us to lounge on….the chairs were reclined and very comfy! After a short time, our boat stopped at a fish market on the water…this was a little shack set up right in the middle of the bay that was stocked with various types of fish including clams, crabs, shrimp, and shark, all of which were still very much alive! We were told that we could purchase some fish here and that our boat would prepare it for us to have for lunch…initially we weren’t going to buy any, but when we heard that squid was what was being served to us otherwise, we changed our minds. Eduardo and Jenn convinced me to try shark!!! We split one with some of the other people on our boat and got to select the one we wanted. We chose the smallest one which was still huge, and then had to see the market owners catch it and kill it…then the shark was given to our boat cook. We sat down for lunch on the first floor of our boat and began eating the lunch that was provided for us…it was pretty good, even the squid which we were initially so afraid of. About half way through our meal, the shark we had purchased was brought out to us on a platter….I was scared, but I tried my best to be brave and I ate some….I only took a few bites though because “what goes around comes around” and I thought that it may not be the wisest choice for a girl who is planning on swimming in the ocean to be eating something that can eat her back!! After lunch we headed toward this huge rock structure, which turned out to be a cave. As we headed inside to look around I was amazed at both the size and beauty of the interior. Although many neon lights and such had been added to make the cave more tourist friendly, and it somewhat reminded me of the cave of the winds mixed with a little bit of Casa Bonita, I still thought it was great! After we left the cave, we headed toward a little village on the water. We were given the option of taking a small boat through a small section water caves and seeing a school on the water for a $3 charge. We decided to take it and were able to take a short ride around on a small motorized wooden raft…the caves were pretty and even though we weren’t able to get out and really see the school, we got to give some candy and balloons to a few children. We then headed back to the mainland and after another 3 hour drive arrived at our hotel in Ha Noi. To our surprise, our hotel had managed to secure three tickets for us to the water puppet theatre and so we headed over to the show. The show was great…Vietnam is very well known for its water puppet shows and for very good reason. It was so good and I was even able to purchase a water puppet souvenir. After the show, we decided to grab some dinner and ended up at a very chic little restaurant. Again, I was reminded of Seany…it was very much his style! I had some amazing pasta…the best Spaghetti I’ve had in 2 ½ months!! After dinner we headed back and went to sleep.

Day 5 we woke up and headed to the airport. We had originally thought that we were going to be able to catch an earlier flight, but were disappointed to find out that we couldn’t leave until 11:30am. We hung out at the airport for a while and stopped to have some breakfast at a little restaurant that looked decent. We had just ordered our meals when suddenly, I spotted a cucaracha! I grabbed my shoe and killed him right on the spot! I was kind of grossed out, and Jenn laughed at me because here I was, a world traveler who has visited places with living things a lot bigger and scarier than roaches and I was creeped out! As if this experience wasn’t bad enough, moments after I had squished this cucaracha, another roach came along and scooped him up and carried him away to eat him!! AHHH! Cucaracha cannibalism! It was awful!
After this traumatic experience we were finally ready to catch our plane. The flight was good and once we were back in Ho Chi Minh City we headed to the Ben Tahnh Market to do some shopping. I really liked this market and got some good prizes for cheap! We also shopped along the street and I ended up finding a really pretty dress that I was able to have fitted for me. I bought it for around 35 bucks US! By this time, it was already getting pretty late, so we decided that it was about time to get me back to the ship! I was really sad to have to say goodbye to Jenn and her boy, and really sad to be leaving. Vietnam was really one of my most favorite places. I would really like to go back there
someday!

Tomorrow I arrive in Hong Kong and am pretty excited, it sounds like a really cool place. The next time I write I will have visited the Great Wall and will be only 23 days away from the end of my voyage around the world. I miss you all and hope that everything is going well at home. Love you, Val

PS. Thanks again Jenn, for helping me have an amazing time in Vietnam! I love you!