Back in ‘Nam

I have been trying not to use the phrase “out of my comfort zone” since there are very few times in which I have felt truly uncomfortable, but it is hard when trying to explain the dissimilarities between Vietnamese and American culture. Vietnam was, by far, the most different and unfamiliar culture I have ever experienced, and I couldn’t have loved it more. It is safe to say that Vietnam has changed my life in many ways.

We docked later in the afternoon on the first day, so we just wandered aimlessly around Ho Chi Minh City. As I have mentioned before, I love the “no plan is the best plan” sort of schedule so this was enjoyable. It was Tet in Vietnam which is their celebration of the Lunar New Year, so the city was essentially empty. Tet was described to us in cultural pre-port as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years all combined, so it is a pretty big deal. All of the restaurants and markets were closed and we saw very few locals until we came across the city center with a street long Tet display. Everyone was with their families taking pictures of the gigantic monkeys (year of the monkey!). The streets were covered with yellow and red flowers and all of the trees had “lucky money” envelopes hanging on them symbolizing wishes for the New Years. It was a special experience to be a part of. By night time the city was super busy. EVERYONE literally EVERYONE drives a moped and there are NO driving rules. Families will stack up four people on their moped- it was crazy. What was fascinating to me though was how the law requires only adults to wear helmets. So there are infants being held and toddlers sitting on stools in between the drivers legs with no helmet or safety protection at all… safe. After the Tet festival (where I obviously got cotton candy…), we headed back to the ship and went to dinner at a local pho restaurant just down the road. Going against everything our ship doctor advised, we sat down and enjoyed the street food. It was delicious. The ship was in a super underdeveloped area so on our walk back we encountered rats. Naturally I sprinted the rest of the way back to the ship. Yes, I have deemed this as my workout for the month.

On the second day we woke up early to get our trip started. We had made arrangements with a tour company for a guide to pick us up, take us on a Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon) city tour, and take us to the Mekong Delta for a homestay. Our guide Rachel was an adorable 23 year old Vietnamese girl specializing in tourism, and she completely made the trip. Our first stop on the city tour was the War Remnants Museum. Remember how I mentioned early that Vietnam changed my life? Well, here is where it started. The museum was unbelievable. I don’t even know how to talk about this experience. Every thing we saw and learned about was jaw-dropping. We had a personal guide telling us a chronology of the war so I was unable to read each of the pictures captions, but it took everything I had not to cry. They had the most graphic displays of bomb sites and a whole section dedicated to the effects of agent orange. It was hard to stomach.  I can’t say I was unaware of the damages and effects of the war because I learned about it in school, but I was definitely naive to its impacts both on the Americans and the Vietnamese. Although the museum was focused on pointing out the actions of the Americans (naturally because it’s a Vietnamese Museum), I felt like they did a good job recognizing the United States’ intentions in entering the war and mentioning how not all the American people supported the war towards the end – I really appreciated that. The experience was unlike anything else and really opened my eyes to the harsh realities of war. I felt the utmost value in visiting this museum at my age and in my generation. Men were being drafted for the war around my age, so it was crazy to try to imagine myself in their shoes. I also feel as though the war is a very “hush-hush” topic with my generation. The war is obviously a sensitive topic within our culture, but the lack of discussion has left my generation a bit in the dark. Visiting this museum gave me a new appreciation for what people experienced during this time and revealed to me a war narrative many have a hard time talking about.

Now on a lighter note. After the museum we continued to the Reunification Palace (President’s Palace), which was stunning. We had an English speaking tour guide who was amazing. She gave us a great description of the palace, but also shared personal stories about Vietnamese culture- she was hilarious. After the Palace we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral and proceeded to Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were CRAZY. Rachel (our tour guide) walked into the site acting like she owned the place. It was awesome.  She started setting off all the display traps and leading us through the tunnels. My friends and I attempted to walk through a few meter long tunnel, but after 5 or 6 steps, we all got claustrophobic and left. We barely fit. Rachel said they doubled the size of the tunnels for tourists which just can’t be true.. I can’t even imagine walking through these in the summer in full uniform. After the tunnels we headed to the Mekong River Delta region for our homestay. Before getting on the ferry, Rachel walked us through a local market to get a gift for the family hosting us. The open markets in Vietnam are crazy. Everyone sits on the streets relaxing with their family as they sell various fruits, vegetables and meat. It was unlike anything I’ve seen before. Rachel got us some smoothies for the ferry ride, and we, yet again, enjoyed the street food. The ferry ride was interesting considering we were the only individuals not riding a moped, but after a short ride and walk, we arrived to our homestay. It was BEAUTIFUL and practically a hotel. We settled in and finished the night with a Vietnamese cooking lesson. We made our own spring rolls which Rachel fried for us and our own “pancakes”. I, like any other American, was excited and confused when we were told we were making pancakes for dinner, but pancakes in Vietnam are not delicious breakfast cakes. Instead, we made what was essentially an omelet (still delicious). In addition to all of this, the homestay family made us like four hundred other dishes, as well. Every meal was over the top delicious.

The next morning I woke up to roosters at 5:30. Interesting. Roosters roam this island of Vietnam freely. Everywhere you look there is either a stray dog or a chicken. Also interesting was waking up under a mosquito net! I had never slept under a net before so this was fun! Breakfast was unbelievable. It was the first time I realized the influence of the French on Vietnam as we were served a french baguette and AMAZING coffee. Coffee in Vietnam is UNBELIEVABLE. Wow. I’m getting worked up just thinking about it. Anyway, after breakfast, we walked down the road (by road I mean dirt path about two or three feet in width) to the water’s edge to meet a boat for a tour of the Mekong River. The lifestyle that exists on the water’s edge was so fascinating. Everyone uses the water as the main form of transportation as well as for cleaning and for work. We passed several fish farms which were essentially floating islands with netted holes where people live and breed fish (imagine a square raft made out of barrels with an empty center). We eventually met up with two row boats for a ride through the smaller canals. Women paddled each of our boats down the forest lined canals (which WOW they must be strong) and we got to wear the rice hats for the ride! After our trip we went to a coconut candy making factory. This was so cool. Rachel, as always, walked right in and acted like she owned the place. She started using the different machines showing us how they make a variety of candies and letting us sample all the different types. This “factory” was actually and open air shelter that was stunningly beautiful. There was a huge greenhouse and the whole property was covered in beautiful flowers. There were (obvious at this point) dogs and chickens just roaming freely, which I found interesting because this would be very frowned upon in America. After buying a few pounds worth of candy, we headed back to the homestay for lunch. Lunch, again, was a million course meal. Vietnamese food is SO good though and it’s fun! Most every meal we got to personalize in some way, many times making our own fresh spring rolls or adding our topping to soup. After lunch we went on a bike ride around the island. Try riding down a small sandy road on a wobbly bike with motorbikes speeding past you as your rice hat falls into your eyes… not easy. But regardless, it was fun. This ride really showed us the diversity of the island and how poor many parts were which was eye opening. After a sweltering ride (I now have two things to count as my physical activity for the month) Rachel stopped to get us sugar cane juice. It is made fresh at the stand (lol were eating street food again), and it was so good. This needs to exist at home. After we went back for another delicious meal and some time relaxing in the hammocks.

Our last morning we woke up at 5:30 to go to the Cai Rang floating market. We rode into Can Tho city center to meet our boat. The boat ride to the market and the market itself was so incredible (another life changing moment). As we rode down this upper part of the river, Rachel pointed out to us the poor housing along the river. The homes were built out of drift wood and covered in cardboard and were being constantly flooded with water. It was sad. Our ride was long so we just tried to soak everything in. As we passed these poor housing areas you could see beautiful, large French homes just a street behind them. The french influence was beautiful, but the dichotomy between rich and poor was disheartening. As we arrived to the floating market, we were immediately approached by a small boat full of coconuts. Rachel ordered us four coconuts and right there a man chopped them open and gave us a straw. Their milk was delicious! The market wasn’t what I had imagined. It was a collection of large boats with large poles displaying whatever fruit or vegetable they were selling to be identified from a far. It was a stunning sight. Rachel asked us if we wanted some fresh pineapple (we obviously did), so our boat driver took us to his favorite pineapple seller where we got up onto his ship, also his home, and watched as he cut up a pineapple for us. It was so amazing. The culture of the floating market was so kind and giving. Many of the farmers trade their goods instead of buying and selling. We watched as a woman making soup tied up to a boat to exchange vegetables for a bowl of soup. It’s all so caring and selfless. Rachel explained that this type of culture was very special to the south of Vietnam. After the floating market, we road back to the city center to start our ride back to the ship. We stopped and ate rest stop food (mistake) and made it back to the ship with a few more free hours. We walked around the city some more and got one last meal of pho before ending our amazing time in Vietnam.

as always: the observations
1. Vietnamese people wear long clothes year around. While we are sweating in shorts and a t-shirt they are wearing long pants and sleeves…. what??? I guess they don’t like to get tan so they cover their entire body. So much that they always cover their feet. This leads me to my next point
2. THEY HAVE SANDAL SOCKS. ew. no. Women everywhere wear socks that have a spot made for flip-flops  to go in-between their feet. I’m sorry, but nobody needs to cover their feet that badly
3. The mopeds. I can not emphasize how terrifying these mopeds are. EVERYONE has a moped and rides it anywhere and everywhere. Cars are rare. To cross the street you just walk (wherever you want) and don’t stop. The moped swerve around you. It’s scary.
4.The only traffic rule I could seem to understand was honking when passing. So our driver honked literally every 30 seconds for an entire 3 1/2 hour ride… that was enjoyable.
5. Everyone paints their boats and gives them eyes to make them look like fish and thus prevent them from getting attacked by the sea monster. I thought that was cute.
6. Everything was SO cheap. An “expensive” meal cost us like 4 usd.
7. Beer and water each cost less than a dollar.

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8. Everyone sells their food on the streets. Literally sitting on tarps on the ground.
9. ELEPHANT PANTS!!!!! Everyone wears these loose comfy pants that literally everyone on the ship bought. I got 2 for 10 dollars.
10. People really do wear those rice hats everywhere!

Next stop, Myanmar!