Good Morning Vietnam!

I know I keep saying this after every port, but Vietnam was by far my favorite place. China and Japan are going to have to step their game up to compete with Vietnam.

 

 

There is so much history within the country that has to do with the United States. In the days leading up to our arrival in Vietnam, many of the professors gave lectures about life in the States during the time of the war. A good amount of them had even fought in it and this was their first time returning to the country.

I got the chance to learn a lot about the war up close when I went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are a 250km stretch of underground tunnels (created by hand!) and were used a ‘hiding spot’ during the time of the war. That was such a surreal experience. I walked through the old battle grounds and stood in craters of land where bombs were dropped. I crawled my way through a few of the tunnels, and have never felt more like an ant in my life. Well I guess it was the only time I ever really felt like an ant, but still…

 

 

The city that we ported in was Ho Chi Min City, but to get there, the ship had to float two hours up the Saigon River. All along the banks of the river were these massive jungles, villages, and tiny little house boats. The river itself was like a very thin stream of mud. The water was so brown. And the air was insanely hot and thick.

 

 

Vietnam is the cheapest shopping I have ever done in my life. T-shirts were a dollar, and so were DVDs. North Face backpacks were about $10 and the giant jackets were about $30-$40. Who cares if they might be fake! They look real enough. I even got two custom made dresses for $100. I can never look at a mall in the same way again.

 

 

The food was not only amazing, but cheap too! An average meal, drinks included, was about $4-$6. Motor bike rides across the city were a dollar. Massages were about $10 for an hour. It was amazing!

 

 

The best deal that we came across was our trip to the Mekong Delta. This is an area on the western side of the country, near Cambodia. It's basically miles of rivers that all lead to the Indian Ocean. It's all tiny little villages on the banks of the river with floating markets and house boats. Actually, they were more like floating tree houses and not 'house boats'. 

 

 

It was me and five of my friends. We drove 3 hours, and it only cost us 5 bucks a person! Our adventure began at the beginning of the Delta, and we spent the night sailing 6 hours further up the river. The sleeper train in India was a five star hotel compared to what I slept in going up that river. It was literally a large canoe with a tiny tin roof over our heads. Funny thing is, we had the option of sleeping in a hotel and then having our driver take us up the river in a car early in the morning. But no, we wanted the adventure, and we slept on wood.

 

 

In the morning we were dropped off in the middle of this village, and we had no idea what part of the country we were even in anymore. But we didn’t care. We spent a few days hanging out with the locals on their boats and in their homes along the river. They were just as fascinated by us as we were by them. This was not a touristy village at all (our homestay was the only one in the area). Most of the time, we were looked at like aliens, especially the two girls I was with who have blonde hair. But they still were so friendly and invited us into thier homes with open arms. The only problem was the communication difficulties. No one really spoke English and my map of pictures didn’t work as well as I would have thought. At one point, we were hanging out with a family and we asked them for cold beer. They took off in excitement, thinking they finally understood what we were saying. They soon returned with warm beer, and squid.

 

 

The conditions of these villages were really hard to take in. Back home, I camp in better conditions and more comfortably than these people live. At night, the water level of the river would rise and flood the roads and leave most of the homes with a slight flood of about 3 inches of water. But everyone seemed so happy content with life, like it was so simple and fantastic. And there we stood, concerned that our shoes were getting wet as these peoples homes flooded on a nightly basis.

 

 

Vietnam was just an overall amazing experience. 

 

 

Tomorrow we arrive in Hong Kong. We have been sailing the waters of the the South China Sea for 3 days now, and the sky is literally a giant rainbow with every sunrise and sunset. Have you ever seen a green sky before? Didn't think so. But they exist, and they are incredible. 

 

 

The ship docks right in the harbor, over looking the amazing skyline and light show that Hong Kong has to offer. This is one of the top 5 things I have been most excited to see since the beginning of this voyage. We have 5 days in China, and I am heading up to Bejing to have a slumber party on the Great Wall! ….in below zero weather. Fantastic.

 

 

They say you can see the Great Wall from space, so Google Earth that shit and look for me!