VIETNAM: Sunday, March 26- Thursday, March 30
I couldn’t really sleep the night before Vietnam because I was so excited about my parents coming, so I watched the ship come in from 6 to 9am. The land looked similar to Burma, but with a lot more industry and more dense population. I expected to see more jungles like in the Vietnam war movies, but was surprised to see a lot of built up land instead. We docked right in the city of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City Officially). There were women dressed up in the traditional dress holding a welcome sign up, but I didn’t see any parents. Finally after about 20 minutes of being docked, the parent’s bus pulled up. It was great to see them, but I had to wait until customs cleared the ship before they could get on board.
That morning we went to the get suits made at Cao Minh Tailors, and then went for an excellent Vietnamese lunch. We spent the afternoon at the War Remnants museum and looking around the market. Everyone said that Vietnam would be the cheapest yet, but it was definitely more expensive than India and Burma.
We had to leave very early (4:30am) on the 27th to head fly North to Hanoi. When we got there we drove around the Presidential area where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked. The place where his body remains was closed, but that was probably better because I am not so interested in seeing his mummified body. The area is very pretty and open for a city. Some of the locals were taking pictures with us, which I found surprising because there were a bit of tourists here. We also went to the Temple of Literature, a 1000 year old tribute to the early educated Vietnamese. Not only did the stone sculptures look old, but all the trees and landscape looked ancient. After being completely stuffed at lunch with like ten courses (which became the theme in Vietnam), we proceeded three hours on bus to Halong Bay. The drive was really interesting as we went by many villages and rice fields. I saw lots of cows and people in the fields, and even some water buffalo which means that I now completed the big five (I saw all of the other big five game animals in South Africa).
In the morning, we took a four hour boat ride around the Bay. The area was gorgeous with scattered mountains coming out of the ocean. A lot of the mountains had beautiful caves inside. We explored some of the caves and had lunch on board the boat while admiring the great scenery. The caves were also incredible, and the florescent lighting inside was a little weird, but pretty. There were about ten other boats viewing the caves as the same time as us, which meant that the paths inside and the areas around them were eroding quicker due to the heavy foot traffic. It was really funny when a family rowed up to our bigger boat, tied up and then jumped on trying to sell us fruit. I haven’t seen that one yet, it has only been buses and trains so far.
We drove back to Hanoi to see the traditional water puppet show. There was a live band with Vietnamese instruments and a pretty setting. The show was really interesting, which makes sense because it was rated first in the world for puppetry (I never knew there was such an award).
That night we went out to a sports bar. That means that we were watching Rugby (I have long given up on trying to keep up with anything American). I played darts with a local after beating my dad (still not sure how that happened). He told me that my name means soft and strong in Vietnamese, which I think is pretty cool. Then I made friends with his friends and they were very interested in chugging wine, so I decided to take part in the local culture.
The next day, the 29th, we went to the Army Museum and to the Hanoi Hilton, where thousands of prisoners of war were kept during the Vietnam war. Their perspective was rather interesting, and a little ridiculous. One room would say how horribly their people were treated and the next room would display that the American prisoners of war were treated very kindly, receiving gifts and having freedoms.
We had a few hours the last day to shop around Hanoi. My parents and I took some rickshaws to some boutiques, where I got a dress made. We also walked around the markets a little and bought some things including three Northface bags since they were everywhere and I am going to need some more things to pack in coming home.
We flew back to Saigon later that evening. I stayed at the hotel with my parents which was a nice break from the boat since it’s much more spacious. We went to Mekong Delta in the morning of the 30th. On the way there we stopped at a beautiful Buddhist Pagoda where I got to see more monks (yeah!). The delta was gorgeous, with a few islands that all had little creeks running through them. We took small river boats through the creeks in the dense forests and made stops at local craft places and a coconut candy maker. The coconut trees that grew in the water and trees alongside the creeks looked like what I expected from Vietnam. The only bad part was when I dropped my camera and broke it, which was really upsetting.
Later that afternoon, my parents and I went to try on our suits again, buy me a new camera, and shop around a bit. Then we had dinner at a really good Italian restaurant. I know, we were in Vietnam, so we should have eaten the local food, but we were pretty sick of it from eating so much the past 4 days. Then we went out for a couple cocktails at the Rex Hotel, which a wonderful view of downtown Saigon. Yet again, I was sad to have to get back on the ship and leave the port, but I was even more upset this time because I had to say goodbye to my parents.
Thank you Mom & Dad for coming to see me! I had a great time and really appreciate you bringing me some stuff I forgot, buying me a new camera, and bringing some of my stuff home. See you in a month! Love you and Miss you (and Pamela and the rest of my family and friends)!
I couldn’t really sleep the night before Vietnam because I was so excited about my parents coming, so I watched the ship come in from 6 to 9am. The land looked similar to Burma, but with a lot more industry and more dense population. I expected to see more jungles like in the Vietnam war movies, but was surprised to see a lot of built up land instead. We docked right in the city of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City Officially). There were women dressed up in the traditional dress holding a welcome sign up, but I didn’t see any parents. Finally after about 20 minutes of being docked, the parent’s bus pulled up. It was great to see them, but I had to wait until customs cleared the ship before they could get on board.
That morning we went to the get suits made at Cao Minh Tailors, and then went for an excellent Vietnamese lunch. We spent the afternoon at the War Remnants museum and looking around the market. Everyone said that Vietnam would be the cheapest yet, but it was definitely more expensive than India and Burma.
We had to leave very early (4:30am) on the 27th to head fly North to Hanoi. When we got there we drove around the Presidential area where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked. The place where his body remains was closed, but that was probably better because I am not so interested in seeing his mummified body. The area is very pretty and open for a city. Some of the locals were taking pictures with us, which I found surprising because there were a bit of tourists here. We also went to the Temple of Literature, a 1000 year old tribute to the early educated Vietnamese. Not only did the stone sculptures look old, but all the trees and landscape looked ancient. After being completely stuffed at lunch with like ten courses (which became the theme in Vietnam), we proceeded three hours on bus to Halong Bay. The drive was really interesting as we went by many villages and rice fields. I saw lots of cows and people in the fields, and even some water buffalo which means that I now completed the big five (I saw all of the other big five game animals in South Africa).
In the morning, we took a four hour boat ride around the Bay. The area was gorgeous with scattered mountains coming out of the ocean. A lot of the mountains had beautiful caves inside. We explored some of the caves and had lunch on board the boat while admiring the great scenery. The caves were also incredible, and the florescent lighting inside was a little weird, but pretty. There were about ten other boats viewing the caves as the same time as us, which meant that the paths inside and the areas around them were eroding quicker due to the heavy foot traffic. It was really funny when a family rowed up to our bigger boat, tied up and then jumped on trying to sell us fruit. I haven’t seen that one yet, it has only been buses and trains so far.
We drove back to Hanoi to see the traditional water puppet show. There was a live band with Vietnamese instruments and a pretty setting. The show was really interesting, which makes sense because it was rated first in the world for puppetry (I never knew there was such an award).
That night we went out to a sports bar. That means that we were watching Rugby (I have long given up on trying to keep up with anything American). I played darts with a local after beating my dad (still not sure how that happened). He told me that my name means soft and strong in Vietnamese, which I think is pretty cool. Then I made friends with his friends and they were very interested in chugging wine, so I decided to take part in the local culture.
The next day, the 29th, we went to the Army Museum and to the Hanoi Hilton, where thousands of prisoners of war were kept during the Vietnam war. Their perspective was rather interesting, and a little ridiculous. One room would say how horribly their people were treated and the next room would display that the American prisoners of war were treated very kindly, receiving gifts and having freedoms.
We had a few hours the last day to shop around Hanoi. My parents and I took some rickshaws to some boutiques, where I got a dress made. We also walked around the markets a little and bought some things including three Northface bags since they were everywhere and I am going to need some more things to pack in coming home.
We flew back to Saigon later that evening. I stayed at the hotel with my parents which was a nice break from the boat since it’s much more spacious. We went to Mekong Delta in the morning of the 30th. On the way there we stopped at a beautiful Buddhist Pagoda where I got to see more monks (yeah!). The delta was gorgeous, with a few islands that all had little creeks running through them. We took small river boats through the creeks in the dense forests and made stops at local craft places and a coconut candy maker. The coconut trees that grew in the water and trees alongside the creeks looked like what I expected from Vietnam. The only bad part was when I dropped my camera and broke it, which was really upsetting.
Later that afternoon, my parents and I went to try on our suits again, buy me a new camera, and shop around a bit. Then we had dinner at a really good Italian restaurant. I know, we were in Vietnam, so we should have eaten the local food, but we were pretty sick of it from eating so much the past 4 days. Then we went out for a couple cocktails at the Rex Hotel, which a wonderful view of downtown Saigon. Yet again, I was sad to have to get back on the ship and leave the port, but I was even more upset this time because I had to say goodbye to my parents.
Thank you Mom & Dad for coming to see me! I had a great time and really appreciate you bringing me some stuff I forgot, buying me a new camera, and bringing some of my stuff home. See you in a month! Love you and Miss you (and Pamela and the rest of my family and friends)!
posted by Kim @ 4:59 AM
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