Vietnam

        Coming into Vietnam, the ship had been passing around a pretty nasty cold.  I wasn’t feeling it too badly the first day we got there, but I woke up the morning of the second day as if someone flipped a switch on my strength, energy, and overall wellbeing. I could barely open my eyelids and my body was feeling pretty achy, but even though all I wanted to do was sleep all day, I knew I should take time to explore and enjoy Vietnam. 
        SAS provided a shuttle to the city center, which ran all day until 11PM. For the first time leaving the ship, though, I wanted to walk.  I was worried that if I didn’t explore Ho Chi Minh by foot, I wouldn’t have a good enough feel for the city.  So, the first day I met up with John, Darren and Jeff and the four of us set out with no direction or idea of what we wanted to do.  Immediately after leaving the gates, we were bombarded by bicycle and motorcycle rickshaws.  We insisted that we were just walking, that we didn’t want a ride, and that they were wasting their time following us.  Despite these efforts, we were followed by 6 rickshaws for a solid mile. They gave up eventually and we were on our own.  The main thing to get used to was the traffic.  Motorbikes were everywhere and there was never a break in the traffic.  There were few traffic lights, and no true cross walks.  As a pedestrian, I learned the best way to cross streets was to watch for cars and trucks and wait for them to pass first. There would never be enough time to wait for the motorbikes. They made up a constant stream, river and torrent of chaos.  Once I found a gap in the cars or trucks, I would just step off the curb right into the fray. As long as I kept a constant gait, the stream would flow around me.  Each driver would anticipate my path and would alter course as necessary. It was a little scary to begin with, but once I’d crossed a few streets, I felt like an old pro. It may seem strange, but I felt safer crossing streets where the drivers just expect people to walk in front of them, than in the States where drivers forget to look at crosswalks before making a right hand turn.
That day, the four of us wound up walked through neighborhoods and markets, stopping sometimes along the way and taking in as much of the city as possible. We wandered through the Ben Tanh market, ate Vietnamese dinner together and were even followed and pursued by a prostitute.  We finished the night by meeting up with some more of our friends at a local jazz club called Sax-n-Art.  Turns out the owner and main performer is good friends with one of the SAS faculty members and is also one of the judges on Vietnam Idol. That night I fell more in love with the saxophone and decided that learning to play the sax is one of my new life goals. Its so expressive and warm, I just love it!
        On the morning of the second day, there was a new ship docked just behind us.  It was the South African Navy! I got to meet the captain and talk with a number of the sailors.  One of them has already contacted me on Facebook. His name is Jurie, and he mentioned that the purpose of their tour around the world was essentially to show the world that they had a navy. They had just come from China and were on their way to India before returning to Cape Town. When I went kayaking in Cape Town, I paddled right around the sea wall for their base. They were there for the rest of the week, so we got to see them a few times around the city.  It was fun talking about Cape Town again, and listening to their accents and slang. For the majority of that day though, I went on a trip to the Mekong delta. I’ve spent so much of my time up on the Sacramento River delta, I was curious to see what this one was like.  Turns out, the Mekong Delta is a major major source of income for Vietnam. It is the livelihood of their main fisheries and is also utilized for transportation of goods.  We got off the boat and walked on land over stones and bridges to where lunch was being served. We had fish, spring rolls, octopus and noodles.  That was easily one of the best meals I’ve had abroad. After lunch we got into canoes and paddled through a small waterway back to the boats. I kept imagining the reactions of the Vietnamese fishermen if I were to pull a banana boat full of campers through the main channel of the Mekong; guess that’ll have to wait for next summer;-)
        I spent most of the third day resting up, as I wasn’t feeling well at all. I did go out for lunch wit Darren and Jocelyn to a place recommended by our interport student, but returned to the ship to spend most of the day sleeping.  I wanted to be well for my birthday the next day! For my birthday, I went with Darren and Jocelyn to the War Remnants Museum and Reunification Palace.  It was pretty awesome to connect all the lessons about the Vietnam War with these historic sights.  The museum had exhibits of photographs, art and letters. Much of the information was heavily one sided (which is expected), but nonetheless it was interesting to be in Vietnam and receive their perspective on the matter.  Something I found most significant and contrary to my own education and knowledge about the war in Vietnam is the amount of other nations that openly protested and demonstrated our involvement. It was also incredible to read about all the war photographers that were killed.  Near the exit was a notebook for visitors to sign or express any thoughts or reactions.  Everyone that signed told where they had visited from and some were in other languages, but the ones in English, I did read. I honestly felt embarrassed and altogether uncomfortable to be an American at the museum.  Outside, a huge storm was beginning to crack the sky and flood the streets. There were so many hateful notes and comments towards the US. Reading further though, I was happy to read the reactions of the Americans who got to see another point of view and had altered their opinions or empathized with the Vietnamese for the first time. The three of us grabbed ponchos on the way out to stay dry in the rain and made our way back to the ship. Benson had been in Ha Noi up until the night of my birthday, but wanted to be back to go out for it. For my birthday we went out to the Ben Tanh market where there were outdoor restaurants lined up on the street.  I had some beef pho noodles with spring rolls (soo good, I love pho noodles!) and Benson picked up the tab for me saying, “You shouldn’t have to buy your birthday dinner!” I enjoyed the night out with my new friends, even though I was still feeling sick and could barely keep my eyes open.
        For our last day in Ho Chi Minh, I went on a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels with Darren, Benson and Jocelyn. Crawling through those tunnels and walking through the jungle was quite an experience.  Granted, its been entirely turned into a tourist attraction. Despite that fact though, I did my best to catch a glimpse of actually being there, but it was impossible.  There was a shooting range at the end of the tour, so while I would stare into the jungle and try to envision being there during the war, there were gunshots in the background…still, I found it impossible. Benson and I took the opportunity to fire an AK47 at the end of the tour. I can’t imagine being ordered to fire a machine like that at another human. Getting to tour the tunnels was a great compliment to visiting the War Museum the day before. Both were a great way of better informing me of the events of such a controversial time in our history. After getting back to Ho Chi Minh City, Benson and I walked around aimlessly for a few short hours.  We were on our way back when we happened into a frozen yogurt place.  We weren’t planning on it at all but after seeing the sign, we decided it sounded delicious☺ We went inside and I heard a, “Mason!” It was Becca Wegener from houseboats.  She’d been traveling with a friend of hers whose sister, Megan Erstad, was on the ship. I knew Becca would be in Vietnam, but we hadn’t planned on meeting up. A few minutes after sitting there, my friends Ben and Paige walked in. And if you didn’t think that was a big enough coincidence, Paige has a cousin who works with Becca and I at houseboats.  Small world huh?
        Despite my lack of energy all week, I think I made the most of my week. If I learned anything in Vietnam, its that I love Vietnamese food.  I can’t wait to look up some good local pho places at home!

-mason

“Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another” -Oswald Chambers