Vietnam

Day 1:  We went to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Vietnamese hid and lived during the war.  It was very interesting to hear their side of the war and the tactics they used during that time.  After the tunnel tour we got to shoot a gun at the range.  (I think it was kind of strange they had this as a part of the tour, but it was still cool to do.)  After that we came back to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and explored the area.

Day 2: We left Saigon at 6am to head to Hanoi in northern Vietnam.  We had the day free to explore the city.  We tried to go to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, but it was closed on Mondays.  We also tried to go to a market, but they were all closed as well.  The language barrier was pretty hard in trying to get around.  We kept asking how to get places and would get a different answer from everyone we asked.  We gave up seeking anything and just explored the rest of the day.  We just wondered and saw what the city had to offer.  We ended up having a fun time just people watching by the lake.

Day 3:  In the morning we left for Ha Long Bay.  It was beautiful!  We went on the junk boat and did some sight-seeing of the bay.  Then we went in one of the caves.  After that we went kayaking.  That night we had a relaxed night of having dinner and talking until about 2am about our experiences and thoughts on what we’ve been seeing. 

Day 4: Today was a travel day.  In the morning we traveled back to land from the boat.  After that we had about a 5 hour bus ride to the airport.  Then we had an evening flight back to Saigon.

Day 5:  Today I went to the War Remembrance Museum.  I actually enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.  I’m usually not much of a museum person, but seeing picture after picture in the museum really got to me.  It was so interesting to see those things.  The museum was definitely their side of the story, but it was still a really cool thing to see.  After that I finally found a market that I’ve been looking for the whole time I was here.  I got to explore the market for a few hours before having to return to the ship.

 

Reflection: I am very happy that I got to go to the museum the last day.  Not that I didn’t enjoy Vietnam, it was a very interesting experience here, but I felt that the museum and learning about the war made my experience here.  I am not a big history person and seeing these things, in this port and others, has definitely sparked an interest in history in me.  That is yet another thing I wanted out of this trip and I am glad that it is happening.  In school the history classes go so fast and just skim the surface and it is hard to grasp and understand what has happened in the past.  This trip has given me an opportunity to slowly learn the history of these places and in more detail and better understanding of what I have had in the past.  This port has been not so much about learning about myself as learning about other people and cultures.  I can get many different answers about our side of the war, and history in general, but it is a unique experience to be able to talk first hand with the other side of the story and get their views.  I am still learning about the war, so I don’t have much to say about it at the moment, but I will be asking some questions about it when I get home to those who were around at that time :] 

“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” -Aldous Huxley