Vietnam

Vietnam is hot. Hot and humid. At least it was in the south, where I spent my six days. When we were allowed to disembark on February 14 (happy Valentine’s day…) I was prepared. I wore conservative yet colorful shorts - the only kind I brought on this voyage – and my best light fabric t shirt. I had a ball cap, sunglasses, a full cold water bottle, and lots of sunscreen. I did wear sandals, but a kind that was good for walking. And off we went, my group of five friends and one person who tagged along for fun. Our goal was to see the major sights of Saigon. The proper term these days is Ho Chi Minh City, that’s what’s on all the new maps. But most people I heard referred to it as Saigon and that was the name on most of the signs.

(An important note: I had, overall, a pretty great time in Vietnam. But there was a lot about the visit that was very difficult. I couldn’t leave it out as it did add to my experience. Just so you know.)

We knew from the pre port meeting that the traffic was going to be crazy. We knew to be careful and alert when crossing the streets. We knew to never accept a ride on the back of anyone’s moped. We knew to look in every direction possible for cars, mopeds, motorcycles, buses, taxis, other pedestrians, and the occasional bicycle. Because all those and more, we were told, careened around the streets of Saigon with little regard to traffic laws. And this, we soon found out, was definitely the case. Our plan was to walk around and see the president’s palace (now a museum), the Saigon Notre Dam cathedral, the old post office, the jade pagoda, a fancy tourist restaurant (come dinner time) and the night market. We accomplished all of that. In that order, too. Originally we had plans to see the war remnants museum too, but that got vetoed in case of time constraints. I was relieved, I have no stomach for such things…and I knew I would get lots of history from the president’s palace.

The palace was pretty cool. We got to look at most of the prominent rooms, but we weren’t allowed in. Apparently the upper floors of the place are now private apartments. The palace had a clean and airy feel, which makes sense, given the location. We saw other SAS students there. They were on a mandatory field trip and were slightly surprised at our choice. On we continued to the church and the post office. They were very close to each other and near a large green park as well. We stopped for refreshments at a nearby café. I ordered lemon with milk and honey. I was served a pale yellow drink in a tall glass with ice. It tasted like liquid lemon bars. Very sweet but I was glad for the chill. The cathedral was honestly not that impressive. I had seen grander ones in Quito (Ecuador). The post office was pretty cool though. It was built in the 1930s and still had that historical feel. The floor was done in beautiful tile and there was what looked like original woodwork everywhere. On one side of the main hall were old phone booths with modern phones. On the other side were old phone booths that had been converted into ATMS. Lots of tourists took pictures. I saw a local mom there with twin girls. Maybe six years old. They wore identical braids in their hair, yellow sundresses, and shiny orange shoes.

The best thing we saw there was the wedding couple taking photos. She looked a lot younger than her husband, but both looked happy. They did somewhat silly photos. I am not sure of the significance to them of the post office, I didn’t stop and ask. A few blocks later near a park we saw another wedding couple across the street. They didn’t take photos with a wedding party either, just the two of them. We figured it was cause of Valentine’s that so many people were being wed. By this point in the day we had not really had to cross any major streets, but the amount of motorbikes passing us was still pretty astronomical. Many drivers would turn their heads and look at us. I suppose it was good for them, that so many people can get around easily on those things, taking up way less space than cars. But the smell on the streets! So much gasoline. I was getting to the point that every breath hurt. It was hard to distract myself from it. I felt so dirty just walking around. I was expecting China to be like that, where you can feel the dirty air. But I found Saigon to be way worse.

We got lost trying to find the jade pagoda. We’d had to cross some busy streets. I needed to hold my friend’s arm to do it. And there weren’t really sidewalks anymore, just narrow ones. We navigated between the parked bikes and the moving ones. Pretty much the entire time in Saigon groups walked single file. We passed the brand new McDonalds. It had a red carpet leading to the door, and a rope barrier maze like at and amusement park ride. The drive through line was all motorbikes, it went way out into the intersection. Other drivers didn’t seem to care, they would just go around…on the wrong side of the street. But their lanes were taken up. We didn’t enter the McDonalds. By this point I was starting to feel really done with the city. I wasn’t happy or amused by the newness.

Actually finding the jade pagoda didn’t help. It looked old cause it probably was. But not in a nice way, really. There were pools of shallow water with fish and turtles. But I could see dead fish floating, and lots of trash on the surface. There were three stands for the incense in the entryway alone, people would light handfuls and leave them. The smoke was so strong it had me tearing up. Inside was chaos. It was super dark in there, for one thing. And there were so many people going every which way. So many different rooms with statues. I was really worried about getting pickpocketed, I didn’t take photos. The guards outside had told us not to anyway. I wish I had one though, I feel like I can’t really describe what it was like in there. I’ve been to huge cathedrals and small churches in other countries, I had seen the temples and shrines they had in Japan and China. There I felt humbled, I felt awed, I felt impressed. At this place of worship I felt none of those things. The fault is probably all with me. It was probably because of all the new things I had already seen that day.

I didn’t stay inside for long. I rejoined one of my friends outside who had never gone in. I tried to tell her how I was feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I told her, I was so glad to be there, so so glad. I had no disrespect for what I was seeing either. I just really didn’t understand it and I didn’t feel comfortable either. She told me I was probably going through culture shock. She was probably right. Dinner was good. The portions were really small. The waiters tossed the rice around, broke the dish it was in. That was a pretty good show. At the night market, I saw three things I wanted. Pants, a shirt, and a gift for a friend back home. Bartering was difficult. My friend had to help me out. I was very appreciative. But the best part of that first day was getting back to the ship.

I slept well, but it took me a while to fall asleep that night. Along the street market sat lots of beggars. One man had no shirt or shoes and he was obviously handicapped. The worst were two separate women. I saw them at different places. Both had children on their laps. Thankfully just one child each. They slept as we passed, their moms held out various containers for money. They each held a ragged, filthy toy. They both had bare feet. Neither was over six years old. It absolutely broke my heart. I really wanted to share something, but I didn’t want to encourage begging either. It seems like most of us are so removed from that life, especially those of us not living in large cities. How can anyone know what to do? Maybe you could make it better for them, for a meal or for a day. But those pass so quickly. So quickly.

My second day in the city went way, way better. I had a fantastic time. I went around with a different group of girls. We did a lot of shopping. My bartering was way better. I got a pair of cheap sunglasses for half the price the guy wanted. I got pretty shoes. I got myself a dress. And I got some other things. But I was glad for all of it. My friends got dresses tailored. I cannot wait to see what they had made. I didn’t cause I didn’t see anything I liked. A traditional dress would have been cool, but where would I wear that? I had my best meal that evening. It was beef pho and sugarcane water. I had never had pho before but I knew what it was. Noodle soup with veggies and meat. We got fried spring rolls to share too. Delicious. Our waiter, we discovered, was Saigon local, but he had good friends that moved to Duluth, Minnesota. I thought that was pretty random. One of the girls in our group was from there. I gave the guy a tip as we left.

I had an early night. The next day I woke up early to have breakfast before meeting the SAS sponsored group going to visit Cat Tien National Park. Including the group leader there were only nine of us going. I thought this was a perfect size group, especially for visiting a natural place. Among our group we had five students (including yours truly), two life long learners (basically grown up students), and one man who was the husband of a professor. He had the biggest camera. I am pretty sure each of us had a window seat on our bus so we really enjoyed the ride, especially because of the air conditioning. Our guide for the next three days was named Hugh. He spoke English very well…and with a British accent. I asked him about that. He said he just learned at a local Saigon school. I meant it as a compliment and he took it that way.

The ride was four hours, we did make a couple stops. First to a sort of restaurant to get snacks and use the restroom. Next along the road to look at a village that was build on a manmade lake where the people would raise fish to sell underneath their floating houses. The rest of the drive to the park was very pleasant. We passed some awesome sights. It felt great to get out of the city. The bus stopped at the end of the road near a wide brown river. There was a building with open walls and tile and dirt floors. We sat at a table with large stone benches. Small, dirty, yet not unhealthy looking dogs slept in the sun and half grown chickens strutted around. It didn’t exactly look tropical, that place, but it looked like it belonged in the location it was.

We all got into a boat that would take us across the river to the hotel for the park. We were expecting pretty rough accommodations. But what we got was actually pretty nice. There were many rooms in separate cabins. There were two restaurants. There were lots and lots of activities provided by the park. We ate each meal at the same restaurant, they gave us lots of good food. I shared a room with my friend Kim. There were three beds in the room but just the two of us…and lots of bugs. Our beds had nice nets which we really appreciated. The bugs we found in the bathroom we did not like as much. Kim was way better at disposing of them than I was. We really bonded, she and I, sharing that room.

My favorite part of visiting the park was by far being out of the city. The activity I enjoyed most, however, was whenever we got to ride in the trucks. The trucks came in two sizes. One had two benches built into the bed of the truck. The other had ten or twelve. I liked the smaller truck better. We took a boat on a ride down the river which was great fun and had us seeing a lot of different birds. We got out of the boat and looked at a small local village. Our guide said the people had lived nomadically in the jungle, but the government provided the money to settle them in this more westernized town. The people looked happy and healthy. It was getting time for dinner so we did not spent much time in the village. We went back to the hotel in the small truck. It was just like a roller coaster ride. I loved the wind in my hair. The driver went down these tiny dirt roads pretty fast, too. He would honk coming up to a turn, then speed up to complete it. Goodness, was it fun.

In the evening we went in the bigger truck for a night safari. We got to see deer and a wild pig. This truck didn’t go as fast. But it was still lots of fun, and the stars that night were especially beautiful. My parents long ago taught me to identify Orion, but thanks to my astronomy class aboard the MV EXPLORER I was able to also locate some of its stars, Rigel, Mintaka, Betelguese. I also knew the various stories that go with him, I told them to my friend in the trip. The moon that night was gorgeous too. This was after the full moon but it was still pretty large and at first glowed with an orange light. I slept very well that first night.

The next day I had a harder time of it. I wore plenty of sunscreen and drank a lot of water. But we went on a hike to see the crocodile lake and it definitely took its toll on me. I was fine by the next day, but I didn’t do much once we got back to Saigon. Anyway, the hike was totally worth it. I got to talk to a Vietnamese park ranger. We got to see many birds and butterflies. We saw a giant tree and small delicate flowers. The crocodile lake was not what I was expecting. Well, the lake was. It was absolutely beautiful. But I wasn’t expecting a military establishment at the end of the trail. Some of the people that live in the area still go hunting for sustenance, but that is not allowed anymore within the borders of the national park. So these soldiers are stationed out there at crocodile lake just in case there are any infractions. It was a very relaxed place, like a campout. I wouldn’t have known those guys were soldiers if Hugh hadn’t told us. They seemed very nice, those guys, but they didn’t approach us to start conversations.

We headed back to the trail and finally the truck. The day had us walking 10 kilometers. I guess maybe around five or six miles. It wasn’t a difficult trail but the heat made it a struggle. I relaxed the rest of the day. I did get to see some monkeys though, near the restaurant at the hotel. They were very playful and very graceful. The proprietor had a little girl who would run around the restaurant and talk loudly to her mom. She was adorable and shy around us. They had a orange and white cat that was not shy at all. I didn’t touch it, I was worried about possible foreign germs, but he did rub on my shoes. I didn’t eat much dinner that night but the conversation around the table was fantastic. We were all talking about our favorite classic novels and giving recommendations to each other. It was absolute camaraderie. I have plans to revisit these conversations with the others throughout the voyage.

Coincedence struck that day too. I found out that the man who’s wife was a professor on the ship knew people in Arcata, where I go to school. Apparently his wife’s father was involved in science programs at Humboldt State. Her mom still lives there and though she is older she still is active in the community and enjoys spending time in nature. They told me they could put me in touch with her so I can meet her when I go back to school. They also gave me good resources to check out for my education and career in environmental sciences.

So though my trip to Vietnam was sort of fraught with troubles, it was still a fantastic trip and I am so glad I got to go there. My best souvenir (despite all the shopping I did) is some leftover money. The American dollar has a lot of value there and things were not that expensive. 2000 Vietnamese dong is equal to about ten cents. They only have bills, no coins in their currency. The zeros just get bigger. I think it might be the most interesting money and one of the most interesting countries I’ll visit. But I am super excited for the next one.

Posted for 20 February 2014