Vietnam

Ho Chich Minh City, Vietnam formerly known as Saigon was a bustling city mixed with rural and urban and eastern and western influence that together, fused a unique melting pot of people and culture within a vast city that seemed to never sleep.

Day 1: My first introduction to Vietnam was by the muffling sounds of motorbikes that created an infestation of traffic as they beeped their way through roundabouts and side streets. Our arrival to Ho Chi Minh had been delayed until noon so Sarah, Chris, Charli, and Emily and I made a run for the city once immigration had been cleared. My girl friends were eager to shop while I was ready to eat Vietnam, so our group split and I went off with Chris to meet up with Tranh, a former 07 voyage Vietnamese inter-port student who Chris had contacted. The Ho Chi Minh port was a lot more lax than the others we had visited; the security, the vendors, the people.

Chris couldn’t get his phone to work so we had to guess who Tranh was. We waited and watched the traffic and SAS students buy their new northface backpacks and Vietnamese fishing hats until we spotted out the tiniest Vietnamese girl in a black and white floral dress. After introducing myself, her first question to me was “Are you Vietnamese?” I laughed and said no, that it was my first time being called Vietnamese.

She took us to a small restaurant that had been remodeled from a cozy two-story house to what reminded me of an historic modern style art museum in the middle of a main street that paralled the city. We crossed a small bridge over a Koi pond that connected us to the other side of the restaurant then were led up a steep staircase where we had to duck to go through a doorway to our seats. The restaurant was made up of locals and French expats whose meals sent a mouth watering smell through the room. I thought that I was an expert when it came to Vietnamese cuisine, but the menu was intimidating with dishes that I had never heard of. Tranh took care of our tastebuds and ordered us spicy, sweet, and sour dishes! Mmmm I would kill to go back there right now!

After lunch we spent the rest of the day rummaging though the fabric stores, tailor shops, and the markets of Saigon. All of the vendors had such a high level of skill and craft. I was told that it was absolutely necessary to get a dress customized for you in Vietnam, but I only had a day until my flight to Ha Long Bay and I could not decide on a style or a color for my dream dress. Walking from one place to another was something else in Vietnam. Instead of traffic lights, as a pedestrian you would use your own disgression and whenever it seemed like the right moment to cross, you would simply slowly start inch cautiously and watch as motor bikes would start to slow down and part for you. Once I got used to it I didn’t even have to think or look just slowly walk and watch as I would literally stop traffic.

The city of Saigon was as curious to see me as I was to see it. I liked everything about Saigon, its pace, the organization of the city, the food, the people, and the welcoming environment that made it seem like I was in a small town rather than a big city. I found it hard to believe that I was in a country that fifty years ago was in severe devastation as a result of the Vietnam War. My time in Saigon was spent among the significant expat culture that the Vietnamese were so welcoming to and eager to get to know. I really liked the city and didn’t want to leave for my SAS trip to Ha Long Bay, I even had second thoughts about leaving.

My flight to Hanoi was schedueled for 4am, so I stayed up the rest of the night bouncing between massage parlors, restaurants, and being a part of the intermingling expat and local nightlife subculture. The night had just began, but no sooner I was on my way to the airport followed by a 3 hour plane ride to Hanoi.

Northern Vietnam was freezing and if it wasn’t for Tranhs advise I wouldn’t have packed such warm clothing. The city and people of Hanoi was what I had always pictured both a French city to look like and French people to act like. Hanoi was a lot more lifeless than Saigon maybe it was the cool weather, or the lack of motor bikes in replacement for luxury cars, Hanoi lacked grit that gave Saigon its unique personality. Everywhere I went locals starred at me severely, not out of curiosity but because I was different. People were not as approachable in Hanoi, not even the other foreigners. It was the first time that I experienced a cold alienation and felt like an intruder in a culture.

It took us about 4 hours to drive out to Ha Long Bay by bus. Our tour guide Mango kept us entertained the whole way out. We drove for hours passing rice field after rice field where I could see what remained of Vietnamese rural life on the stretch of road that connected the fast moving city of Hanoi to the country side that sustained city life. I was surprised at just how much countryside there was in Vietnam, I knew there were gems of sights all over the country and would have killed for a few more days to explore them, but I was content with the rice fields they provided a buffer between the coldness of Hanoi and the road that didn’t seem to end.

We arrived in the small town of Ha Long after sunset. The town was covered in fog that created an eerie atmosphere. SAS put us in a 4 star hotel that I really didn’t think was necessary, I would have much rather have stayed on a fishing boat out on the bay. I was completely exhausted by the time we arrived in Ha Long so I called it a night almost instantly after we arrived.

The next day the fog had lifted and I could see the small town. I was caught off guard to see that Ha Long was such a tourist town lined with 4 star hotels and Ha Long Bay tour companies. Prior to SAS I had seen pictures of the Bay and had instantly fell in love with the stillness of the rocky iselets that dotted pale grey waters of the Bay.

I sat on the upper deck of the 2 story wooden boat as we glided through the calm misty waters. The combination of grey and silence created mysterious and eerie atmosphere on the Bay. I could see the iselets off in the distance waiting as we coasted our way closer and closer. We arrived at a large rock island that was swarming with tourists and boats like ours. Inside of the rock island was a giant cave that was filled with multi color lights and stone isceles that draped from the ceiling. The cave fit hundreds of us, but the echoing of foreign dialects that bounced off the hollow walls and the mass clutter of people drew from the caves mystique.

By the time we got back on the Bay the rest of the crowd had followed us making it difficult for me to enjoy the view. I got to see famous twin rock iscelet that resembled a heart with a hole that cut through the middle. Our time on the Bay was short, and we left no sooner than we had arrived.

I left Ha Long with a feeling of dissapointement and emphathy for the Ha Long community. What was once a small sustainable fishing town that relied on the Bay for their intake, was now overpowered by foreign visitors like myself. There was a lot of of spatial inequality in Ha Long leaving people no choice but to capitalize on the only thing great that was left in their town.

I left northern Vietnam indifferently and ready to get back to Saigon. We arrived in the city and I quickly found my friends and went to a local Karaoke hub. The atmosphere of what looked like a hole in the wall space was filled with a lively group of locals testing their western music skills. We danced and sung along for the rest of the night and tried to explain to locals about our voyage around the world. Vocalizing my Semester at Sea experience is still so surreal and I can tell by the expressions on peoples face that it is really hard for them to wrap their heads around as well. I enjoyed my last night in Saigon with my friends and the people I had met and left the hub in better spirits.

The next day I tagged along with my friend Chris and some Vietnamese friends he had made and spent the rest of my last day riding out to the Chu Chi tunnels on the back of a moped! My last day couldn’t have been any better. We rode an hour out of town through the countryside and out of the city to the tunnels with some of the sweetest girls I had met. They spoke little English, but sometimes the silence of a smile is much more powerful than words.

 I got to experience and be a part of the spectacle of traffic and motorbike congestion riding through the inner and outer city of Saigon. The Chu Chi tunnels were a lot further than I expected. The tunnels and the history behind them were remarkable. I was surprised at how little I had known about the Vietnam war before I had arrived. An entire group of people built an underground community to defend themselves against the American soilders. I had always learned about the war in school and had no connection to the history, but actually being in an old warzone made me realize how real the wars impact was on communities such as Chu Chi. It made me appreciate the direction that humanity was going, and that the local people were able to move on and not resent people like myself who were wanted to visit and learn from the past traumatic experience so that no one would ever turn in that direction again.

I arrived back in Saigon and didn’t want to leave after having spent my most exciting day there yet. Chris and I killed some time before we needed to head back to the ship getting our last fix of Vietnamese food and spending time with our new friends before we had to leave.

I saw the opposite ends of Vietnam but did not get to experince its central core leaving me a reason to someday go back. I found the contrasting perception of foreigners interesting, and the history of the country was a great learning experience. I really enjoyed Vietnam and hoped that by the time I made it back that it would not manage to changed in any way.