The heat is on in Saigon

Vietnam.

Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, five of us decided to go to the Cu Chi
tunnels.  Used during the Vietnam War (or the American War as it is called
here), a network of tunnels and rooms are open for tourists to explore.
The tunnels are small with only enough space to crouch and kind of stumble
through… not to mention that it was like an oven in there.  After being in
the tunnels literally three minutes, I was sweating as if I had just
worked out for two hours.  The humidity in Vietnam is ridiculous.  I don’t
know if I’ve sweat so much in a five day period before!  Being at the Cu
Chi tunnels was an intense experience.  As I walked through the jungle, it
was surreal to know that the war had occurred right there.  Covered by
leaves, a small square hole in the ground provided a hiding place for Viet
Cong soldiers.  A guide showed us various hidden methods used to injure
American soldiers as they ran through the jungles surrounding Saigon.  A
U.S. Army tank sat abandoned and destroyed in the middle of the jungle.  A
shooting range on the grounds gave tourists a chance to fire rifles used
in the war, and shots rang through the air adding an eerie sound effect.
I had never been anywhere before and not wanted to admit that I was from
America before… it was an odd, sobering feeling.

One day, I went to a school for children with disabilities.  It was hard
to communicate, but we had brought toys, crayons, and coloring books so
that helped.
I sat on the floor surrounded by little kids, handing out stickers and
coloring.  The facilities were very nice, and the students seemed well
behaved.  The kids were so adorable.

I also went to through Semester at Sea to the Mekong Delta which is south
of Ho Chi Minh City.  We visited a Buddhist temple and got to witness a
service going on.  The people were knelt on the ground chanting while the
leader played a drum.  Outside there was a huge Buddha, probably about
twenty/twenty-five feet tall.  It was pretty cool.  We continued on until
we got to the Mekong River.  The boats sat so low in the water that they
looked as if they were about to go under.  Eventually we were on four
person row boats going through narrow waterways surrounded by a canopy of
greenery.  It was absolutely beautiful.

At the post-port meeting after Malaysia, one girl talked about how she
spent the whole time by herself traveling around the country.  There were
a couple of days that a lot of people were on trips out of Saigon so I
thought it might be a good opportunity for me to spend some time exploring
on my own.  I think that most of the time I associate being alone with
loneliness so I was a little nervous.  I am SO glad that I took the plunge
because I had an awesome two days.  I didn’t see anyone I knew, and I
enjoyed spending some time by myself just doing whatever I wanted to do.

I booked a hotel room through expedia.com and walked off the ship, duffel
bag in hand.  There were no taxis just motorbikes.  Now, the first time I
was ever on one in my life was Mauritius, and I hung on to my friend like
my life depended on it.  The first night in Vietnam we discovered that
scooters are THE way to get around.  But this time I had my duffel bag
with me.  I put it in between myself and the driver and off we went.  It
was about a thirty minute ride to the hotel which ended up being really
nice.  I ended up being a huge loser and spent the evening calling my
parents and spending too much time on the internet.  (It’s about 40 cents
a minute on the ship)  The next morning I woke up early and walked around
the area outside my hotel.  I broke my camera in Malaysia so I was hoping
to find a new one, but the Canon store seemed to be about 2 years behind
and double the price so no luck.  I definitely got a lot of weird looks as
a white girl walking around HCMC but whatever.  Everyone was really nice.
I went back to the hotel and had a delicious breakfast then headed to the
spa.  I got a forty-five minute facial and a sixty minute massage for
150,000 dong which is ten dollars.  Amazingggg.


After that, I hired a motorbike driver to take me around the city.  I went
to a huge market and did a lot of souvenir shopping.  Then I went to the
War Remnants Museum.  It was intriguing because it tells the other side of
the Vietnam War or the “War of American Aggression” as it is called here.
One picture of a Vietnamese woman crossing a river with her children in an
attempt to flee from American bombs was heartbreaking.  You could see the
fear and anguish in the woman’s eyes as she tried to get her children to
safety.  Another picture that stuck out in my mind was of a small old man
crouched on the ground in fear.  The caption next to the picture was from
the photographer.  It read that after he took the picture and walked away,
he heard gunshots.  The same was said about a second photograph of a
terrified woman and her family.   Just looking at the pictures knowing
that less than one minute later those people were killed was heartbreaking
to me.  The queasy feeling in my stomach only grew as I walked to the
“Tiger cages.”  The small, stuffy cells would have been crowded with
prisoners.  Even with four fans in the small area, it was still scorching
and humid making even walking through and reading the signs almost
unbearable.  Pictures covering the walls illustrated various torture
techniques that were employed by the American soldiers to interrogate
suspected Viet Cong.

There was also an exhibit by a photojournalist who has traveled the world
to some of the most war ravaged and impoverished countries.  The amazing
photographs were from places such as Laos, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the
Congo, and Bosnia.  Some of the pictures showed young boys with guns or
knives ready to perform their duties as child soldiers.  Other pictures
showed the consequences of mine fields.  One little boy missing a leg
walked with crutches.  The caption read that the father had set up the
mine in their yard for protection against enemies, and yet his own son had
stood on the mine.  Several photographs were of teams of people whose job
it is to de-mine these areas.  One statistic read that 20% of a certain
team were missing limbs due to mines.  That could quite possibly the
scariest job to have in the world.  Semester at Sea’s Students of Service
group supports the “Adopt a Minefield” program which de-mines such areas
of the world torn apart by war and violence.  I definitely want to look
into what they do once I get back home.

Going to the War Remnants Museum was an intense experience.  I usually
have a pretty strong stomach, but being there literally made me feel sick.
It was difficult for me to look at these photographs and know that these
atrocities were committed by U.S. soldiers.  As Americans, we don’t like
to think of the bad things we do in the world.  But there I stood looking
at a picture of a GI holding up the mutilated body of a Vietnamese man or
at the picture of a naked nine year old girl screaming and running down
the street to escape from American soldiers.  I know that evil acts were
committed by both sides of the fighting, but it was eye opening for me to
see the extent of the violence that occurred.


The rest of the afternoon I continued my ride with Tam.  He told me about
some Vietnamese history and took me to two pagodas.  As we walked through
the temples, he explained some Buddhist traditions to me and told me about
how he practices it himself.  We went to the largest silk market in HCMC
and to Chinatown.  It was just a really cool day riding around and seeing
everything.

I had a great time in Vietnam.  Had you asked me a year ago, I never
thought I would have been going to Vietnam.  That first night riding
through downtown Ho Chi Minh City on a motorbike it kicked in, and all I
could think was wow, am I seriously here right now?  It’s just such an
unreal feeling to be experiencing all of these countries.  And now I’m on
my way to Hong Kong and Beijing.  This is so crazy.