Vietnam

When we reached Vietnam, we rode up the Saigon River for a couple hours before we reached port. It was a very pretty ride on a very busy river. We passed all kinds of boats and houses. When we finally made it to the dock, we were greeted by a group of parents and family, including my Mom, Dad, and sister Christina. It was really exciting to see them. So I spent the 5 days we had in Vietnam traveling with my family.

The first day we went to the market for a bit of shopping. Clothing and things were very cheap. However, the sizes are quite different than we’re used to. Vietnamese people tend to be much smaller than Americans, so if you normally wear a medium, you may have to purchase a large or extra large in Vietnam.

The next morning we were up bright and early and on our way to Hanoi. On our way to the airport we passed all kinds of people doing Tai Chi in the park. I couldn’t believe the number of people who were up and out at 5 in the morning. Hanoi was a great city. It was so busy with crazy traffic, mostly motor bikes. Crossing the street we were told to walk slowly, as the motor bikes would adjust and go around you. Sprinting across is where you’d get yourself in trouble. I think the image that sticks with me the most is that of women in business clothes wearing 3 inch heels riding their motor bikes down the road.

While in Hanoi, we visited the Hanoi Hilton which was a prison during the war. The Vietnamese refer to it as the American War rather than the Vietnam War as we call it. We also visited the Temple of Literature which was a school. Students went there and studied literature and moral behavior. An interesting fact I learned during our tour about the people here is that they tend not to be “religious”. People will go to pagodas and pray, but they may not know who the Buddha or other figures are. The majority of people in fact follow three religions at the same time: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. They focus more on the moral aspects of the religions and less on the formalities like we tend to.

We also visited Halong Bay while in Vietnam. Halong Bay looked like a pirate lagoon. And the day we were there was pretty hazy, so it just added to the atmosphere. We spent a relaxing day on a boat in the bay stopping to walk through a limestone cave that had been carved out by the water. Watching all the boats at the dock was interesting. They all just crowd around, bumping into each other, and we walked through other boats to get on and off ours.

Back in Hanoi we took a tour of the site where Ho Chi Minh’s body rests. We also visited a market which was crazy. There was food out everywhere; raw meat left uncovered and unrefrigerated at some stands, vegetables spread across the ground, live seafood in buckets, and cooked food at other stands. It would have never been considered even close to sanitary in the States. But I have to say the craziest thing I saw during my stay in Vietnam was the motor bikes with live pigs tied on the back.

We spent our last day in Vietnam at the Mekong Delta. We took several different boats through the rivers. I felt like I was in the jungle. It was amazing the way people are just out on their little boats and they’ll load you up and paddle you down the river. It’s a lot of work. It was such an intricate maze of paths through the trees. I could have been taken to the exact same place eight times in a row and probably wouldn’t have known the difference. We stopped at several different spots in the delta for tea, lunch, and coconut candy making. We saw the coconut candy being made from start to finish. It was pretty much an open kitchen surrounded by trees with people making the candy and a dog running around.

Another interesting thing about Vietnam is their houses. They're all built really tall and skinny in a row. The people used to have to pay tax based on the width of the front of their houses, so they started building them skinny and tall. I really liked them.

So that about sums up my Vietnam experience. I said good bye to my parents and sister, and was on my way to Hong Kong.