Vietnam & Cambodia

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Vietnam
Vietnam was one of my favorite ports. It was super interesting because parents came out to visit a lot of their kids. It was fun to see everyone interact with their parents and funny to see parents try to adapt to the culture. We students already had an idea of how to be around locals from the previous ports.

Wednesday
The first day in Vietnam was amazing. It started with some students waking up at 6 in the morning to see us travel up the Mekong River. We went from open ocean to trees surrounding us on both sides. We would see little boats and people working on the river. We saw sunrise and it was beautiful. After That I went back to bed till 8 for breakfast. After breakfast I had a trip at 11 o’clock. I wasn’t going to risk getting off the ship and missing my trip because I was super excited to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels. My uncle told me about them so it was very interesting to go to them. Before we went to the tunnels we had lunch. It was way better than Indian food. Then we were off to the tunnels. We watched a video about the war. First thing we learned was that Vietnamese call it the American war. So the whole time we had to look at it from their perspective. After we watched the movie we went out to the fields. We got to go in the little boxes which were less than a foot big. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to fit in them, but to my surprise I could. After we went into those, they took us around and showed us bombs, how they made shoes, and a tank. It was very cool. Then we went to an area where we got to shoot guns. Of course I wanted to. So I shot 10 rounds out of an AK47. SO COOL! After that it was time to go in the tunnel. We were told that the tunnels were widened so Americans could fit in them. It was a very tight squeeze, I was super glad I wasn’t claustrophobic. When we were in the tunnels the guide told us we could go straight or turn. One way was shorter and the other was longer. Only 5 of us chose the longer way. Little did we know the longer way was also the smaller way, we had to get down on our knees and crawl for a while, crappy day to wear shorts. After that we had to go down a level, then up to another. It was super dark so it was hard to see where you were going. Unfortunately, before we knew it we were out of the tunnel. I was bummed. We then headed back to the ship.

Once at the ship a few of us decided to go out and get dinner. We were just walking the street until we found a local spot. We then walked into this place that was pretty packed. When we sat down and looked at the menu we couldn’t decide what to get. I saw a steak burrito and I said that’s what I want; screw the local food right now. I need something spicy. It was one of the best meals I ate. After that we came back to the ship and got ready to go out. A bunch of semester at sea students were headed out to Le Pub and Apocalypse. When we started heading out we didn’t exactly know where to go. Lots of us couldn’t find where it was at, but we eventually did. When we got there they had 5 dollar pitchers of drinks. 4 of us split 2. It was fun to relax to a long island and mojito. We hung out there for a while, and met a few locals. Then Kristin and I talked to two boys. They were from England and the states. They were in Vietnam to teach English. It was pretty interesting talking to them. Before we knew it we left and went to Apocalypse. That place was packed with locals and semester at sea kids. It was fun minus the part you could barely move. One of my friends took me up to V.I.P where it was less crowded; unfortunately it wasn’t as much fun. By 3:15 I was ready to leave with a few people.

Thursday
So now I am back on this at 3:30. I have to register at 4:10 so it was pointless for me to go to bed. I decided to call my mom and talk with her for a while, and then I checked my email. I had the code for free internet for the day and I had a chance to Skype with my mom too. Then I got to update my blogs a little more and face book. It was nice. I was up till 5:15 trying to get my schedule to work out. Unfortunately I couldn’t get into the two classes I wanted till later. I then fell asleep till 8 when I met people for breakfast. Breakfast was great as always. Then I came back to my room to pack. My trip to Cambodia left at 11 o’clock so I had 3 hours. I knew it wasn’t worth getting off the ship in case I missed my trip. So I went back to bed for a while. When 11 rolled around Colin and I headed up to the Union. Our plane was delayed for 30 min so we emailed for a while. By 11:30 we left Saigon and headed to the airport. We were there till 1:30. But then we took off and were headed to Phnom Penh. We got there around 3 o’clock. Originally we were supposed to visit the national museum, but since our plane was delayed we didn’t get the chance. So instead we skipped ahead and went on a sunset cruise. We traveled a different part of the Mekong River. At this point everyone is starving. We had lunch at 11:30 and weren’t having dinner till 8. So Chris bought popcorn for us to munch on the boat. I was so glad to have something to tide me over. After the cruise we got back on the bus and headed 30 minutes to an Orphanage. We arrived at Palm Tree Orphanage and were showed around. It was fun to play games with the kids. One girl gave me a tour of where she slept, went and took classes and where she played. We then decided to play. We played soccer for a while, and then played a tag game called 2-3. It was fun to learn what they did. At the end we exchanged emails and said our goodbyes. It was sad to leave and we wanted to stay longer. By now we were back on the bus and I could feel I was getting sick. My head hurt, I had a running nose and I was super tired. I was just ready for dinner. When we got to dinner I had tea. I figured that would make me feel a little better. Dinner was so good. I never had so many amazing spring rolls, which is funny because I typically hate them. After dinner it was off to the hotel. We found out our roomies for the night. When I got into the room, I read for a while, and then by ten o’clock was asleep.

Friday
We had to be at breakfast at 6 o’clock, so I was up at 5:30 showering and getting ready for the day. I was tired, not running on a lot of sleep, and still feeling crappy. For breakfast I had an omelet and some fruit. It was good enough to last me till lunch. After breakfast we headed to the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace. The Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace hold national treasures such as gold and jeweled Buddha statues. We were originally suppose to go there in the afternoon but there was a ceremony going on there later and we wouldn’t be able to get in. While looking around the Palace there were signs of both Buddhism and Hinduism. We then saw different statues of Buddha and learned that the hand positions meant different things. My favorite was the one that meant protect. It was a huge statue made of gold and diamonds. After the palace we headed to the Toul Sleng Museum. This was originally a school but was eventually converted into a concentration camp. This is where Vietnamese were tortured, killed, and starved. We toured the rooms, saw pictures of how they were toured and then we saw where they were kept. It was very upsetting. After that we went to the Killing Fields. At the killing fields we learned over 20,000 Vietnamese were killed by only 4 people. Devastating. While walking around we saw articles of clothes coming out of the ground and at certain places we could see bone fragments. At the killing fields we saw the graves. Then at the end there was a room with all the skulls. It was a very heavy thing to see. We walked to another part of the killing fields and learned that only about twenty three people survived and there biographies were right there in front of us. Colin and I were devastated after seeing this. We couldn’t understand how genocide could still be continuing and having this happen up until 1998. We just couldn’t understand why people would do this to each other. We then went to lunch. Lunch again had amazing spring rolls and some great chicken. The vegetables and rice was also decent. After lunch we walked around the central market. It was super fun! I bought a few things which surprised me because I wasn’t planning on it. But I am glad Colin convinced me too. After bargaining and spending a few hours in the market we were on our way to the Airport again. We were flying from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. We were taking a prop plane. It was very tiny but also very fun. The whole time I was reading. I was very into my book and knew I was going to finish it this trip. We arrived at our new hotel at 5:30. We weren’t leaving to dinner till 6:30 so I had time to relax. I was still super tired. Dinner was a buffet. I ate a lot of good food. The soup, Pho was amazing. Then the spring rolls and chicken was good. They also had some spaghetti which I ate just because I wanted a comfort food. After dinner, we stayed there and watched a cultural dance show. The costumes the women and men had to wear were insane. They were so intricate. I was blown away. Their dances were also very cool because they told a story and someone we could understand what it was about. After the dance it was back to the hotel. I read for a while then turned on the TV. CSI was on. I was so excited, I missed having television which I didn’t think I would. Around midnight Clara, my roommate, and I finally fell asleep, only to be woken up at 4:45

Saturday
An optional sunrise tour at Angkor Wat departing at 5 am, that is a must go. Anything option is something I figure I should do. Boy was I glad I did. Even though I was super tired I knew I could sleep when I got back to the ship, so I sucked it up. When we got to Angkor Wat we took pictures so we had an all day pass. There were many temples we were planning on seeing that day. The sunrise was really beautiful even though we could only see half of it due to clouds. It was a lot of fun to take pictures of the reflection. It was something we also did at the Taj Mahal. After sunrise we went back to the hotel for breakfast. Breakfast was subpar from the day before. It just wasn’t as good as I had hoped. After breakfast I hopped in the shower and got ready the rest of the day. We met at 8:00 and then we were headed to Ta Prohm Temple. This is where tomb raid or was filmed. It was so cool. We saw trees coming out of the stones. The carvings were crazy; we couldn’t understand how they did such intricate detail. After exploring the whole temple for about 2 hours, we were headed back to Angkor Wat. Instead of coming from the west this time we came from the east. Again we were just blown away. We couldn’t believe the architecture. It was indescribable. All I could think about was imagining Angkor Wat in its prime era. What we saw was old and had colors changed from the weather, some things were destroyed I can only imagine what it looked like at a different time. After Angkor Wat we went to lunch. It was decent; at this point I was getting sick of the food being the same. I was ready for something new. But I ate anyways because I was hungry. After lunch it was off to more temples. We Saw Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of Leper King and Elephants Terraces. My favorite was Bayon. It had over 100 Buddha heads and just crazy carvings. Angkor Thom was also cool because it was a bridge. It has evil demon statues on one side and Buddha statues on the other. All these temples were in close proximity so we just walked to them all. Of course we also got lost and it took us a while to find the way back to the bus. We didn’t get the opportunity to stay at the Elephants Terrace long. Before we knew it was 4 o’clock and we headed back to the airport. Our flight was at 5:45 and we were headed back to Saigon. We arrived back to the ship at 8 o’clock. The ship had a late dinner for us. While standing in line we were told of a great tragedy. A student passed away a few hours prior. He was a great guy, RIP Andre.
By 9:30 a few of us decided we should go out and get away from the grief. We went and had a few drinks, but I was ready to head back by midnight. I went back to the ship and hung out with Amy and Ed. We talked about the plans for the next day and then I was ready for bed.
Sunday

The last full day in Vietnam, funny it also seemed like my first. I was up at 6:30 for breakfast with Ed and Amy finalizing plans for the day. Meet at 1 o’clock since they were going to the Cu Chi Tunnels. So I fell back asleep till 9 when I met up with Kristin. We decided to go shopping and buy a few things. I bought some DVD box sets, Criminal Minds, NCIS and Army Wives. Little did I know in my NCIS box was another set of DVDs, Spooks. I was super excited to watch it since I never even heard of it before. After shopping around till about 12:30 I headed back to the ship. I had a head ache and was ready to eat. When waiting for the bus I talked to the nurse and her 3 kids, Layne, Anna and Declan. Declan is 2 and super funny. I had a bowl of pasta with them while I waited for Amy and them to get back. Once they got back we were ready to go. We were out to do more shopping. I was excited because I saw a jacket and I knew I should buy it because of China being cold. We then went to find Nike shoes, and eat some food. We got ice-cream and French fries. When we walked out it was POURING down rain. Nothing we expected. We were walking down the road getting soaked! So much fun! We got back to the ship around 5. On ship time wasn’t until 8 but there was a barbeque going on so we hung out and socialized with people. After the barbeque I was so tired I fell asleep. That was until 11 when Ed came by pounding on my door to color. Weird kid, but I was ok with it. After that I was asleep till breakfast the next day.

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