It seems like every country I step foot in I like even more than the last.  Maybe it’s because as my trip passes by, each country I visit teaches me more about the world.  I am simply decorating my passport by traveling the world, but becoming a real global citizen.  If someone were to ask me at the beginning of this trip to order the countries on my itinerary based on how excited I am to see them or which ones I will like most to least, Vietnam would most likely been sitting at the bottom.  I had no real thoughts on Vietnam.  I wasn’t really ready for it.  I did not know what to expect; therefore I expected nothing.  In reality, Vietnam is so cool.

I stepped off the ship and into Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday morning with no clue, no plan, no map, and no idea what I was getting myself in to.  So I walked.  First things first, we were told that when you walk across the street in Vietnam you are to look down, walk slow, and don’t stop.  It’s different than India, where auto rickshaws were the means of transportation. In Vietnam, it’s mopeds.  They are everywhere.  Millions of them.  But Vietnam is different than India again because crossing the street isn’t scary.  Here, they go around you.  If they were to hit you it is only slowing them down.  So I walked away from the ship with my handy compass around my neck and no idea what was in store.  Adding to my lack of preparation: almost no one spoke English.  Don’t get me wrong, being ill prepared and without a plan is probably the best way to travel.  When you expect nothing you get everything. 

We walked straight through Vietnamese culture, stumbled upon the Art Museum, and found our way to the center of the city: Ben Thanh Market.  This place was by far the most overwhelming place I have been in my life.  My stress levels went up about seventeen points as I stepped into the square.  It was packed.  Thousands of tiny vendors, each with their own six-foot area, trying to sell you knock-offs.  I mean don’t get me wrong I did by a few cool things, but only after I had a couple beers and the nerve to walk in that place again.  The coolest thing is that is Vietnam, boys can go to one of these little shops, pick out a fabric, be measured, and have a custom suit made for them by the next day! For like sixty dollars!  Well I did my share of market shopping and had lunch at a local café.  That night, me and a few kids went to a local bar for a couple drinks that night.

The next day I went took a trop to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  During the war, the Vietnamese people hid underground seeking safety from the Americans.  It was very interesting seeing the side of the war from Vietnamese.  When we got back we had lunch on the ship-which I have to talk about…… sometime when we’re in port the cooks get really nice and make really awesome food.  We had pulled pork sandwiches, FRENCH FRIES, grilled cheese, amazing pasta, and ice cream! It was pretty cool. I then ventured out into the streets of Ho Chi Minh City once again... got a little lost, but all was well.  I saw the Cathedral of Notre Dame and finally made it to the Ben Thanh Market again, where we stopped for dinner and some jazz at The Jazz Club. 

The last three days of my time in Viet Nam I went to Cat Tien National Park.  Our small group of one faculty, two life long learners, and four students ventured almost five hours by bus to the 71,350 hectare Biosphere Reserve.  We each stayed in our own private room, located in one of ten guesthouses.  Every meal was included—Vietnamese style.  The first day we took a boat ride down the Dong Nai River, spotting birds, monkeys, and trees.  Shortly after the beginning of our ride it started to storm.  And I’m not talking just any little thunderstorm…. This was literally the worst storm I have ever experienced, and there we were in the middle of a river, in a 14 foot boat with a 60 Yamaha on the back of it… Ron, our life long learner along with us, used to study lightning, and told us that the lightning was striking the ground nearly 500 feet from where we were.  So we found the nearest village and the people kindly opened a common building for us to camp out in for a couple of hours until the weather settled down.  We made it back to camp, where we ate dinner in a swarm full of winged termites that had just hatched due to the rain…

I am making this sound awful but it was actually quite awesome… My own room, tons of time to relax, lots of hammocks everywhere to lay in, and trails beyond trails to hike!  After dinner we took a night drive to spot nocturnal animals.  The rest of the time we hiked to Crocodile Lake, saw a 500 year old tree (20 people cannot fit around its base), visited a bear and leopard restoration center, and learned incredible amounts about the rainforest in Vietnam.  I had an amazing time, and it was nice to be in the middle of nothing for a while, seeing as tomorrow I will be in China.

So Vietnam was more than I ever thought it would be.  I loved it.  The food was good, the people were nice, the scenery was beautiful, and the atmosphere was chill. 

China… Here I come!