Good morning Vietnam!

I had no idea what to expect from Vietnam and didn't know much about it beforehand.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

-"Tet" is their New Year and it is the exact same time as Chinese New Year this year. There were decorations everywhere

-They accepted $USD every place I went. I also paid my taxi driver one time in Chinese Yuan and that was accepted as well!

-Getting separate checks is not common. People automatically assumed Mitchi and I were together (yes, together as in lesbian) and always put our orders together even after specifying not to

-Motorbikes EVERYWHERE. The driving in this country is the craziest I have ever seen because people fit entire families on these bikes and drive wherever they want on the road. People do not pay attention to lanes and traffic lights are "merely a suggestion"

-Elephant pants EVERYWHERE. The majority of people on this voyage got multiple pairs (I got 5!) and you see them everywhere around Vietnam (see picture of me sitting on my hostel's bed)

-It's easy to find wifi and there are many coffee shops. I saw numerous Coffee Beans

-Vietnamese food is all naturally gluten free. At least the things that I ate. Since the majority of it is made out of rice, I was in a food coma after every meal and it was delicious

 

DAY 1

We arrived quite late to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (AKA "Saigon") and didn't actually get off the ship until about 1:30ish. I buddied up with Kaity and we went off with Emily, Bryan and Esther. There was a shuttle bus from where we docked to the Notre Dame Cathedral that was more into town, so we took that. When we got off, a random man welcomed us and said he would show us around. There were many of these men standing around offering to give people tours of the city, so we told him we wanted to get dresses and suits tailored since that is one of the things Vietnam is known for and they are pretty cheap there. He got us a cab and took us to a place a few minutes away called "Nam Silk". It was a small shop filled with nice fabrics and good wifi, and we started looking up dresses that we would like to have made. You can literally google any dress you want and show them what you want, and they'll do their best to make it. Pro tip: know what dress you want before coming in the shop. I had absolutely no idea and ended up with one purple dress with black flowers that is awkwardly at my knees and I can't tell if it is more a sundress or evening dress (see Vietnam pics post). Another one is a dress that Kaity discovered and got in different colors, and I loved it so much I had to get it. For both of these dresses it cost me $85 which is not too bad!

We were at Nam Silk for a while trying to figure out what we wanted. We left and the man had been waiting outside the entire time. He told us of an amazing market called West Ben Thanh Center and so he got us a taxi and we drove a few minutes to the West Ben Thanh Center. This was an indoor market with mostly women begging you to buy their products. The thing I saw most by far were elephant pants. Now, you can get these amazingly comfortable pants for $4. I did not know this and the first lady I went to offered 2 pairs of elephant pants+1 skirt for 1,200,000 Vietnamese Dong. This equals $56.18 USD. I got it down to 1,000,000 dong which is $50, but the lady was literally begging me to buy it after I said it's too much. I found some excess Hong Kong dollars and gave her $40 plus the Hong Kong dollars which were worth $8. But never again throughout Vietnam did I let anyone rip me off.

So after staying at this overwhelming market for a while and refusing to buy anything else (besides my necessary key chain in every port), that random man got us a taxi to go back to the cathedral. When we got out, we all paid him the equivalent of $5 which in total was $25 which is a great amount for Vietnam. Of course he argued but we stuck to our price. Anyone reading this: remember to always set a price before getting in an (unmetered) taxi or before going on any type of tour around a city. After all of this, we went to Coffee Bean and sipped on iced coffee and utilized the wifi. I went to bed early that night because I had a flight at 6:30am!

DAY 2

I woke up at 2:15am. People were just getting back to the ship from going out at this time! I was ready by 3am and Mitchi and I stood outside and a guy called a taxi for us and the many other people that were on early flights. We shared a cab with 3 guys and it was only $2 per person for the 30 minute drive to the airport. I was loving how cheap Vietnam was. We arrived and saw some friends sitting outside the airport who were on earlier flights. The airport did not open until 4am which was so weird! Mitchi and I were one of the first few people in and through security and we still had 2 hours until our flight, so we hung out in the airport for a while. I bought yogurt right by our gate and gave the woman 200,000 dong for a 47,000 dong item, and she gave me 3,000 back as if I gave her 50,000. I caught her because I was 100% sure I used my 200,000 and we argued until she gave me my 153,000 back. I could not believe how even someone working at the airport tried to rip me off!

Our flight to Hanoi took 2 hours, and flying is the exact same as it is in America besides the fact that no snacks or drinks are complimentary. We arrived in Hanoi and saw a young man holding up a sign with my name on it. I arranged for a private car to come pick Mitchi and I up from the airport and bring us to the Hanoi backpacker's hostel we'd be staying at that night. It only cost $23 for an hour long drive to downtown. We drove by many rice fields, cows, and tons of small businesses and made it to downtown which had narrow streets and people walking everywhere as motorbikes maneuvered around them. We arrived at the hostel, the first one I would ever be staying at, and walked into a large room with many bench tables, a bar, a check-in desk, and many people my age. We saw a few SAS'ers, but the majority of the people were backpackers from all around the world (there were many Aussies). We ran into a few friends, including one of my roommates Aishwyra (I just found out today I have been spelling her name wrong. It's AISHWARYA), and we went off with her to explore the city since our room would not be ready for 2 hours.

We first booked a random tour that went to Ha Long Bay the next day. Many of the SAS people were going on a booze cruise to a private island that would be crazy, but Mitchi and I decided to sleep on a boat in Ha Long Bay and had no idea what to expect or who would be on it. After booking, we found an amazing place for lunch and I fell in love. Vietnamese food is so amazing and gluten free and just amazing. I got a meal called something like "bun cha" and it was meatball-like beef, rice noodles, and this amazing soup sauce to dip it in. SO good. We later checked in and got our room. We originally thought we booked a private room with 2 beds. Nope. It was a 10 person room and we had a bed on the bottom bunk that we would have to share. The worker who escorted us there thought we were lesbian and literally said "I no judge".

We showered, wandered around the city more, ate dinner at the same amazing restaurant, then came back around 6:30. Everyone was hanging out in the common area and meeting new people. I met so many people from around the world, and then one of the workers at the hostel led us to a club. It was a fun night dancing with ship friends and new friends! Random fun fact: the Vietnamese love upbeat techno-y music. I didn't get back too late but everyone in my room in the hostel was already asleep, so I never got to meet them.

DAY 3

Mitchi and I woke up around 7 after a surprisingly great night of sleep, and we got ready and waited for our tour bus that was supposed to pick us up anytime between 8-8:30. After lots of confusion trying to figure out which of the many buses driving by were ours and freaking out because the bus was 30 minutes late, a guy came in and called out Mitchi and I's names. We walked to the bus, anxious to know who our travel companions would be. The first people I saw were an older man with a long beard, an African American woman, and a young Asian boy with his dad. We saw the rest of the people when we got on and they all looked a few years older than us. Everyone was asleep for the 4 hour ride from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, and once we got there, we took a speed boat out to an old wooden boat. There were hundreds and hundreds of boats out, and the fact that these boats have bedrooms and house people on them for a day or two at a time has made the hotel industry massively decline in Ha Long Bay.

We saw some SAS'ers on different speed boats going to their own boats, but there were none in our group. We discovered we were the only Americans on our particular boat. We had people from: Indonesia, France, Finland, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada and South Korea. It was awesome! We all got our room keys and opened our door and what do we see? ONE BED. I swear everyone thought Mitchi and I were lesbian! The girls right across the hall had 2 beds and offered to switch and we took them up on that offer faster than a caffeinated road runner (my attempt at trying to be funny. But really though. We agreed right away). We ate a huge meal that even had French fries, then made it to the largest cave in Ha Long Bay. It was very cool but way too many people were in there with other tour groups. I only brought flip flops for shoes and it had recently rained so it was pretty wet and slippery. I definitely took it slow.

After the cave, we went to a dock and got into kayaks! Mitchi and I were in awe of the beauty of the place. I played music on my phone and started with "Paradise" by Coldplay and it was just such an amazing, mystical moment I will always remember. It was still quite foggy and I felt like I was dreaming or was in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. After kayaking for 45 minutes, we showered and ate dinner. The food was great and there was tons of it! I've been a bit more adventurous with food in these countries, so I decided to try some squid. I didn't care for it and the tentacles freaked Mitchi and I out, but at least I can say I've eaten squid now. We were told when we signed up for the tour that there would be karaoke, but that didn't happen. We all just sat around after dinner talking and comparing our cultures, and weren't directed to do anything so we all just went to sleep by 9pm. I slept like a baby that night, besides waking up in the middle of the night to fluttering and squeaking. THERE WAS A BAT IN THE WALL SOMEWHERE. It was terrifying and Mitchi somehow did not wake up, but I somehow fell back to sleep after it calmed down.

DAY 4

It was Valentine's Day. All we did was get off our bat-infested wooden boat, get a ride to the Hanoi airport, wait around for our flight that got delayed due to rain, and eat Hagan-Daaz (you HAVE to eat ice cream on Valentine's Day, especially if you're single). We made it back to the ship and had a great night of sleep.

DAY 5

I picked up my 2 dresses around noon. It was just Mitchi and I again today! We are definitely the best travel buddies. We wanted to head to the Mekong Delta, but by the time we had gotten the dresses, shopped a bit, and eaten, it was a bit too late to make the 2 hour drive. Most people do tours of it that leave in the morning though, and we wouldn't want to get a taxi to go all the way there. So we hung around Saigon all day, went back to the market and walked around and observed all the action because the New Year was coming up in a few days. Later that night, I went downtown with many people to the backpacker's area of Saigon on Bui Vien Street. We checked out a famous club called "Apocalypse Now" and had a great night!

DAY 6

I had my first field program on this day. It was called "IMPACT: Dieu Giac Pagoda & Orphanage". Many of my friends were on this field program and I was really excited to play with kids! We got there and instantly started interacting with the kids. I brought mustache stickers and sparkly sea life stickers, and the kids loved it and kept sticking it on my face and giggling. Many of the children were quite shy and we had to actively seek out children to interact with. A huge group of young Vietnamese middle-school aged volunteers then showed up to distribute lunch. We were supposed to do that but for some reason, this other group was there too. Those kids were all so sweet, but it was definitely hard to tell which ones were volunteers and which ones actually lived at that place. I absolutely loved these kids and even though there was a language barrier, we were able to communicate with stickers, smiles, and charades.

 

UPCOMING

I had an amazing time in Vietnam and definitely see myself going back there someday! In Hawaii, Japan, China and Vietnam, I traveled independently. I decided to travel independently because I wanted to try independent travel and these Asian countries were the safest ones that I could do that in. Now starting with our next port of Burma, it won't be as safe to travel independently so I will be traveling with trips organized by Semester at Sea. I have only had one of my course field labs for Consumer Behavior, and only one field program so far at the orphanage in Vietnam. In these upcoming countries of Burma, India, Mauritius, South Africa and Namibia, I have the rest of my field labs for my courses, and I also am traveling through a more structured program with Semester at Sea. There will be more orphanage visits, visits to townships, seeing holy ceremonies, and riding elephants, just to name a few.

Lastly, I haven't really talked about my course assignments in these countries. For my consumer behavior class, I have to pick 2 countries and go and interview retailers and consumers about gift giving. I already talked to people in Vietnam, and the next country I picked is Burma so I will be talking to people there. I also need to pick a product and find advertisements from 3 different countries and compare them. I picked watches and have found Singapore ads and will be on the lookout in 2 other countries. My International Marketing class I have to type up reports about advertisements and products and compare it to America. I have to do this for 5 countries of my choosing. Evolutionary Psychology and Social Media and Global Change I also have to make observations in each port and type up reports. It's been fun assignments that I've really enjoyed, and all of them make sure you compare each culture and see what's unique to each one.

I've become used to adapting to each new environment that I have been thrown in to, and the travel bug has hit hard. Going on Semester at Sea has got to be the best decision I have ever made and I thank everyone who has made this possible. 45 days down, 67 to go! NEXT STOP: Burma in 3 days.

 

PICTURES

1-the streets of Saigon AKA Ho Chi Minh City. Motorbikes everywhere!

2-in Hanoi in food heaven eating the amazing "bun cha" thing

3-our hostel room/bed!

4-what the boats looked like in Ha Long Bay that people slept on

5-Mitchi and I's room on the boat

6-the mysterious view of Ha Long Bay from the island that had the cave

7-Mitchi and I excited to kayak

8-Mitchi and I excited kayaking

9-all the diverse people in our tour group on our boat!

10-signs I saw in every bathroom that I found hilarious. Because some people are used to squat toilets (the holes in the ground seen in China), some people I guess would stand up on normal toilet seats and squat!

11-the awkward purple-black dress I got made

12-the dress Kaity found that I absolutely love

13-spring rolls and my first time trying pho. So scrumptious

14-one of the volunteers at the orphanage who was such a sweetie

15-an orphan girl holding a baby. Many had their heads half-shaven and I never found out why

16-a girl who liked slapping me and putting stickers on me. She was a fun one

17-the cutest girl who I kept trying to befriend but I guess I'm too scary? Haha.