Southeast Asia cruise- Vietnam

Our first stop in Vietnam was Nha Trang. It was beautiful pulling up to this warm tropical bay in Southeast Asia. We immediately found our tour group, which had some familiar faces in it from some friends we had met at dinner the previous nights, and we were ready for a day of exploring. We first stopped the Long Son Pagoda. It was a Buddhist temple that had a giant concrete statue of Gautama Buddha as well as a laying down Buddha statue which I had never seen before. Perhaps the best part about climbing the steps up the hillside of the temple grounds to see the majestic Buddha was the view over the entire city at the top. The first thing I noticed were the bright colors of the buildings, and constant flashes of red as many places hung the Vietnam flag outside their homes, offices, and other various buildings.

It was a scenic view and the wind at the top felt just right as it cooled off our hot sticky selves from the rising humidity that we could feel coming on as the day progressed. It's always fascinating to me to experience other religions and one that is so intertwined with the culture of the people as is Buddhism. 

Our next stop was a culture briefing where we got to watch various traditional Vietnamese dances, drink coconut water (delicious), and learn more about the people, their trade and statistics of the country. It was a nice little break out of the sun and we sat next to our friends Jan and Larry. They were a great couple that we had met on our day in Malaysia that were on our cruise as well. They have traveled so much and it was fun to listen to their experiences and world travels.

The next stop consisted of another famous temple called Po Nagar Cham. It was built between the 8th and 11th centuries by the Cham people, who were Hindu in origin and left their mark in the Vietnam/Cambodia areas by leaving behind amazing architecture that is so iconic such as this particular temple and Ankur Wat in Cambodia. The Cham people fell into the hands of the Viet, but a small minority of Cham people still live among the current Vietnamese population. Most have converted to Islam, but they still attend these relics and temples at Po Nagar Cham to worship their gods during festival times. This particular temple was built to honor the gods of agriculture and the gods of fertility.

The only thing I could think of while looking upon this amazing temple was how amazing Ankur Wat must be in Cambodia, because this was pretty spectacular. All the little details. I do hope one day to make it there, but till then I will count my blessings that I got to see this temple that was left behind by the Cham people.

Once we were done with the temple we walked with our group over the bridge to a little garden location where we could get a closer look at the beautiful, light, aqua colored water. I just wanted to jump in cause it looked so warm and refreshing. It wasn't the clearest or cleanest water I have ever seen, but it was one of the lightest shades of blue I have seen when it comes to ocean water.

A tour would not be complete without a market experience. This is perhaps Kyle's and my favorite things to do while traveling. We love attending local markets, checking out all the merchandise, and trying the local food (as long as it looks sanitary). We found some bamboo cone shaped hats that practically everyone in Vietnam wear to protect them from the sun, some cute outfits for the kids, as well as a plate since we like to collect touristy plates on our travel destinations. Kyle was most excited abut his cone shaped hat known as a non la. All he kept saying was how great it was going to be to provide shade when he is working in the backyard in Arizona. I think our neighbors in Arizona are going to think we are nuts if they see Kyle doing yard work in a conical Asian bamboo hat.

Our final stop for the day was viewing a traditional art form for the Vietnamese people which was creating these beautiful pictures with silk. These amazing, and huge pictures were so beautiful and intricate that they all looked liked skilled paintings but they were in fact sewn and stitched with silk. I couldn't believe the hours that went into a single picture. They were beautiful and of course Kyle and I found a piece of artwork that we just loved. It was a scenic picture of  Vietnamese people working out in the rice fields with the water buffalo, traditional huts in the background, as well as the beautiful lush landscape that is home to Vietnam that framed in the picture. Our only problem is that it was one of the larger pieces and was close to $10,000. I think we will pass this time, but it truly was beautiful and made me appreciate the time, talent, and patience that had to go into each beautiful piece of art.

Day two in Vietnam we were in Ho Chi Minh City. Never before had I seen so many scooters...ever! Apparently the majority of the people in Vietnam do not own or drive cars, but scooters are very popular and they make them act as though they are cars. They load the bikes with people, boxes, groceries, you name it! It was quite a sight to see as we had quite the commute on our tour bus to our destination. I was thoroughly entertained looking out the window and observing the people pass by on their scooters.

For today's excursion in Ho Chi Minh City we were going to explore the Cu Chi tunnels that the Viet Cong used while fighting the Americans during the war in the 60s/70s. This has been something I have wanted to see for a long time. I love history and was interested in seeing how the Vietnamese fought our brave soldiers, as well as I wanted to see the land and the grounds where so many of our young men died trying to give this country freedom. I had a lot of anticipation for the day, excitement, sadness, wonderment, and anger as I kept thinking about the war that took place on the grounds that we were about to walk on and explore. I figure it would be a more sacred and wholesome experience.

Since the drive was about 2 hours outside the main city, we stopped for a quick break at a local hut and learned the very skillful art of making rice paper. Rice paper has a lot of purposes, but mainly is used like a tortilla to wrap and hold food for things such as spring rolls. It was way harder than it looked! Only a few of us in the group got the chance to give it a try, and I volunteered to go first. You first dip a ladle in a soupy mix that is basically ground rice mixed with sugar and water so it's a soupy/ glue like texture. Then you pour the substance on a stretched out piece of fabric that is controlling a steady flow of steam up through the material to cook and solidify the liquid into a solid. After about 10 seconds you have to use a rolling pin and a stick to flip the rice paper and then to lay it over woven bamboo to dry. They then place the drying sheets out in the sun for 3 days and when they are ready to use them to cook with they just dip them in water and the rice paper immediately becomes a flimsy, yet somewhat stretchy piece of edible paper that holds together the spring rolls. It was definitely a fun experience and one I will always remember.

We finally arrived to the Cu Chi tunnels. Our tour guide was from the northern parts of Vietnam in which the Viet Cong originated from and he definitely was proud and boastful of his country's history and their victory over the Americans in the war. Kyle and I remained silent during the tour and just wanted to take it in and hear "the other side" of the war and their perspective. We were shown the different guerrilla tactics that they used in battle, the tunnels that I honestly still don't even know how they fit in to hide underground, and a demonstration of how they would take American weapons and bombs, disassemble them, and then rebuild them to make their mines and weapons against the American soldiers. Our tour guide was very proud of his peoples cleverness during the war which he attributed to their victory in the end, allowing Communism to thrive in their country.

As we saw the various traps they made all I could think about were our poor young soldiers walking into such death traps. My heart hurt thinking about the brutal battles that were fought on that very ground in which we walked. The Cu Chi tunnels were the head quarters for the Viet Cong army, and much of the war was fought along the Saigon river. It was a solemn experience, and it opened my eyes to both sides of war in general. I have been lucky enough to see various famous battle sights of different wars throughout history. Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and  Hiroshima in Japan for WWII, places in Korea during the Korean War, and now the Cu Chi tunnels and Saigon river from the Vietnam war(or American war as thy call it over there in Vietnam). With each of the sights there is a feeling of respect, and an insight to what it must have felt like to be there during their specific times of destruction. Above all what I walk away with is a feeling of sadness. Sadness that so many lives were lost and changed. A sadness that war has to even be a thing and the means to which conflicts are resolved. And a sadness that loss is felt on both sides of those involved with the fighting. Even though war leads to one side being the victors, everyone in the end is a looser because of the devastation that leaves a lasting impact on the land, families, posterity, and completely changes history and country relations forever. We may not be at odds with the Vietnamese people now, but there is still a sense of caution that we both take around them and they us.

At the end of our tour we had the opportunity to shoot the different rifles that the Americans and the Viet Cong used during the war, as well as go in one if the tunnels ourselves. I talked myself up and told myself to overcome my claustrophobia fears and just go in the tunnel. I mean, I am in Vietnam at the Cu Ci tunnels. When am I ever going to get this amazing opportunity again?! There was a long line to go into the tunnel and it didn't seem that bad. From what I could see it looked like you went down these steps into a hole, crawled your way through about 20 yards, then pop up at the other end of the other hole. I got this! I don't got this! I made it down the steps and started to go into the hole when I looked ahead of me and just saw a ton of bodies crouched over crawling so slowly through the tunnel. It was hot and stuffy and there was no sign of light from the other end. I panicked! I immediately jumped out and ran back up the stairs and out of the hole, pushing people out of my way as I went. Kyle just laughed and laughed at me calling me a wimp because I couldn't go through with it. If there were no other people in the tunnel, maybe I could have made it, but the fact that I looked in and saw a ton of people scrunched together moving at the pace of snail in a tiny hole (and lets be real, most of the people looked like they were way to big to even be in the tunnel and could very well get stuck)... nope, it wasn't going to happen.

I waited for Kyle at the other end to watch him come to the surface again. I will admit I am a little upset that I didn't do it, but that was the closest I have ever been to having a full on panic attack and it was not fun. My heart was racing, sweat started pouring down my face and I kept thinking of thoughts of utter doom... terrifying!!! I think it was smart that I backed out of that experience because now I can look back with positive memories instead of memories of me passing out due to complete fear.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch along the Saigon river and then it was time to head back to the ship. It was a long and full day. We both fell asleep on the two hour bus ride back to our cruise ship. We got to see the Cu Chi tunnels! I can check that off my bucket list, and boy was it an amazing experience. Kyle also got to try a Vietnamese Pepsi which had a weird ginger/cinnamon taste to it. We both didn't like it too much but at least my soda loving husband can check that off his bucket list as well.

That night was a formal night on the ship. So Kyle and I dressed in our best and hit up the ship for a night full of food, meeting new friends, and of course, ice cream. We stop at the ice cream parlor on the ship at least twice a day. They know exactly what to get us when we start walking up to the booth. The rest of the night we laughed and joked about how old we are because most couples in their late twenties/early thirties would be partying on a cruise ship. Drinking, staying up late, dancing, and gambling. We on the other hand go to a formal dinner, talk with couples from all over the world that double us in age about their life's stories, and end the evening with an ice cream cone and lay in bed watching a movie till we fall asleep. We may have "old people" taste when it comes to activities, but I tell you it was a fun and perfect night for Kyle and Jenny Benham.