New Year Travels- Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City

This week, my school didn't have class because some of the best students were taking a national exam. They get their results back in a couple weeks, but right now they have to catch up in all their other classes (they, for the most part, haven't been to class in two months)!

Basically, each province gets to send 6-10 students to a national competition in each of 10 subjects (English, Math, Literature, etc). The top scoring students get prizes (top 5% get 1st, then the next 10% get 2nd, etc). If you get a 3rd prize or above (so, top third), you get automatic entry into any university in the country (in your subject). So, if you want to study English at the Harvard of Vietnam (Hanoi National University, Vietnam National University, Foreign Trade University are all pretty esteemed), all you need to do is get a prize. In Lao Cai, there are 6 kids per subject team, so 60 kids in all. Since my school is by far the best, 59 of the 60 kids go to my school. I've been working with the English National Team on their speaking and listening skills 5 days a week (about 5-7.5 hours per week) for the last two months and it has been a pleasure to get to know them. They are all quite brilliant (by far the best English speakers in a province of over a half million people) and incredibly hard-working. In comparison to students from richer provinces, they don't really have a chance, but it was fun to work with them for 2 months.

When I found out there was no school from Jan 6-10,  I decided to go to Hanoi to get my elbow re-checked (Doctor's orders) and then head to Ho Chi Minh City for 5 days. Then, I found out I actually had ten days off (from Jan 1-10, not just 6-10). So, I book another plane ticket to go to Nha Trang for 4 days (then back to Hanoi, then back to Ho Chi Minh). While it would have been cheaper just to stay in the South, I needed an X-ray, and I just chalked it up to Vietnam. Stuff changes and stuff happens.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang was NOT what I expected. I kind of used this part of my trip as a practice for after-Fulbright. What would it be like backpacking in SE Asia? Could I fit everything in my backpack? What would I need? Could I travel alone?

I learned that while I can fit everything in my bag, adding my laptop puts me over the limit for carry-on (15 lbs and my bag was now 19 lbs). In one long day, I rode from Lao Cai to Hanoi, Hanoi to the airport, and then the airport to Nha Trang, then the airport in Nha Trang to my hostel! Whew! About 12 hours worth of travelling! Nha Trang is a sandy, resort-y town on the SE coast of Vietnam.

I didn't realize, however, that it was mostly a sandy, resort-y town for Russians. No problem, of course, but it was quite disconcerting to get off the plane and suddenly see Russian (and Russians) everywhere!

I ended up staying in a really nice (and really cheap) hostel for 3 nights. It had a constant flux of travelers. The first night, there were Italian, Finnish, and German girls there, then some British and German men moved in, then they left and some Vietnamese girls came. This was my first solo hostel experience. It was quite interesting learning hostel-lingo and conversation (a lot of "Where you from? Where you going") and ettiquete. (We all got mad at the German man when he came stumbling in at 3 am).

Not a bad deal for 6 bucks a night!

I didn't end up interacting with them outside of the hostel, with the exception of getting a beer with the German man one night. He was a 52 year old doctor going through a divorce; he had met some people fleeing Nha Trang in the 80s (when he was living in the Philippines) and had always had a fascination with seeing the place they left. I thought it was a bit weird to come to Vietnam without seeing Saigon or Hanoi, but hey, to each his own.

I ended up walking around a fair bit- I saw the old Cham Towers (built in 817!), the Oceanographic Museum, the soccer stadium, and a giant pagoda and statue of the Buddha. The weirdest part of Nha Trang was when I visited the temple. I asked a monk (in Vietnamese) how long he had been a monk. He got really excited and dragged me into the ceremony (in the back, fortunately).After about 10 minutes, I politely excused myself, only to turn and see a huge crowd of people (white tourists) staring at me. They looked at me fairly judgmentally, as if I was one of those people who joins religious services for show/culturally appropriating them. I tried to explain that I was forced to join, I don't make a habit and joining services without being invited, but then I just left, because I realized it didn't matter.

Amazing beach

80 foot tall Budda dedicated to the monks who self-immolated

Can you see my vacated space in the back row?

While I like Nha Trang, it was  a bit weird to travel by myself.  After 4 days, I was quite glad to be headed back to Hanoi to meet up with Chelsea.

 HCMC

When I went to get my X-rays (to be e-mailed to my doctor in America), the X-ray technician came in to show me my X-rays and said "Did you know your elbow is broken?" I almost facepalmed. Long story short, my elbow is healing well, but I can't lift more than 10 pounds with it until the end of January and can't play basketball or lift weights until March at the earliest.

In Hanoi, I enjoyed some urban delicacies (I got sushi and finally watched Star Wars VII), and met up with fellow Fulbrighter Chelsea. We hopped on a quick 2 hour flight to the former capitol of South Vietnam, Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. We could never agree what to call it (Saigon is easier but Ho Chi Minh is more fun to say in Vietnamese). For the record, I asked me students what they called it and it was split 50/50 so I don't think it really matters.

On the flight, I woke up in a cold sweat from a nap with a horrible realization. I had food poisoning (again). I don't think it was the sushi (it was too long afterwards) but I'm not sure what it was. Fortunately, in Vietnam, food poisoning lasts about 36 hours and my appetite returns after 72 hours (this marks the 4th time I've had it). I started chugging water like it was going out of style and fortunately did not need to return to the hospital.

Unfortunately, this meant I felt like crap during my first two days in HCMC. Chelsea and I wandered around- we saw the post office, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Reunification Palace, the 52 story sky deck.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Post Office

Reunification Palace

 By far the most interesting part of the first two days was the War Remnants Museum. It was originally known as "Exhibition House for U.S. and Puppet Crimes" if that gives you any idea what was in it. There were tons of old U.S. and French war machines, mock ups of old French prison cells and descriptions of torture techniques.

The most disturbing room of the museum was (you guessed it) the Agent Orange room. There were tons of pictures of people with gross deformities and (worst of all) a clear plastic tank with (I think) real Agent Orange babies which were preserved. I didn't get too close so don't take my word for it. There were tons of condemnations of U.S. actions, quotes from U.N. documents accusing the U.S. of genocide and war crimes. It is pretty hard to come away from the room without being sickened. Those chemical companies ended up compensating American veterans and their kids who suffered deformities- the Vietnamese want some of that money too- even if the US Supreme Court has ruled the companies are not liable.

There is no question in my mind that the U.S. still has a lot of reparations to do- a lot of its techniques in Vietnam were somewhat  reprehensible and I'm  astonished I haven't encountered more anti-U.S. vitriol. I think it helps that my province (Lao Cai) was completely untouched by the war and its citizens save their enmity for its northern neighbor, China. The museum was heavy on propaganda- you need to take its exhibits with a grain of salt, but its also how the "American War" is portrayed to Vietnamese and ASEAN visitors and it doesn't make us look too good.

Our last full day in HCMC, I had fully recovered from food poisoning, but I managed to tweak my back and neck. I have no idea how I did this but all of a sudden, I couldn't twist my neck or walk more than 30 minutes. I had visions of ending up like my father,who spent much of my childhood trying (and succeeding) to live normally despite enduring immense back pain. Every 30 minutes, I had to sit down. Fortunately, after about 48 hours, my back and neck returned to normal, but this meant my entire 5 day trip to HCMC was filled with some sort of pain!

On our last day, Chelsea and I took a full-day trip to the Cao Dai Holy See and Cu Chi tunnels. Cao Daism is a religion unique to Vietnam- it celebrates all religons and mixes Taoism, Confucanism, Hindusim, Islam, Christianity, and (I'm told) Judaisim. I highly recommend reading its wikipedia article- its wild. Basically, the idea is that we are trying to escape the circle of reincarnation by reaching nirvana (seem familiar?) but also there is a Father God, symbolized by the all-seeing eye, but also there is Mother God. Both Gods represent yin and yang. If you are successful, you can eventually move onwards (there are 72 planets, Earth is 68th) and upwards (to become an angel). Also, they recognize some western Bodhisattvas, like William Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, and Joan of Arc.

After the Cao Dai temple, we headed to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, which were used to fight the U.S by the Viet Cong. It was again, interesting to hear about the different tactics used by the U.S.

Sample:
Guide: The U.S. put snake and scorpion in the tunnel to flush out the Vietnamese!

(Me: oh, good idea!)

Guide: But, no problem, because Vietnamese people very hungry! Yum Yum!

Original

It was interesting again, to see old propaganda films ("See this girl, she gets the American Killer medal!) and see the actual tunnels and traps used. Lastly, we had an opportunity to crawl through a substantially enlarged tunnel (about 30% bigger). I had no problem, but many of the larger tourists (horizontally, I mean) did. Also, we had an opportunity to shoot a huge assault weapon. As guns are illegal for private citizens in Vietnam, its actually the only place in VN you can shoot a gun! Consequentially, the prices were extortionate (2 dollars per bullet with a minimum of 10 shots on an automatic weapon-I feel for the poor fool who spent more than he meant to by holding down the trigger.

American entrance. Totally big enough

While the whole trip was painful, it was quite an interesting trip to the South of Vietnam. I learned a lot about the Vietnamese war and South Vietnam's viewpoint on it (from what I gleaned: they blame the U.S. Government, not the people), and got some time in the sun. Not sure when I'll be back in the South but I need to see the floating markets at least!

Onwards. Always Onwards.

Daniel