Vietnam

So I think it was sometime in China that I decided I wasn’t doing to be a tourist on the rest of this journey. I decided that I should learn about each country’s history and current affairs and seek out locals to hang out with. (as opposed to hanging out with young, ignorant, American semester at sea kids). I realized that it was the only way I could make the most out of this trip and really feel a sense of satisfaction at the end of it.

As I was reading my textbook on Vietnam before I arrived, I came across its history that said Vietnam was once divided into 2 countries – the north and the south. The north was communist, while the south was capitalist. During the Vietnam War, America sent troops to back the capitalist south in their fight against the communist north. However, with ingenious Guerilla Warfare and amazing will to survive and teamwork within the community, the North beat the Americans and the south and won the war, resulting in the reunification of the country into the present day Vietnam.

I found it extremely ironic that while Mr Ho Chi Min was the communist leader of the north years ago, the present day Ho Chi Min city was actually Saigon, which was the Capitalistic South years ago, before the war. That explains why Ho Chi Min’s residence is situated in Hanoi and not Ho Chi Min City. In true communist fashion, the north renamed Saigon in the south after their leader Ho Chi Min. So questions in my head popped up. What changes were made in the south after the communist took over? 30 years on, are they happy? Everywhere I went in Vietnam, I asked the locals these questions. I asked the driver that took us to the Cu Chi tunnels, our guide in the Mekong Delta (who calls himself Mr Lovely), Motorbike riders, Taxi Drivers, Everybody! Those that didn’t understand English just smiled and nodded. Mr Lovely said everyone is happy, that there was no animosity at all between the old northerners and southerners. I didn’t quite buy that. Finally, it was my Taxi driver on the last day, the one who took me everywhere looking for lonely planet books that gave me the real story. When I asked him if the old Saigon (present day Ho Chi Min city) was happy, he went silent and shook his head. Then he said “I don’t think so, but people don’t talk about it”. In a war, everyone suffers. Like Sun Zi put it, “Fury can turn into rejoice but people dead cannot come back to life and buildings destroyed cannot be revived.”

Aside from seeking out my answer, I did something in Vietnam that would make Harold very proud. (are you reading this Harold?!?) I took my first motorbike lesson!! All those times I said I would learn Harold, all those times you said “Yea right, Sheryl”, I finally did!!! So technically, according to SAS rules, students are not supposed to rent any motor vehicle, let alone control it. But Vietnam was the perfect place to learn, because I figured, with so many motorbike riders in the country, they must be extremely skilled to maneuver themselves through the crazy ass Vietnam traffic. I only learn from the best. Ok truth was, I have already seen Hanoi and I wasn’t planning on leaving Ho Chi Min, and 5 days in the city was just too much time and not enough things to do.

But back to the bike riding… I loved it! For the longest time, I’ve been wanting to do it. But after Ben and Oozie’s accident in Bali, I had second thoughts. But I’m glad I did it. Now I can go forward, make a left u-turn, a right u-turn, go uphill and go downhill in very light traffic. As a souvenir from that day, I got a huge bruise on my right thigh. Must have gotten it when I crashed into a fence, and following that, I tried to reverse back out, only to discover that bikes do not reverse like a car. You had to manually push it backwards. Who would have thought!





my teacher...


After spending 3 days in the city, the pollution, noise and traffic was starting to give me a really bad headache. I badly needed some peace and quiet. On the last night in Ho Chi Min, my roommate was planning on taking a 4 hr bus ride to Mui Ne beach. Her bus was leaving at 730pm. Desperate to get out of the city, at 7pm, I ran back to the room, pack the fastest I had ever packed, and left for Mui Ne!

Turns out, we had an amazing time at the beach. And we met some amazing people. There were some Irish backpackers going to Singapore, and they were looking for a place to stay. So I told them about Adrian Ho’s The Hive. You’re welcome, Adrian! Met some guys from Greece on the bus that we became fast friends with.

Overall, the cultural experience in Ho Chi Min wasn’t awesome. But I got a feel of the economy, saw so many Korean billboards and Korean business in Vietnam, got an idea of property prices, and how much things cost, and my conclusion is—Vietnam’s the new China. Its probably going to experience rapid growth in the next few years and you could already see the early signs of that happening.

With Vietnam done, I’m looking forward to Thailand, where I meet my parents!! Till next time!