Double To Single

After our first few crazy day trips out of Ho Chi Mihn, Rikki and I decided to spend the remainder of her time traveling wandering around the city.  We started the slightly more relaxed portion of the trip by sleeping in for the first time since our arrival.  It wasn't very hard to do, we were both exhausted. We woke up at a late ten in the morning and wandered out into the park just down the street from where we were staying.  There we found some Vietnamese coffee to start the day with and spent an hour or so writing in our journals and just enjoying the birds, families, and life of the people there.  


We then decided it was high time we got some serious shopping done and headed out to Bến Thành Market, one of the oldest and largest markets in the city.  We had been warned several times to be very carful about our money and about what we bought there.  Pick pockets and scammers filled the market and they were always on the hunt for silly white people to rip off and steal from.  I guess all those folks took the day off the day we were there.  Yes, we had to do a bit of bartering, and yes it was tight packed, but I felt no less safe then I do in any market in Korea.  

It may have been that my senses were in maximum overdrive due to all the colors and patterns I encountered in the market.  There were no two pieces alike and there were more patterns and colors then I have even known existed.  I wanted all of it, and I had to work very had to not buy all of it.  The prices were great, and everything was interesting and different.  I bought too many pairs of pants, and too many dresses.  Rikki got all of her souvenir shopping done, and I got most of mine finished.  I honestly could have spent about ten times as much money there if I didn't have ten days left of my trip still.

After the day at the market, we headed back to spread out our loot and look over everything we had bought.  We got a quick lunch, and watched a bit of TV while we reorganized our now bulging backpacks.  One of the hostel workers came up to tell us he had organized Rikki's taxi to the airport the next day and recommended we check out the water puppet show that was put on nearby.  It sounded fun and different so we decided to check it out.  This lovely man actually rode with us in the cab to the show, got us tickets, and found our seats before he left.  Best service ever in this country.  The show was unbelievable and the pictures we took don't even start to do justice to how awesome this was.  All the music, singing, and voices were preformed by six actors that sat on the edges of the stage over the water.  the puppets swam, flipping, shot, dove, and even breathed fire.  We didn't need to understand the language to understand the stories.  And I am still puzzling over how they did some of the things they did.

We walked through the night market on the way back to the hostel, but it was pretty much the same as the day market, just outdoors.  When we got to the hostel we had a few beers and passed out.  The next day was Rikki's last day and we were both pretty worn out.  We decided to just relax all day and left only to get food and water.  I said goodbye to Rikki about eight that night and then I was on my own.  I woke up pretty early the next day and showered.  I wanted to be absolutely certain I didn't miss my flight to Đà Nẵng.  I spent a few hours uploading the pictures I had taken so far to Facebook so I could open up some space on my camera, and to give people back home a bit of an update.  The cab came late and then turned back halfway because the hostel called him to say they thought I had left something there though I hadn't and he wouldn't listen to me, which meant I arrived at the airport with only thirty minutes to get checked in and on board.  Luckily for me the plane was running 30 minutes late.  


I finally got on the plane and an hour later arrived in Đà Nẵng, which was unfortunately not where I was staying for the night.  I had hoped to take the bus to my hostel in Huế, but because the plane was so late, the last bus had left 10 minutes before the plane arrived.  I now was aced with the choice of waiting until midnight at the train station, 4 hours from then, or taking a taxi to the other city, which was about two hours away.  I was exhausted and didn't want to wait until two am to get into bed so I opted for the crazy cab ride.  The driver was awesome and even had to pull over a few times to ask directions once we got in to the city.  I gave him a big tip since he still had a two hour drive back ahead of him and then rolled into the not so pretty bunk bed i was staying in the next two nights and passed out.

Coconuts, Honey Bees, And A Unicorn

After an emotional day the third day of our trip, Rikki and I decided it would be a good idea to relax and soak up some sun and fresh air on the fourth day.  Our hostel offered a nice day tour to the Mekong Delta and a few small islands, which sounded absolutely splendid to us.  Once again we were up at the butt-crack of dawn, had another amazing homemade breakfast, and were on our way by eight in the morning.  The trip started out on a high note when we discovered we would have the same lovely man as our tour whom took us to the tunnels the day before.  Many of his stories were the same as the day before so I did some catch up sleeping on the bus in between looking out at the beautiful scenery.  We stopped at a pretty rest stop about halfway there for some cà phê đá, or Vietnamese iced coffee made with condensed milk, and to look around a beautiful garden they had there.  Then it was back on the bus and off to the boating area we would be starting our trip from.  

When we arrived we were told we needed to wait for a few minutes while our guide secured our boat, which gave us all a bit of time to look around the shops and to get some pictures of the boats and the river.   The water was the color of milk chocolate, and there was no way to see anything in the water.  Boats of all sizes moved across the immense space, somehow not colliding.  There was everything from huge barges carrying tins of river-bottom sand for homes to tiny round boats that barley fit one man.  Everything was painted bright and cheerful.  I loved it immediately and stood there impatiently waiting to get on our boat.  

Fifteen minutes later we were boarding an old, beat up tour boat that was manned by a very old gentleman and his slightly round grandson.  The chairs were old lawn furniture that had been bolted to the floor and were missing the seats in several instances, but it didn't matter.  The sun was shinning and there was fresh air hitting our faces.  The old man started up the motor, which I think once belonged to a lawnmower and we started out along the river to the first island.

 I can't remember the name of this first island, but I do remember the palm trees, fishery boats, and half submerged trees as we approached it.  We pulled up to a sort of dock, but had to frog hop over several lined up boats to get to it.  The first stop on this island was the honey bees and fruit trees.  We had been told we would be going to a bee farm, but I guess my mental picture of a bee farm and the reality are quite different.  We walked to a outdoor seating area and stood around a box that held several of the flat pieces of wood you find inside one of those white manmade bee hives, and they were positively swarming with bees.  

Our guide bravely lifted one of these out and told us about the honey bees and then informed us we could approach him and stick our finger into the honeycomb for some fresh honey.  This honeycomb was invisible under the layer of buzzing, living bees that covered it even as he held it up to us.  Rikki and I both bravely approached and got our bit of honey.  This was one of the scariest things I have even done and the fact that I didn't turn and run or even faint still amazes me.  

After this taste of honey, our guide led us all to a table covered in small glass cups and served out some bee pollen tea for us.  Apparently the bee pollen is very good for pretty much every part of your body.  I didn't really think it had much of a taste, but the honey lemon tea he mixed it into was delicious and refreshing.  We sat for awhile drinking our tea and looking at the various bee products we could purchase if we wanted, and snacking on the dried fruit and ginger.  

After this little break we walked to another outdoor seating area about five minutes away to try some of the locally grown fruit and listen to the local people sing traditional songs.  The fruit was mostly pretty tasty, and I even enjoyed the Jack Fruit.  As a whole, the six people at our table agreed that the pineapple covered in spicy salt was the absolute worst thing we had ever tasted.  We also had more tea, this time green, and talked about where we had all come from.  

The singers and musicians came up to our tables a short while later and began to sing.  They sang three or four songs that ranged from traditional to modern.  One of the singers was an absolutely adorable little girl who smiled and sang her heart out the whole time, and reminded me of some of my littlest students back in Korea, when they aren't driving me nuts.  After the performance, they passed around little baskets for us to put tips into, which we all did, and then we headed to the next part of the adventure.

We walked through an orchard, which didn't look any different than the rest of the forest around us.  No straight rows and organized planting here.  It was haphazard and organic and exactly the way I think orchards should be.  Our path lead us to one of the smaller rivers that run through all of the islands in this region.  We were led down a slippery stairway and into waiting rowboats.  These long crafts were manned by two people, one in front and one in back and moved up and down the river all day in a continuous line.  We were given traditional hats and told to keep our hands out of the water.  This turned out to be great advice, not only because of the crocodiles our guide mentioned in a jokingly serious way, but also because some points in the river were so crowed, the boats threatened to tip each other over or crawl into our boat.  Even with the craziness of the river, and the very touristy feel of it, it was a very fun little trip down the river and back to our big boat.  After a slightly terrifying clamor over several lined up boats, we were off on our way to the second island of the day.

The second island was home to a town and a large coconut farm.  It was named Unicorn Island.  When we first arrived, it looked very similar to the first island, except that most of the trees were large palms.  We started out in the coconut candy workshop were they hand crushed, hand cut, and hand wrapped every piece of candy they make and sell.  We sampled some rice paper, stared at the snake and scorpion liquor (which or guide said was vodka, but I have never scene orange vodka before), and watched the woman wrapping candy continue wrapping, endlessly.  

The next part of the tour involved horse drawn buggies that would transport us to the next town.  I wasn't surprised that the horses were a bit thin according to my standards of horse weight, or even that they were quite small and only came up to my head (this was an island after all).  I was surprised that they loaded up each cart with five or six adults, plus a driver, and then trotted the ponies quickly over asphalt to the restaurant.  it was a beautiful little ride, and the clip clop of the hooves was lovely, but I almost wanted to get out and run alongside the poor little things.  

At the restaurant, we were greeted by some small round dogs and several friendly stray cats.  We sat over the river in a slit house and were served some chicken breast and veggies.  It was nothing spectacular food-wise after all the wonderful things we had had that day, but it filled us up (and the stray momma cat at my feet).  After our meal, a beer, and some nice conversation we spread out to find hammocks and some shade to rest in.  I got in about a five minute nap before Rikki noticed a large, somewhat worrisome spider above her head that was slowly descending, so we decided to get up and look at the store they had there.  We found some coconut sake that was actually inside a coconut, and we each bought one to try out.  It was actually really refreshing and I think more places should sell sake this way, especially in summer.  

This was the end of our trip to the Mekong Delta.  We walked back to some more small boats, which took us too our bigger boat, which returned us to the bus.  The trip was amazing and completely what we needed after the tunnels the day before.  We arrived back about three ours later and grabbed some banh mi before heading to the hostel for a nap, showers, and some beers and sloth TV to end the night.

Củ Chi And Agent Orange

Our first night in Ho Chi Mihn we signed up for some tours with our hostel.  So, day 2, we rolled out of bed at 6:00 am and managed to get slowly dressed and repacked and moved out of our temporary room and down to our hostel for breakfast.  Vietnamese breakfast is AWESOME! Wow.  Fresh baguettes, hot from the oven, salad, fresh fruit, eggs, iced Vietnamese coffee (which I will discuss in more detail in a later post). All made fresh and included in the cost of the hostel we were staying in. At that moment I decided I was never leaving.  I missed real bread so bad.  Bread that wasn't covered in so much sugar it was good for nothing other than coffee cake.  Crunchy, well-baked, wonderful bread....

Anyway, after breakfast, we waited around for our tour bus to get there and pick us up for the day.  Our tour guide was quite funny, and spoke pretty good English.  We spent a good part of the trip to the tunnels listening to his funny stories about the military and life and love in Vietnam. While listening I took a lot of pictures out the bus window and slept a bit.  It was hard to stop staring out the windows at the countryside as we drove.  It was so different from Korea.  For one thing, it was flat. And green.  The poverty that is still prevalent in the country is evident form the run down homes, the garbage everywhere, and the lifestyle of many of the people we drove past.  But there was life to this country that Korea feels like it is missing.  Everywhere you looked, there were homes being built, and new churches and businesses.  People relaxed at the roadside stands in hammocks instead of at tables, just talking and sharing food and good times.  It was hard to imagine what this country looked like only 40 years ago at the end of the war, and impressive to see how far they have come.

If I thought the drive was going to be eye-opening, I had no clue what I was about to see this day.  The first big, emotional stop we made was actually a pitstop for the bus and for us to get lunch.  We stopped at a factory that makes those beautiful handmade wooden boxes, vases, screens, and other things you see and think, "Oh, what a pretty Asian box!"  They were incredible. And the handmade part was just the beginning.  This particular factory was devoted to people who were suffering the effects of agent orange.  They were the workers, and the supervisors, and the money from the sales went to helping them.  When we were told this before arriving, I was expecting older men who had fought in the war, and were suffering now years later.  I was not expecting to encounter men and woman my age who had been suffering from their affiliations and deformities all their lives.  I was shocked at what I saw, and I realized then, just how little I knew about their side of the war, and began to get an idea of how devastating this day was going to be.  I bought a few small screens made with inlayed mother of pearl and lacquered crushed eggshell and sand.  They were beautiful and are now hanging in my living room.

Then we moved on to the goal of our trip.  The Củ Chi Tunnels. We started out by eating our lunch and loading up on bug spray, then ventured into the museum area to watch a movie about the history of the tunnels and the city that was once there.  It showed the effects of the war on the people and farmland and gave us a glimpse into what life was like for the TEN YEARS they lived in those tunnels.  The video was a bit propaganda-y, but very interesting.  I, for one, can not imagine having to live my life in tiny tunnels, underground, unable to stand, in the pitch black.  It had to be terrifying.  Ten years, spent in those tunnels, digging with little hand axes and bamboo.

After the video, we walked around on the surface, over the paths of the tunnels, looking at tunnel opening, air vents, the "large" openings for the elderly or pregnant, and at all the crazy traps they built around the tunnels.  As horrifying as it all was, looking at their booby traps made me think of Data from The Goonies and "booty traps."  This is not intended to take away from the ingenuity of the traps they made.  And most of them were made using unexploded bombs, weapons, and other things they stole from the opposing forces, then melted down and made into spikes.  The tunnels were even more amazing.  All the planning that went into the ditches, and camouflage and which way the tunnels lead, incredible. I also spent a good deal of this dreading the next part of the tour, going down into the
tunnels.  Small, dark, enclosed spaces and myself tend to mix poorly.  But, I remained determined to at least attempt to walk through the tunnels.  I was curious to see if i could have pushed that fear away if it meant life or death.  Could I live ten years in the dark, if the other option was death?  After our foray into the dark, my answer is.......... Maybe.  I was one of the last to go through the tunnel.  I made the mistake of watching several people ahead of me back out in terror, I closed my eyes, held my breathe, and plunged into the dark.  Which ended up being not so dark.  Most of this section of the tunnel was pretty well lit, though I did panic a bit in the one dark section, the little girl ahead of me cheered me on and lead me out.  But, I count it as a success.

After the tunnels, we relaxed for a bit with a sampling of the tea and root vegetable, tapioca, that they would have subsisted on while living in the tunnels.  It actually wasn't too bad.  Tasted like a sweet potato, and I mean a REAL sweet potato, not the orange yams we call sweet potatoes in the states.  Then it was back on the bus, and heading home.  This trip involved a lot less talking and a lot more sleeping and staring out the window deep in thought.  We had almost arrived back at our hostel when our tour guide mentioned that it was possible for us to be dropped off at The War Remnants Museum  which was only about ten minutes from our hostel.  We had been planning to go there anyway at some point so we figured this was as good a time as any.

The first floor started out okay, lots of banners, flyers, posters, articles, and other things from all over the worlds, requesting the US pul out of Vietnam.  Interesting, but not to emotional or distressing.  We made out way around and up to the second floor, and were immediately confronted with photos of bomb victims, dismembered bodies, murdered children... The list goes on.  Every horrible image you could imagine, we saw.  All the horrible things people do in war, we saw photo proof of the American soldiers preforming them to a tee.  I know that the vietnamese soldiers did awful things to our soldiers as well, but this was image of old, infirm, pregnant, babies.  Being cut up and posed with like prize deer.  It was horrifying and made me ashamed of my country, ashamed of where I was from, and left me hoping everyone else in the museum thought I was german because of my blonde hair, or a canadian because I spoke English.  It is definitely one thing to know the horrors that are going on in war, and a completely different thing to see the images of it.  From this room we went into the gallery dedicated to the immediate and lingering effects of agent orange.  By this time I was so overwhelmed, horrified, and emotionally broken down from the day that I didn't spend as much time here as the other rooms.  I will just say, it is sick that we did what we did, it hurt everyone, and everything, and I hope that the people who made those decisions are horribly, horribly, ashamed of what they did.  It destroyed lives for generations.  Children are still being born suffering for the effects of those chemicals we dropped, and they will continue to be for a long time.  Land is still barren because of it.  That is all I have to say about it, and after that room, both Rikki and I were done.

We walked out to the street and found a cafe to decompress in and gather our thoughts.  We got some more great food, and decided to head back to the hostel for a shower and a rest.  Both of us were pretty much done emotionally for the day, and we needed some time to relax and process the things we had seen and learned.  After a nap and a revitalizing shower, we walked around looking for a place for dinner.  We found a little Pho place near our hostel, and ordered some food and some beers.  After a little while we realized that the other people in the shop were... how do I say this nicely... ladies of the night??  We will go with that.  At first we just thought they were meeting here to eat, but when the little old lady running the place started giving them orders and having them set up tables for themselves to eat at before they went out into the night, we figured out she was the madame.  It was, needless to say, and interesting and slightly surreal end to a very draining, but spectacular day.

The last few pictures are just a few of my favorites from the day.  I choose not to post any pictures from the museum because they were far too graphic.

Hello 4 AM, Tiny Planes, And Saigon

In December, I spent 17 wonderful days in Vietnam.  I have been too busy to even load the pictures on my camera, much less write about the trip day-by-day in my blog.  But, with our trip to Japan in a few weeks, I had to clear of my camera's memory card.  I finally got the pictures, all 11.6 gigs of them, on to my computer.  And now, with a twenty page paper due next week for my Masters course, there is nothing I would rather do then procrastinate by spending an hour or two remembering my trip and all the awesome, amazing, splendid, and sincerely eye-opening stuff that happened on this crazy journey I set out on.  So here it is: The first day in Saigon, as the locals still call it, or Ho Chi Mihn City, to the rest of the world.

The trip started bright and early at about three AM when I woke up and showered and left the apartment to meet up with my friend Rikki, who would be tagging along for the first five days of my trip.  It was a bit tough saying goodbye to Steven and Dash since I wouldn't be seeing them for two months, but it was made easier by the fact that they were both passed out cold when I left.  I stepped out into the freezing cold of five in the morning dressed only in a sweatshirt and long-sleeve heat-tech shirt.  Crazy, but Vietnam was going to be 80 degree weather, and I didn't have space in my backpack for a big, heavy jacket.

We cabbed it to the bus station, arrived an hour before the bus got there, and were accosted outside by a very pushy cab driver.  I have met a few that couldn't take no for an answer, but this dude kept insisting he could drive us to Incheon Airport for cheap, even though we repeatedly told him we were not going to Incheon and to go away.  We ended up hiding out in a fast food place till the bus came in order to get away from him.  By the time we got to Busan and Gimhae Airport, the sun was just coming up.  We got checked in, and got seats next to each other.  Rikki had a close shave with a lighter in her carry-on she had forgotten was there.  They took her to the back and shut a big door and I watched unsure if I should laugh or worry.  We had a quick snack, and after an hour or two of waiting, finally got on the plane and I said goodbye to Korea for two months.  Oh, almost forgot, we had to take a bus out to the plane.  I kinda loved it... Walking up the big steps like I was famous and had my own plane...

Anyway, five hours (way too long in the uncomfortable chairs) later, we landed in Vietnam.  Green grass, Palm trees, and 80 degrees.  Oh lordy I was so excited!!  We got through the airport, found a cab, and headed into the city to our hostel.  I had been told there would be a lot of mopeds, but I had NO IDEA how many there would really be.  The further into the city we got, the more we saw.  I can't even put a number on how many there were.  And they never stopped.  Traffic lights be damned!  Both Rikki and I were not excited about the idea of trying to cross a street, walking into all those vehicles and just hoping they would stop...  We got to our hostel, which was awesome and beautiful, only to be told they were having an electricity problem with our room and had put us up in a neighboring hotel for the night.  Less then thrilled, we followed the lady to a less impressive hotel down the street, then settled in and showered and rested for a bit until we got hungry.

We wandered out, and bravely crossed the tiny, empty street, and headed to the Chicken Pho place.  The food was good, but not as amazing as I had been expecting after Steven's month long tirade about how awesome it was.  The family that ran the place was very friendly and helpful.  It was interesting to experience this new Asian culture, so different from Korea. We did a little wandering, not crossing anymore streets, and just looked around this new, exciting country.

I discovered some awesome graffiti just down the street.  Rikki was entranced by the crazy number of mopeds.  Both of us were soaking up the sun and lovely weather.  There was just so much more LIFE in  this country.  Korea is beautiful, but there is this coldness there, a distance in the people.  This was such a different feel, I mean, there were birds chirping, and bugs, and lizards, and dogs.  People smiled and kids played with their families.  I love Korea, but this feeling of life was a great refresher.

After an hour or so of wandering, we headed back for a nap.  After all, we had only had a few hours of crappy sleep on a bus, then a plane.  we read, and napped for a few hours until it got dark and our tummies started to grumble.  Out into the night we went, but fully intending to not cross any more streets that night.  We walked around the block our hostel was on, checking out the nightlife and looking for someplace good to eat.  We made it almost all the way back to our hostel when I noticed a little cart in an alley with a sign for banh bo hue.  This was a soup that Steven had literally begun to drool while describing, so we decided to try it out.  We were seated in a little plastic chair in an alley, next to a tiny, wrinkled old woman who cheerfully greeted us and began to speak to us in surprisingly good English.  She told us about learning about America by looking at maps, studying where the cities are, and how she never wanted to leave Vietnam because it was her home.  Then, the wonderful bowls of soup were placed in front of us and we didn't say or think much for a little bit.  It was so good.  Even with the rats running around and the dirty water on the table, all that mattered was that food and that moment, there in the alley.  It was a truly surreal end to a pretty cool start to an amazing trip.

New Direction (Not One Direction)

So, as anyone who reads this regularly can see, I have made some major changes to the look and title of the ole' blog.  I am leaving Korea in a few months, at the end of May, and I have to start the process of getting back into life in the US.  The list of things to do is a bit intense, and scary.  So far I need to:

• Get Dash vaccinated for Rabies
• Buy ticket
• Get Dash's flight arranged
• Clean Dash's new carrier and get him used to going in and out of it
• Go through Clothing and get rid of older stuff
• Figure out shipping costs for the extra clothes and things I don't want to leave here
• Sell off extra furniture, clothes, books, and stuff
• Take Dash back to vet 10 days before I leave
• Organize stuff back home in preparation for the move to Austin
• Find jobs to apply for in Austin
• Locate Apartments that are available starting mid June
• Take a week long trip to Austin with Steven to job search, apartment search, and find a place.
• Move in
• Settle in

So many, many things to do.  And all while I am working on my masters, keeping the apartment clean, feeding Steven, and spending time with his mother when she comes to visit.  I am actually really looking forward to having a job and just having a plain, easy life for a little bit.  I shall share the knowledge I gain with you all regarding how to leave Korea in the least stressful way possible.  Tomorrow, look for the start of my posts about my trip to Vietnam and back home.  And soon Steven and I are heading to Japan for a week (danced around the house when I found out).