Finally... Vietnam!

Days 1 and 2: A shopping experience like no other…
I literally spent all two days shopping. The plan was to head towards the War Remnants museum and stop if we saw any cool shops. Well two hours later we finally arrived at the museum, only after making a conscious effort to stop stopping and get to the museum before it closed.
The museum is known for its “other side of the story” depiction it gives of the Vietnam War, which is called the American War in Vietnam. It was especially hard to walk through seeing the devastating pictures and know that your country inflicted so much unnecessary pain, suffering, and hardships. I know only the footnote versions of the causes of the Vietnam War but what I saw in the museum gives little justification for any of them. My eyes filled with tears as I walked through the War Crimes section and saw picture after picture of mutilated, scarred, burned, and murdered people. Agent Orange was spread all over Vietnam to drive out the Viet Cong from the jungles, while completely destroying the vegetation and subjecting thousands, if not millions of people, to the toxic chemicals. The most horrendous chemicals were used which marred the bodies of its victims and caused thousands of birth defects for a generation afterwards. I held back the tears as I read about the massacres of villages and looked at pictures of soldiers posing with decapitated heads or smirking while picking up half-blown up bodies. It was absolutely disgusting and shameful. Only the Holocaust museum in Washington DC rivals the graphicness.
The museum closed before we got to see all of it, so since it was 5pm we decided to get some lunch. After we had “refreshed” ourselves we continued to shop as we headed back to the shuttle. We went in to really cool stores. I couln’t believe how fashionable the clothes were and they all seemed “hand-made.” Jesse and I had the hardest time finding pants and shoes to fit. He is tall and I am fat (especially compared to the Vietnamese). That's the only downfall but still didn't hold me back from spending all of my money! I did purchase the coolest “Louis Vuitton” watch and some bootleg DVDs ($1/ea).
Since our plans fell through to go the Cu Chi Tunnels fell through we had the entire day to go shopping. I booked a two day Mekong Delta tour with my friends, Linda, Nhim, Lisa, and Jesse for the next day. Jesse and I continued to shop but this time at the market. The bargaining ordeal was so fun in Vietnam because when you bargained for a lower price, the women would make a face, pout and act offended that you offered such a low price. They would rebuttal with a price a little lower, then I would raise my original offer a little, and the same thing would happen over and over until a price would be established. But it was always my goal to get the biggest pout I could.
I found another tailor to make me two more suits for $65 (!) and the fabric was pimp! I brought in a picture from the Victoria Secret Catalog of the suits I wanted and hoped that when I returned to get them fitted that’s what they would look like. They also made me a skirt from some silk I had purchased in Myanmar. We spotted a spa across the street from my tailor and stopped in. Jesse and I ended up getting a facial, massage, manicure, pedicure, and a haircut for $40. It was like a 3 and half hour ordeal and it was absolutely wonderful to pampered!

Day 3 and 4: Big Motorcycle, Big Girlfriend

At 8 am we boarded the bus to the Mekong delta. A noisy and bumpy two hours later we arrived at the the first city on the delta. Along the way, our guide was telling us about all the motorcycle in Vietnam. Transportation has been constantly evolving for the rich in Vietnam. At first on the rich had bicycles, then motorbikes and now cars. But for the average young person, to have a motorbike is a huge status symbol. He said in the US the saying is “no money, no honey”, and here it is “no motorcycle, no girlfriend”. He went on to say that young men like to get big motorbikes so they can get big girlfriends (I think he meant a lot since there are virtual no fat women), b/c the women don’t like riding around on bicycles.
We boarded wooden boats and cruised the river for a while. Our first stop was a street market that we wondered for half an hour. The fried banana cakes were recommended by our guide, so when we found a woman on the street selling them I bought one to share. The cakes are bananas wrapped/covered in rice which is then fried and then topped with a yogurt like cream. Delicious! We met a lone traveler from Germany who shared her pineapple that she bought, and that was really good too. We continued on in the boat to another place where we boarded canoe like boats which had to be paddled. We ventured up a river way through the thick delta vegetation for awhile before turning back. We had lunch on an island that was in the Delta. We had fried noodles that tasted a lot like ramen noodles, I dont know, maybe they were (?). We continued on for another hour before we got to the bus pick up point and bordered it for another 2 and half hours. When we finally arrived at Can Tho it was dark. My friends and I had signed up for the homestay option so after being dropped off at the hotel, we were taken by rickshaws hooked up to motorbikes to the river. From there we boarded another boat and went 20 minutes in the dark on the river before reached the “bungalows.” Looking from the boat on to the lights on the shore reminded me exactly of being back home and out on a lake.
The homestay turned out not to be quite what we had all expected. The family merely placed food on the tables outside and woke us up in the morning… and that was about the extent of the contact. I was disappointed but for $23 for two days of traveling/touring I don’t think there is room to complain about anything.

I slept horribly that night b/c the bungalows were right on the water (on stilts) and motor boats with no sound muffling devices of any kind would go by wake me up every five minutes. But around 7 am we boarded the boats again and traveled down the river way to the floating market. We met up with the rest of our group that stayed at the hotel on the river and the three boats ventured through the floating market together. While the markets were nothing too terribly exciting, it was very interesting to observe the people. I mostly saw food stuffs for sale, and if you wanted what someone was selling you just paddled your boat beside theirs.
The rest of day was spent visiting a rice paper making “factory”, a rice factory (that produced final rice products), and a “monkey” bridge (which when you cross you look like a monkey b/c there is only a pole across with one handrail). After lunch, we hopped back into the bus for our 4 and half hour bus ride back to HCMC.

Day 5: Water puppets, deaf school and disabled children’s home
For an FDP, I went to a water puppet performance. It was really interesting… the puppeteers stand behind a curtain in the water. The puppets are controlled by a long pole and pulleys that is hidden beneath the water. The puppeteers study for 3 to 6 years to master the craft. I was really impressed the skill and liveliness of the performance. Afterwards, Jesse and I went to the second suit fitting where I had the tailor add one more button to my cashmere suit. It was looking sooo good! I couldn’t wait to return to pick it up. Since I had another FDP at 1pm I had to return to the ship and to catch the bus. Our first stop was a school for the deaf. I got to play with the children and it was really fun. It was hard to communicate but it would have been hard to communicate with any Vietnamese children reguardless if they could speak or hear b/c they wouldn’t speak English. Some students did write some English phrases down like “What is your name?” and many wanted me to write my name for them. The children were so excited that we were there and to get some new toys and school supplies.
After an hour and half we went to an disabled abandoned childrens home. I am normally slightly uneasy around handicapped children but I was determined to have a good time with them… after all they’re still children. We visited several rooms, each with various degrees of mentally and physically handicapped children. It was odd because the tour guide asked us if we were afraid of them, and if so, we didn’t have to go into the rooms. I wondered if previous tours had actually not even played with the children b/c they were “different.” All the students enthusiastically wanted to go in and meet the kids. The kids were so excited, started yelling, clapping, jumping around, and most of all smiled their biggest smiles! I really felt like I grew from my experiences at the home and am much more comfortable with handicapped children. I really had a great time interacting with many children.
After getting back to the ship I left once again to fit my last two suits and pick up my cashmere suit. I was so nervous that there was going to be something majorly wrong with my suits since I hadn’t even seen them, or I would run out of time waiting for them to be finished. But everything worked out splendidly! My suits fit great with no major alterations needed. Since I had gotten them both in the same design, once I tried them on I decided to shorten one jacket so they wouldn’t be the exact same. We went and picked up Jesse’s other suit and coat and again all the alteration had been made perfectly so no problems there. We even had time to go back to the spa and get my nails repainted (they had gotten so dirty on the Delta!). After my jacket was finished we walked back to the original tailor and had our last fitting. Again everything was great! So after all was said and done we had a nice Vietnamese dinner and headed back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.