Good morning, Vietnam

The typical hat worn when farming rice in Vietnam. Marigolds are a sign of luck here (and throughout SE Asia)

Vietnam has been my favorite country while traveling throughout South East Asia. Our days were packed with unforgettable adventure experiences – scenic hikes, canyoning, exploring caves, dancing on tables with our new English friends, riding a motorbike through rice fields, tattoos and discussing politics with people from all over the world. It has also been humbling being an American, diving deeper into the impacts of the Vietnam War and witnessing first-hand how forgiving, compassionate and tenacious the Vietnamese people are.

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Our route is numbered 1-8 each representing a city that we stopped in

​​Due to Vietnam’s vertical, narrow “S” shape, most people travel from south to north or vice versa. We started in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) which used to be the capital of Southern Vietnam. The city currently is named after Ho Chi Minh who is the leader of the Vietnamese Independence movement. He was the driver in the reunification of Vietnam during the war and is still memorialized in posters and statues all over this country.

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Patriots fan crying.

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​But before we got in, we had to obtain visas. To get them, we had to go to a town called Sihanoukville, Cambodia. It is a port town and in desperate need of Captain Planet.

​Nonetheless, we had a wonderful experience watching the Eagles versus Patriots Super bowl at 6 am. Beer and bloody marys flowing, we cheered in an Eagles win and met new friends actually from Pennsylvania.  

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1. Ho Chi Minh City
Learning About A 25 Year-Old War with a Questionable Purpose

​As Kev and I frequently do, we dove head first into history, visiting the War Remnants Museum. The French either occupied or were heavily involved in puppet governments throughout the 19th century. The United States supported France throughout the ten year First Indochina War. Why?! Primarily for the low-priced tin and tungsten that was coming from this region. China and the Soviet Union supported Vietnam. In 1954, the French withdrew and Vietnam declared their independence. Their fight for independence just began though.

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Starting with Truman declaring “a war against communism,” the United States did everything in its’ means to prevent this ideology from spreading throughout South East Asia. We thought that if Vietnam (or Korea) fell it would begin somewhat of a domino effect. With the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, the U.S. were “very active” on trying to influence the Vietnamese elections, putting together “as some might say” a puppet government. They also sent advisors to help train the military.

When the leader of this puppet government, Ngo Dinh Diem, wasn’t rallying the support of the Southern Vietnamese, Americans actually assassinated him and tried to put someone in power that could shift the tides in the war.
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The Johnson administration brought American soldiers on the ground in 1965, defining his presidency.  

Location of major U.S. Combat units stationed in Vietnam.

Throughout the 25 years of fighting, there was brutality from both sides. Viet Cong executed southern Vietnamese women and children in the massacre at Hue after the Tet Offensive in 1968.

Many Americans are all-to familiar with the brutal killings of innocent women and children's lives in Mai Lai. Their was intelligence that the Viet Cong were in this village. Yet, the GIs were only met with unarmed civilians, which they preceded to rape, beat and ultimately mass execute. 

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​We walked through displays of pictures and quotes from brave journalist from the United States, France and Viet Cong, capturing the horrors and everyday life in this war. This particular quote stood out to me:

"...And so often I wonder whether it is my right to capitalize, as I feel, so often on the grief of others. But then I justify, in my own particular thoughts, by feeling that I can contribute a little to the understanding of what others are going through; then there is a reason to do it."
​-Larry Burrows

​We saw pictures of women and children right before their last breath on this earth. 

"Guys were about to shoot these people" photographer Ron Haeberle remembers. "I yelled, 'Hold it," and shot my picture. As I walked away, I heard M16s open up. From the corner of my eyes, I saw bodies falling, but I didn't turn back to look.

​We heard first hand stories and saw pictures of children being disemboweled.

Three children were hiding in this sewer prior to being disembowed by American GIs. Ex Senator, Bob Kerrey, participated in this "mission" and confessed his war crimes in 2001.

​We physically met some of the victims in person whom had genetic malformations from the chemical agent orange.

​This chemical has created genetic physical and mental disabilities for over 3,000,000 people and the genetic malformations continue to pass along in generations. After meeting them, I had to go outside of the room and cry. Beside me was an older Vietnamese man, also crying.

​​The world agrees that the weapons and tactics used in Vietnam completely violated the Geneva Conventions established in 1949. These conventions were a series of war laws that were meant to protect the innocent and learn from our mistakes in past wars!

Thankfully, the brave first-line journalists who published the horrors from the events ignited an outcry in people in the United States and all the over world, encouraging Nixon to withdraw the last troops in 1973. The United States was defeated, North and South Vietnam eventually united, and communism was the ideology that took over in this country.
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But as I experience Vietnam currently, a communist country with a free-market, it makes me wonder and question many things.

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​Why did we get into the war in the first place?
​Why do we think that "democracy" should be adopted by all nations?

 Honestly, I do understand "why" we were there initially - to prevent the spread of communism.  Russia and China had sooo much influence at the time (from Poland to Afghanistan). We have seen how "corrupt" communism and lack of freedom of speech leads to horrendous situations - innocent people being accused as enemies of the state, mass executions, famine and more.

But, we have also seen that sometimes Communism has somewhat worked and actually benefited the livelihood of the people (former Yugoslavia under Tito).

Nonetheless, I do fundamentally believe in freedom of speech and freedom to speak out against the government. This gives power to the people and allows change. There are too many countries in this world that have had this right taken away.

I believe that communism and capitalism can become corrupt or evil if the pendulum swings too far in one direction. In our travels, it seems like many communist countries are swinging more capitalist and capitalist countries are adopting more ideas rooted in socialism. 

"Isms" are not black and white. But as long as their is freedom of speech, we can contentiously debate on where the line should swing on the pendulum. 

​Why was there not more testing on the impacts of the chemical agent orange before spraying the poison throughout the region? 

The Vietnamese were not the only people impacted by agent orange. There were many veterans who came home and passed on these genetic malformations to their offspring. The deformations have been observed as much as 3 generations later. Large chemical companies, Dow Jones and Monsanto being among them, were forced to create $180 million fund to support American veterans. No funds were provided to the 3 million Vietnamese people.

Why did we “sometimes-knowingly” operate with such brutality? 

I would like to stress that I believe that we should support our veterans, some were following orders and some incidents (i.e. rape) have absolutely no excuse. I’m not sure if I will ever understand this as I have never been put in a situation of survival and have never witnessed true horror. ​

​I don’t know if I will ever “find” my answers, but I guess that is the joy of life. I plan to continue talking to people, researching, digging deeper and (hopefully) building a better tomorrow. 

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2. Dalat
Meeting new, lifetime friends

​Dalat, Vietnam is a quaint city nestled in the mountains surrounding a beautiful lake with about a 3 KM walking path, almost all actually walkable! After being in South East Asia for almost 2.5 months, Kevin and I desperately missed sidewalks (weird, right?). But until you don’t have them and always have to be looking over your shoulder for motor bikes, you do not realize how much freedom and joy a leisurely, worry-free stroll brings you.

A stroll around the lake before heading back to working online.

In Dalat, we repelled down cliffs near (sometimes in) waterfalls. My legs were noticeably shaking when I peered down the cliff and eyed up the cascading waterfall beside me, but it was way easier than I anticipated. I want to get more into rock-climbing in years to come. 

​That day, we also met a young English couple, Harry and Jade, who unknowingly would be our partners in exploration for the weeks to come. We had a great time cheering each other on during the rappelling, sliding down the waterfalls and even jumping off some of the cliffs. I didn’t do the last part though :) ​

The four of us "mates!"

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3. Hoi An
Celebrating Chinese New Year (year of the Dog) 

​French-inspired architecture, multi-colored lanterns and Chinese-inspired traditions and temples make up this lovely Vietnamese coastal town.

​Kevin and I stayed in a traditional Vietnamese wooden house AirBnB, which allowed us to visit the markets and whip up some of our own Pho and even macaroni and cheese.  I brought three packets of powdered cheese with me from home and we bought noodles in the market. I am preserving the last one for a special occasion.

​We were excited to take part in celebrating the Chinese New Year on February 16.
At around 7 pm, our Vietnamese neighbors signaled us to join them. The sign “come here” is actually a flicking of the fingers with your palm facing the ground. As westerners, this would typically mean “go away” or "shoo".  After picking up on the other cues (i.e. their broad smiles), we realized this gesture meant the opposite – welcome inside.  We shared a La Rue beer before heading out for the rest of the evening.

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That night, we saw hundreds of people lighting paper lanterns to sail down the Thu Bon River. 
​We also saw many people burning fake money and other paper figurines outside of their shops and homes. Many Vietnamese people believe that the more they burn, the better their ancestors’ afterlife will be. 

​After sharing a meal, Kev and I walked around the night market, enjoyed a fireworks show and danced the night away, hopping between three to four clubs (our favorite spot was Mr. Bean Bar).

My Son temples.

​One beautiful sunny day, Kevin and I hopped on a moped and drove to Mỹ Sơn temples. They are a cluster of Hindu temples built by the Champa dynasty in the 4th century, honoring the god Shiva. 
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On the way home, we stopped at a local restaurant packed with locals on plastic red stools. Absolutely no one spoke English, but as westerners we were greeted with hugs and smiles. A man who we determined was either very drunk, super friendly, or had a mad crush on Kevin sat and talked to us in Vietnamese for our whole meal. It was most likely a combination of all three, but we tried to do sign language for a long time figuring out if he was married, what he did for a living, how many kids he had, etc. Non-verbal cues and smiles can go a long way when getting over language barriers. He actually gave us 10,000 Dong (just under 50 cents US) in a New Year envelope as a wish for prosperity and luck :)  Nonetheless, we were anxious to jump on our moped and drive home as it was a fairly exhausting, "out of our element" experience.

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Vietnamese traditional boat.

​The last day in Hoi An, Jade and Harry met up with us and we did a boat tour. When the French ruled, they decided to tax boats. So, the Vietnamese made circle basket like vessels to get around the tax. We also got to see someone dancing in the boat, twirling his paddle above his head – all to the tune of Gangnam style.

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4. Hai Van Pass
Killing it Top Gear Style

​Harry and Jade had rented a motorcycle to drive from South to North Vietnam and opened our eyes to the possibility of exploring the country this way. At first, I was extremely hesitant to rent a motorbike because the rules of the road are extremely different from our western society (AKA they are very limited). However, we decided to do this pass for its’ striking view of both the lush, green mountains and ocean. This drive was also featured on a famous British show, Top Gear. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to bike this pass….what an experience!

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5. Huế 
Visiting a Royal Citadel

​Huế is a city in central Vietnam that was the seat of Nguyen Dynasty emperors from 1802 to 1945. We visited the Purple Forbidden City which is where the emperor and family lived, entertained guest and had important ceremonies. The décor, crimson red and sparkling gold, elaborate dragons and traditions are so different from monarchies of Europe. Your imagination can run wild. Us four all pretended to choose our house, then visited each one to vote on the winner. Harry won after giving us a grand tour of “his” house and elaborate stone garden. 

​We also had some of the best soup of the whole trip. Noodles with a dumpling-like texture, pork, quail eggs, cilantro, onion and shrimp crackers. All for less than a $1.50. It rained for the first day time in South East Asia; therefore, we all saw Black Panther, played charades and entertained ourselves with the post-it game. 

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6. Phong Nha
Finding a hidden gem 

Many travelers overlook this city nestled right next to a national park, which also boasts the world’s largest cave. Our clan of four decided to check the city out and are so glad that we did! We stayed in Easy Tiger Hostel, which is probably one of the best hostels that we have ever stayed in, touting an hour of free beer, live music, friendly staff and delicious food. 
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We also did a 13KM trek in ankle-high mud, hiked into Dark Cave with headlamps and swam into a cave in freezing, crystal blue water. On the bus ride home, we celebrated with a beer and belted out Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys with a group of 20. To continue the party, we ended up eating, throwing down a few pints (that’s for our English friends) and dancing on the hostel tables to the likes of Linkin Park and Eminem.

Us four on the hike!

​The day after, we decided to rent another moped and drive around the jungle. The national park has over 300 caves. Our favorite was Thiên Đường Cave (Paradise Cave) which features unique stalactites, stalagmites and 40 meter + columns. A new scorpion species was also found here in 2012.

​We had an unanticipated ride through the jungle at dark in the rain. After leaving the cave, our moped didn’t work. We had 8+ Vietnamese people try to troubleshoot the bike. One of them called their mechanic friend to fix and another pair waited to follow us home to ensure our safety. I was so impressed that 8 people took an hour out of their day to help us!!

Fixing our bike in the rain.

​The drive home was nail-biting. The chilling rain hit our faces like little needles, bats swirled two inches from our faces and a coat of little black bugs all over your body was inevitable. Kevin and Harry drove very slowly and carefully, as the rain on the asphalt disguised the forbidding pot holes. Our moped started dragging a piece of the kickstand a few times on the journey and we stopped to repair it with my hair tie. Needless to say, we all returned and gave each other a big hug. 

​Besides dark jungle rides, the lush green jungles hide another monster – hundreds of thousands of unexploded bombs from the Vietnam War. 

​The Viet Cong would hide their ammunition in the caves her, so it was a prime target for bombing. Mines advisory board estimate that, on average, 67 pounds of explosives were dropped on every square foot. The American bombs dropped were from World War 2 and designed to hit hard surfaces...not the jungle, the waterlogged rice fields, or the river. Therefore, hundreds of thousands still haven’t exploded. Last June, two children died farming rice in a field and every year people are still dying.  

 The famous Ho Chi Minh Road was also built in this area to transport Viet Cong supplies. 8,000 Vietnamese workers lost their lives building this road as American planes reigned fire on the mountains above to encourage landslides. Workers were given 2 days of rations since this was the average life expectancy. 

People making the best of a bad situation.

​Wars, just or unjust, have a lasting, horrible impact on nations. There are some organizations joining the fight to try to make Vietnam a safer place for all such as MAG.  

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7. Ninh Binh
Relaxing in another world. 

​ Think limestone, vertical cliffs jutting out of the flat terrain. Our clan of four spent two days exploring the beautiful landscape and wildlife. We saw mountain goats effortlessly scaling an onyx black mountain and thousands of birds nesting. It is no surprise that this city was chosen to be featured in Kong’s Skull Island as the landscape seems so mysterious and out of this world. 

​We shared a lovely meal before another hike at a local restaurant (also with red plastic stools). Speaking no English, the man was so helpful and nice showing us how to eat the soup, giving us free dragon fruit, drawing out a map for us and more. For one of the meals, we also tried roasted duck! DELICIOUS!

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8. HaNoi
Loving the beautiful, dirty hustle.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is a city that of organized chaos. The lively streets are teaming with BBQ shops and noodle shops – all meals served on miniature tables with plastic red chairs. The old quarter streets become "walking only" on the weekends and locals come out in masses, having picnics by the lake, playing shuttle cock juggling and riding around in little miniature electric scooters.

 ​Women sell fruits, donuts and other goods to passerbys on the street. We went to the Vietnamese women’s museum and learned about a typical day of these friendly sales ladies. They journey to Hanoi from the countryside trying to make money for their families back home. After two weeks of 12+ hour days, they usually go home to their families with only $60.00 every two weeks. 

​​You will also see woman (and men) alike working tirelessly in the rice farms throughout SE Asia. They typically work in galoshes or no shoes at all, wading in shin deep water. Pre-germinated seedlings are planted closer together to control weeds and use less seeds. Then, they are replanted by hand in larger rows. The grains are picked, tilled by hand or in a machine to remove the grain from the stalk, the rice dried by the sun on big plastic sheets and then put in bags. Women were also instrumental in the Vietnam war and actually fought side-by-side with the male soldiers.

Hanoi was a perfect end to our trip because we were able to more deeply learn about Vietnamese traditions and explain "why" we were seeing a lot of things throughout the month. For example, we noticed that many temples/shrines had vodka, chocolate moon pies, dragon fruits and more. In Hanoi, we learned that this was to honor the four mother godesses-heaven, earth, water, and mountains and forests-who look after all things. We also learned about the 25 tribes scattered throughout Vietnam, which are still closely tied to their ancient customs and traditions.

​Our last night in South East Asia, we had a wonderful surprise – Jade and Harry arrived earlier than they anticipated. We shared one last meal, reminiscing about the last two weeks of our travels. At about 11 pm, we started joking about memorializing our epic Vietnam adventure with a more permanent look – a tattoo. Both Kevin and Harry found a design that “spoke” to them and got a compass on their arms. Kevin has been wanting a tattoo for a very, very long time. So, it just made sense. Get a tattoo with our new English friends on our last night in South East Asia. 

Showing off their new tattoos.

We were very sad to leave Vietnam. But the best part is that there are so many cities that we haven't seen and can go back some day.