Lovely Saigon

After being awake inexplicably from 3am until 6, I groggily woke up at 6:40 to get on a bus with Christa and Brooke for the day tour of the Mekong Delta.  Since it was our second full day in Vietnam, we were happy to be led around on someone else's adgenda as we slowly sweat our way in and out of consciousness throughout the stifling day.  I am variably energized and completely fatigued by this intense weather, but I have realized already that it will cause me to wake up very early and probably require a mid-day nap.  We'll just follow the example of the locals... if only our room came with hammocks.

The delta was just two hours away, and quite a tourist hot spot, but we enjoyed our time.  We took a variety of boat sizes for transportation from island to island; we learned about the honey bees and the conconut candy industries, sampling choice products of each.  We got to take small canal boats that glided effortlessly through the murky water under the palm trees, the rowers crouching on either end, staying perfectly balanced at top speeds with their conical reed hats shading their eyes from the hot midday sun. We had a basic Vietnamese lunch of rice, sauteed greens and chicken, and then were led to an area for tea and fresh fruit with local live musicians.

The evening boat ride up the river was perhaps my favorite part as I was able to enjoy a bit of sunshine with the strong breeze from atop the speed boat to cut the humidity.   The thick murky jungle flooded with house boats, swimmers and canal boats slowly gave way to a wide river lined with stilt houses teetering over the water, barges and tug boats with whole families living aboard, and eventually the cityscape of Saigon which has recently begun to include small sky scrapers.  The sun set dramatically behind the ships as we came into the harbor, and the air rapidly cooled--though the humid never quite dissapates.

Vietnam has a mystical quality to me.  Aside from the stories I have heard and read about the war, I know virtually nothing about the country.  I see visions of soldiers plowing through dense jungle, I hear bombs in my mind and startle at shadows or unexpected bugs... but I don't feel afraid, and I have absolutely no reason to feel any but compassion for these people. It feels as if the war I've heard about happened on a different planet... and to be truthful I think in a way it did. The Vietnamese people have impeccable manners, even in tourist shopping areas, their smiles are genuine, their children are well cared for, and their intentions are good.  I feel welcome here, in a way that feels more genuine than in most areas of China where I felt more like a spectacle and an outsider, even though I was always treated very respectfully.  Here in Vietnam it is warmer... in temperature, in hospitality and in demeanor.  Luckily we have time to take it easy and just enjoy the beautiful life that is Saigon.

Hanoi... mostly just the Hilton

Hello dear friends and family!

We are alive in Hanoi, Vietnam, and our first day has been a success.  By that, I mean that we accomplished two of the three things we planned on doing today. We woke up and found lunch, and then we went and visited the Hanoi Hilton. 

We landed last night and found the nice driver who brought us to our hostel (he had my name on a sign at the airport, as I was told by the reception people via email) and we went straight to bed, very tired after 28 hours of travel!  We slept in until after noon, then walked to a nice little restaurant that the hostel recommended to us for lunch.We felt very guilty not knowing any Vietnamese so I took out my Lonely Planet book and tried out a few basic words.  The young lady serving us found it quite funny to hear us try and fail to speak her language, but she was very nice and helpfully taught us the correct pronunciation.

After eating we walked through the middle of the city, around a beautiful lake and through some busy streets to the Hanoi Hilton, the prison that housed many American POW's during the Vietnam war, including Christa's grandpa Dave.  It was a surreal experience, very intense and Christa was quite upset by several things. The first half of the museum had pictures and artifacts and information about when the prison was used to contain and execute Vietnamese during the French occupation.  It was very sad, to be truthful, but in contrast to how it portrayed the time of the Vietnam American War, it was gruesome. What I mean to say is that the second half of the prison had pictures and artifacts of the American soldiers in the prison and they were portrayed to be very happy and well taken care of.  They were playing basketball and volleyball, celebrating Christmas and receiving great medical care.  Now, I'm sure that all happened, especially during the end of the war, but it was very unnerving to see that they completely ignored the atrocities that were committed against many American soldiers that were POWs.  The whole thing was to show how NICE they were to their prisoners... but Christa's grandfather has some intense and very saddening memories that prove exactly the opposite.  The museum had no mention of the torture that he experienced for three years, or proof of the cell used for solitary confinement that he was in for a year and a half...  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, most countries aren't too particularly willing to showcase how horribly they treat their prisoners, I mean the US has certainly been guilty of that.  It's just troublesome that it happened and was completely ignored in the memorial museum where it actually took place.

I'll put up pictures later, I think I need a nap right now though...  It's 4:30 in the afternoon here, and I think it's 5:30 am at home.. or something like that.  Anyway, tomorrow afternoon we fly to Kunming China and start the real backpacking adventures! Im glad we did the prison visit right away, now we know and have been there in honor of all American POWs from the Vietnam war.  Really, in honor of all pow's from all wars. Hope everything is going well at home! 

Lots of Love,
Maia Christa and Brooke