For my final country in Southeast Asia, I arrived on the bus from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. My detour into Cambodia meant less time than I originally planned in Vietnam, however, it did not deter me from exploring all I wanted to.

 

Ho Chi Minh City

With only two days planned for Ho Chi Minh City, I booked a Mekong River Tour and visited the War Remnants Museum.

 

Our Mekong River tour guide shared a few facts about the center of Ho Chi Minh, Saigon, and the geographic region through to the Mekong Delta. The area is full of crops that supply over a third of the country’s food. We started the tour by visiting temples with the three giant Buddha statues; sitting, standing, and laying. After that we walked through a coconut candy factory, paddled on a small boat through the river, and even enjoyed a live performance from a Vietnamese folk band. It was a great tour day and I made good friends with my fellow tour attendees.

 

 

As an American, I was nervous about heading over to the War Remnants Museum. As I followed the hostel map, I could feel the dread of what I was about to see, especially since other hostelers had briefly described some of the exhibits.

 

I mimed my way through purchasing a ticket, even though I doubt they would recognize my accent. It was strange to see that even before entering the museum there were U.S. planes and helicopters outside for visitors to explore; it was a metal graveyard.

 

My fear of speaking aloud continued as I walked through the exhibits as numbered, completely silent. I hoped to learn more about the war, perhaps something that made sense to someone, somewhere. That didn’t happen. I suppose there are questions that will always remain.

 

If the Killing Fields in Cambodia weren’t heinous enough, the exhibits on torture and victims of Agent Orange put me over the edge. By the time I was viewing horrifying images of children, my cheeks were hot, my face was moist and everything was becoming blurry. I rushed through the final exhibits only to stop and throw all the money in my wallet into a fund to aid victims. I’m glad I went but I don’t see myself returning any time soon.

 

 

 

Hoi An

That evening I took a plane to Hoi An; a beautiful town on the coast of Vietnam. The town feels untouched as if it hasn’t been modernized. The small town surrounds a river which is lined with lanterns.

 

I spent my time in Hoi An relaxing and enjoying the number one tourist activity, shopping for custom clothing. With the help of a hosteler with an excellent fashion sense, I designed two formal custom dresses, a suit, two dress shirts, and a fun outfit for my upcoming Europe travels, all for less than the price of a suit at home. After not shopping or wearing new clothing for quite some time, I felt like a princess doing this.

 

I enjoyed walking around the river and markets as I waited for my clothing to be made. After two days in Hoi An, I flew to Hanoi, with my custom clothing in tow.

 

 

 

 

Hanoi

I stayed in Hanoi for one night, went on a trip to Ha Long Bay for two nights, and returned to Hanoi for a final night.

 

My hostel in Hanoi offered a free walking tour, so I decided to join. The tour made it easy to meet some great fellow travelers. We visited a temple and learned about offerings for the dead, visited Ho Chi Minh’s house, heard legends about the turtle and sword in the lake, and visited the love bridge.

 

After the tour I joined my new friends on a trip to the Vietnam National Museum of History. Instead of tourists, this museum was filled with Vietnamese school children learning about their country.

 

Ha Long Bay

My package tour for Castaway Island in Ha Long Bay was one of the most fun experiences of my trip. This party excursion turned into a real adventure. Upon arrival to the island, we learned there are very few rules, but two of them were that you cannot say T-E-N or M-I-N-E. Anytime you did staff, or other travelers would call you out to do T-E-N pushups.

 

We enjoyed the afternoon playing beach sports, drinking, and forcing others to exercise. The tour also came with a tubing adventure which turned into a real laugh when a fellow tuber’s shorts fell off and he decided to hang on for the ride anyway, looking at you Mr. London T. The evening was full of live music (courtesy of my new friends) along with the dj spinning some hits. They also had Rum Limbo, a new favorite party game of M-I-N-E.

 

The following day was supposed to be a boat tour of the beautiful Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. We had clouds and rain for most of the day. At one point, it was nice enough to do the kayak tour off of the boat. We all grabbed beers and went off. As one of the faster boats, if not the fastest, I decided to play Kayak Pirate and steal beers from other people’s kayaks. The fun and games soon took a more serious turn.  

 

A storm quickly began and the kayakers had difficulty getting back to the main boat. One of the group’s kayaks flipped and needed to be rescued. Thanks to my boat mate’s quick thinking, we made our way onto a randomly docked boat to wait out the storm. Once everyone was ok, back to the correct boat, and the lightning had stopped, we headed over to a small island to drink a bottle of rum. (It was actually the second bottle of rum since I managed to accidentally drop the first one into the ocean. Oops!) This adrenaline rush was a real bonding experience for our group. That night we continued the party, with great stories to tell.

 

 

 

Back in Hanoi, the group went out for one final night together. I’ve made some amazing friends that I hope to see again through my travels; three awesome sexy ladies who can limbo with the best and dance the night away, two musically gifted brothers with voices that can melt any heart, two hysterical canadians with awesome stories and drinking games, and last but not least the ‘Man with the Plan’, the man missing his shorts, the only one who got a nickname from our group, and the one responsible for hanging onto the beer money, Mr. London T. Plus, a shout-out to our Castaway guide, her positive attitude made our experience perfect. I look forward to the day we can all share stories about back in ‘Nam.

 

So that is it, the first half of my trip is coming to an end as I travel to Israel to see family and take a small traveling break. After that, I’ll be heading to Europe!