Shanghai

Okay, so I left off last time when Moriah, Devy, and I had boarded the plane headed to Shanghai. Because of our detour to Macau, we only had two days in Shanghai. However, Moriah had been there before and knew all the best spots so we were able to fit in all of her favorites.

Night 1 (continuation of the last post): When we landed, thankfully my mother had sent me some Yuan so I had cab fare to the ship. We grabbed a taxi and to our delight, found that the back of the front seats had a screen on it for touch screen games. Moriah and I happily figured out Chinese games for the entire forty-five minute ride back. We passed through the city and it was not what I had expected at all. The city is enormous. The skyscrapers are all lit up at night and huge TVs decorate the main intersections, like times square, but bigger. As usual, we were all nervous that we wouldn’t end up at the right place. We had the port name written in Chinese for the driver, but who knew what that actually said? Finally, we saw the lights of our ship and it felt like coming home. Stepping out of the cab was absolutely freezing. We rushed onto the ship and got changed for a late dinner, seeing as it was already like 11 PM. Once we were changed, Moriah recommended that we go to Shin Tan Di, one of the trendy neighborhoods in the city. When we got off the ship though, the passport checkers wouldn’t let Devy out of the port because he had forgotten the copy of his passport (yes, apparently you need both your actual passport and your copy). So, he headed back and Moriah and I went out on our own. Thankfully, we had a guidebook with everything also written in Chinese so that the taxi driver knew exactly where we wanted to go. (For the rest of the trip we would forget the book and try to pronounce things. And we would try and say it exactly the way we had been told and the drivers would have literally no idea what we were saying. And then when they finally called someone and figured it out, they would then repeat what sounded to us like exactly what we had been saying over and over again to them. The lesson here is that inflection and accent are everything.) So, Moriah and I ended up in Shin Tan Di, which was also not at all what I was expecting. In the US when you think “trendy”, you think modern. Here though, the whole street was cobblestone. It was lit by tall tapered street lamps and the restaurants that lined either side of the pedestrian-only street were softly lit and crowded, even for the late hour. It was one of the coolest towns I have seen on my entire trip. We walked the length of the street and saw a million trendy bars and restaurants as well as some historical sights like the building where the communists would first meet when the party was just taking off and the oldest synagogue in Shanghai. We had a really hard time finding a restaurant we could actually afford, but finally we settled down in a little Italian café and shared a big salad. Even though the night was pretty low key, I was glad to be able to experience one of the most famous districts in Shanghai right off the bat. It really set the bar for the rest of my time there.

Day 1: The next morning, Skipper, Moriah, and I met up to go exploring. At first we had our hearts set on getting some good old fashioned Starbucks coffee, but the driver had no idea what we were saying (we were later told by a very nice Chinese man that in China Starbucks is referred to as the “US Embassy”). Instead, we headed to the Yu Yuan Gardens in the heart of Little China. Weird, since we were already in big China, but yeah. The cab ride there was short and also full of enthralling Chinese touch screen cab games. As soon as we were let off, we couldn’t figure out which direction to go to find the entrance to the gardens. And this is when we met the aforementioned little old Chinese man. He pointed us in the right direction and, when we asked how it was that his English was so superb, he explained that as a youth he had longed to move to America one day but as the eldest son, it was his duty to stay behind and take care of his very elderly parents. I imagine they were quite elderly indeed because this guy was at least 70. He said that his siblings lived in the States, but it was never to be for him and he had only been once. It was kind of sad. Anyways, in a genius marketing move, he told us that he was headed to his tea shop which was right on the way to the entrance to the gardens and that we could follow him and stop in at his shop on the way. With all day and no other plans, we followed eagerly. We followed him closely through the crowded cobblestone streets and passed huge pagodas (“Don’t take pictures!”, he said. “These were all built recently. Not impressive.”) We maneuvered around candy stores, souvenir shops, and at least three “Us Embassies”, Dairy Queens, and Hagen-das’.  His shop was on the upper level of a pagoda, actually right across from a very famous and expensive teahouse that was in the middle of a koi-filled pond, the only point of access to which was a picturesque bridge. He sat us all down and told us that he would perform the tea ceremony for us, for free. He showed us many of the same teas I had seen before in Hong Kong, but this time also showed us the Jasmine tea. This tea actually comes as sealed flower buds. As you immerse them in hot water, they slowly bloom and reveal their color. It was beautiful. He also had an adjoining pearl shop and while the others drank more tea, I resisted buying anything. His fluency and kindness paid off, both Moriah and Skipper bought tea and he pointed us in the right direction for the gardens. Once inside the gardens, I realized why Moriah had recommended them. They were originally built during the Ming Dynasty to be the private gardens of a very rich man. And, they were gorgeous. Pagodas, hidden passageways, blossoming trees, narrow stone walkways, bridges, and weeping willows whose branches slowly traced ripples in the green ponds. The gardens stretched on forever, and in each pagoda lay another priceless artifact. We wandered through them for at least two hours. We had almost reached the exit when we came across a room full of  ornate costumes. We learned that you could pay about a dollar to rent the costumes for fifteen minutes to take pictures in. Eagerly, we paid and were each dressed in a bright robe finished off with a fan and enormous headdresses. Then, we went out into the gardens and did a bunch of ridiculous and probably ethnically insensitive poses. The other tourists couldn’t get enough of us, though, and they insisted on taking a million pictures of us and with us. It was really fun. When we were finally done in the gardens, we remembered that the nice guy from before had pointed out a restaurant that he said had the best dumplings in all of Shanghai. When we had passed it before, at lunchtime, there was a line down the street. Now though, we figured it would be emptier and we headed over. Indeed, it was less crowded. Though, we still had to wait to be seated for about 20 minutes. It was well worth the wait. Not really knowing what we were ordering, we got  few orders of dumplings and I got adventurous and ordered some sweet bean cakes and dumplings made of purple sweet potato. Everything was so delicious that literally, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. Also, we got to see the people making the dumplings right in front of us. The way they handle the thin dough and crimp the little packages was really impressive to me (and no one else). You better believe that I will be making dumplings upon my return. After a late lunch, we headed over to a market famous for its knock-off designer bags. However, after much shopping and arguing, we unfortunately found the prices to be much higher than just buying the real bag off ebay. But, I wont bore you with the details of our superb bargaining and how many times we had to walk out of the stores, only to be lured back in. I thought it was funny though, because the purses were shown to you only when you were escorted into a secret back room and huge suitcases full of bags were wheeled back to you for your perusing pleasure. It was very sketchy. After our long shopping fiasco, we decided to try out one of the restaurants we had read about in our guidebook. Our driver vehemently assured us he knew where he was going, but dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and then high tailed it. We were able to find another restaurant, but I guess that goes to show that when your taxi driver doesn’t speak English, you really never know where you’re going to end up. That night, we met up with our friend Jaime who was celebrating the birthday of one of her friends that actually lives in Shanghai. He was an American guy who was sent to Shanghai on business four years ago, and had taken a great liking to the city. It was really nice for us all to get to know him and get to see Shanghai from his point of view for the night.

Day 2: The next morning, we all had an agenda. And none of it really had to do with Chinese culture. (To be fair, we had spent the past, who knows how long, getting to know Chinese culture.) Moriah wanted to find her way to an H&M to repurchase some clothes she had bought and then lost in Hong Kong. Skipper wanted to get to a Sephora to buy some make up that she had left in a hotel room in Beijing. And me, I just wanted a quarter pounder with cheese. Skipper and Moriah tried in vain to describe H&M and Sephora to the driver, but when Skipper drew the golden arches, his face lit up. He took us to McDonalds, and it was the same as in the states, except that the burgers are smaller and the mcflurries also come in strawberry. I liked both of those changes. Also, luckily, one of the ladies working there knew a place with both a Sephora and an H&M and she wrote us directions in Chinese. The next driver had no problem getting us there. Skipper got her make up, Moriah got her clothes, and I was feeling that burger for the rest of the day. By the time afternoon hit, though I could have easily spent more time shopping, we realized we really had no idea where we were and how long it would take to get back to the ship. On ship time was looming, so we decided to head back early. About a half an hour and much nerves later, we boarded and passed out.

The only thing I found disappointing about my time in Shanghai was really my lack of time there. Because I had chosen to do some independent travel, I sacrificed time in Shanghai, which I found to be one of the most fascinating destinations of my voyage. If I were to restructure my trip, I would certainly plan for more time there. However, with what little time I did have, I was able to cross off my list everything that Moriah had suggested we do (and that we could actually afford). Now, back on the ship, I was already preparing for Taiwan. We would arrive there in two days, my last international port.

Hong Kong & Macau

During my time in Vietnam two other friends and I decided that after Hong Kong we would like to do some independent travel to Macau. So, we booked hotel rooms and flights and planned our trip. For those of you who don’t know, Macau is a “SAR” (special administrative region) of China, like Hong Kong, that is actually seen as somewhat of a different entity. It has its own currency and you do need a passport to travel between Macau and China. They compare the city to Vegas, but bigger they say. One of the friends I was traveling with, Devin, is a serious poker player and he wanted to have a chance to gamble. Neither Moriah nor I have ever been to Vegas and so we wanted the chance to see something similar. Between Hong Kong and China the ship was at sea for two days, and all students had the option to board and sail with the ship or travel independently and meet up with the program in Shanghai. So, Macau it was. But first, we had two days in Hong Kong.

Day 1: The ship docked, per usual, in the morning and students flocked to the deck to see the city. Fog rolled off the water and just as the coast ended, an intimidatingley large skyline rose just beyond the waves. Huge skyscrapers towered over the coast and the city was already bustling at 7 AM. Little ferries buzzed down below our ship and we could hear the frantic honking of cars and screech of brakes in the morning traffic. Skipper, Moriah, Marc, and I disembarked with a multitude of touristy things we had in mind for the day. Number one on our list was to take the tram to the top of Victoria Peak, a mountain that overlooks the city and was supposed to offer the most stunning views on the whole island. The ship was docked directly next to a huge shopping mall so that the only way off the ship was to walk all the way through it. It was enormous and crowded and after some initial confusion, we were able to change some money and find the terminal for the Star Ferry. Star Ferry is a little ferry that takes you all over the island and to the other islands of Hong Kong for only a few cents. One thing that stuck out to me was in line to hand in your tickets there was a line for “singles” “families” and “octopus”.  I guess it must have been some kind of fast pass but it was hilarious. Anyways, so we get on this little ferry and it takes us to the other main island, Hong Kong Island. From there, we grab a double decker bus that zips us through the city. We got to sit on the top of the bus and see some of the sights as we made our way to the heart of the city. Hong Kong was a pleasant mix of stunningly tall skyscrapers and ancient trees, hunched over and covered in vines and moss. The intersections were busy, and people bustled around, rushing off to work. But also, many families lounged around in the sun eating ice cream and couples rambled around holding hands. It was a very interesting mix of highly modern urban and slow paced traditional. After the quick ride we arrived at a bus stop crowded with tourists who were in line to buy tickets for the tram. After we got ours and waited a bit, the tram arrived. It was a large red tram with about three cars, obviously a modern one but styled like an old trolley. We boarded and the tram began to move on its tracks up the steep mountain. At some points we were nearly vertical. At first, we were surrounded on both sides by some very interesting looking vegetation. But soon, the trees broke and we could see down the sloping green mountain and to the city below. It was like nothing I have ever seen. Fog misted over the dense trees and wafted over the city to reside on the deep blue of the harbor. It was like a mammoth sleeping city hidden in the middle of a jungle. Words cant really describe the view. Once at the top, we explored the nice little town. There was a huge tower of a shopping mall that you could pay to go to the top of for the “perfect view” but instead we chose to explore all of the little artists’ stands. I could not resist buying some artwork and snacks before the tram ride back down. Once back in center city, we found an amazing dim sum place in our guidebook and went through a lot of trouble to get there, only to arrive and find that it had just closed. So, we ended up eating in a very inauthentic (but still good) restaurant down the block. After a quick stop back to the ship to change, we went out for dinner and went out for the night.

Day 2:  The next morning I woke up early to get dressed for a side trip. The trip was called “Tai Chi and Dim Sum” so I wore work out clothes, grabbed a bottle of water, and hit the road. The bus left from the port at 9 AM and took us to Hong Kong Park, a gorgeous green park in the center of Hong Kong Island. The morning was chilly and grey, but the park was alive and vibrant. We walked past huge ponds full of colorful koi fish and enormous green trees where the birds were just waking up. There were waterfalls and beautiful fountains and lily pads lazily floating down miniature streams.  After the walk, we found ourselves in a stone amphitheatre where a man dressed in a white silk robe was waiting for us. Our guide had told us earlier that he was a Tai Chi master and had been studying the art for 30 years. We put down our stuff and joined him as he demonstrated. At this point, I suggest you youtube Tai Chi. Its so fluid and graceful, I cant even really describe it. He explained that Tai Chi is an ancient art that is supposed to be practiced every morning as the sun rose and that not only is it an exercise, but that it calms both the mind and the soul as well. Now it was our turn. First, he taught us some basic steps and then we followed him as he went through motion after motion into something like a slow motion dance. I loved it. It was certainly harder than I was expecting and even going really slowly, you still work up quite a sweat. But it was so zen and calming, I felt light and graceful, I don’t know, I guess I cant really describe it. At first, I was a little annoyed because I had been expecting there to be music of some kind. But, after a while I started to hear the chirping of the birds and the rustling of the branches and the far off chime of the water on the rocks in the park around me, and I felt that it was the perfect background noise.  Then, it began to sprinkle a light cold morning mist. In any other circumstance I would have been really annoyed but it was so pleasant and unexpected, I actually enjoyed it. We did this for about an hour, and let me tell you Alex, the whole time all I was thinking about was how much you would love it. We should pick it up when I get home. Anyways, at the end of the lesson we gathered our things and walked back through the park. At a fork in the road, instead of going back the way we came we walked instead to a little teahouse nestled in the park. We were sat down at tables that surrounded a stand where a funny little man in thick black glasses stood grinning at us. He explained that we would be able to witness a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and that we would be able to taste the six different types of Chinese tea. The types are green tea, red tea, yellow tea, white tea, black tea, and greenish tea (oolong tea).  The way he told us to remember the colors are a panda crossing the road. The panda is black and white, the lights are green yellow and red, and the bamboo the panda is eating is greenish. Anyways, over the next hour we learned all about tea, what makes it different, good for you, ect. It was very interesting (and tasty) but I’m not going to go into it here. After the teahouse, we all boarded the bus which took us to a famous dim sum restaurant. We were all seated at tables of 10, and out of the back room servers brought platter after heaped steaming platter of authentic dim sum. The placed them all down on our lazy susan, and we ravenously dug in. There was peking duck, noodles of all kinds, buns, rolls, dumplings, puffs, and rice. I was starving and it was delicious. After the meal, the trip was over and we returned to the ship. Once back, I met up with Moriah and we packed quickly for Macau. Then after a quick taxi ride to the express ferry, we handed in our $20 tickets and boarded. The ferry ran every hour to Macau and was so fast that it made the long journey in only an hour. On the inside, it looked exactly like a plane. We got settled in very comfortable seats and napped until we arrived in Macau. An hour later, we disembarked and left the terminal into the chilly evening air. The weather in Hong Kong had been nippy, but here it was downright chilly and drizzling. It was a pretty big contrast to the sweltering heat of ‘nam. The taxi drive to our hotel took us through the main city of Macau, and the lights were out of this world. The hotels and casinos were all completely covered with bright fluorescent lights that blinked and shone. It was completely dazzling and also completely decadent. We drove through the city center and off to the side a little bit where we found our much more demure hotel nestled onto the steep incline of a hill. The inside of the hotel was classy and simple, and we met Devin there who showed us to our nice little room. Then, after quickly getting dressed and reveling in the free internet, we grabbed a taxi to the Venetian. For those of you who don’t know, the Venetian in Macau is the largest casino of all time. I know this because Devy had been raving about it for weeks. But, actually being there and seeing it, it took my breath away. This thing was massive. To see the whole thing, you literally had to stand from a distance and turn your head from side to side. I mean, this thing was the biggest structure I have ever seen. The entire thing was painted gold and lit up like a beacon. It was decorated just like something straight out of Italy including massive lion statues and torrents and towers, words cant even describe this thing. Like, you need to google this. Right now. Inside, the whole thing was bright gold and the ceiling was adorned with paintings of cherubs and gods as far as the eye could see. It was breathtaking and impressive and also kind of sad and disgusting at the same time. We wandered through the casino which stretched out into eternity. An ocean of slot machines and tables as far as the eye could see. I couldn’t believe it. That night, we had a nice dinner and watched Devy gamble, and got to see some of the town. While it was staggeringly beautiful, it also had this weird depressing vibe to it. I cant really explain it.

Day 3: The next morning when the three of us got up, Devy instantly booked it for the casino leaving me and Moriah on our own for the day. We decided to head to one of the tourist attractions that our guidebook talks about, The Fisherman’s Wharf. The Fisherman’s Wharf was basically constructed for families who have kids and need something to do for the day. It’s a huge structure including an outdoor shopping mall, an arcade, international cuisine restaurants, a huge fake mountain housing a roller coaster, an ice sculpture museum, and (of course) a casino. At first, we wandered through the outdoor strip mall. Each shop or block was designed in the architecture of a different country. There was France, England, South Africa, America, and many others. It was cool to see because we had already been to many of the countries represented. While the stores were decently priced, the styles were a little weird so we didn’t end up buying anything. Next, we wandered past the restaurants and into the mountain. The roller coaster happened to be closed that day, but we spent some time chilling in the arcade that was housed in the bottom of the mountains and made out to look like a cave. Wandering around we saw some wedding parties, snacked, shopped, and schmoozed. Later, we took a cab to the famous Ah Mah temple located about 10 minutes from center city. The temple is located at the  bottom of a hill and from the ceiling hangs tons of…well they’re hard to describe. Basically, its incense. But, instead of being straight rods, they are really long pieces spiraled around into huge cones. I have pictures, don’t worry. Anyways, there are a gazillion of these things hanging all over the temple. Standing underneath them to take pictures, I almost passed out from lack of oxygen and smoke inhalation. The rest of my time there, I was light headed simply from 5 minutes under the incense cones. Once outside of the main temple, a path winds up through the rocks on the hill and forks and branches off into many smaller paths. Moriah and I wandered around, exploring them, and came to find many small temples also full of incense and candles. Some sticks of incense were the width of a fire pole and a few feet taller than me, letting off columns of smoke. After lighting some ourselves and seeing all there was to see, Moriah and I met up with Devy and headed to the Lisboa, one of the largest casinos in Macau. There, or so they said, was the most amazing dumpling restaurant in all of Macau. Though skeptical we were, the dumplings were as wonderful as the service was terrible, and that’s saying something.

Day 4: The next morning, still on the temple kick, Moriah and I decided to head to another famous religious spot in Macau. Thought the name currently escapes me, the remains of saint something or other cathedral. All that’s left of it is one wall, but its really beautiful. Standing at the top of a hill overlooking the city, the wall is huge carved stone. In an odd contrast, someone had chosen to erect large plastic panda statues next to the wall (they were pretty cute).  After we were done perusing, we turned around and looked at the view of the city below. An impressive stone staircase led to bustling shopping streets on the outskirts of the city. We descended the stairs and immediately got swept away in the crazy crowd. All around us were stores of every kind. Ladies boiled dumplings in huge vats of boiling water, and smeared almond icing over little buttery cookies in the street. There were a million stores that people pushed and shoved into, and still more people perched on the dividers between the lanes snacking. We grabbed some bubble tea, shopped around a bit, and then decided to head over to the Venetian for lunch. Getting a taxi on the crowded shopping street was not what you would call easy, but after almost getting run over twice and one definitely illegal u-turn, we managed and were whisked away. Even though I had already seen the Venetian, you never really get used to seeing something that enormous. Pulling up the gilded awning felt like being dropped off at some ancient palace. Once inside, however, the bad vibes washed over me. Depressed looking asian men sat immobile at tables and slots. It looked that they were still there from the night before with their wrinkled shirts and baggy faces, like they were trying to win back all their money. We left the casino quickly and found a little Italian place where we shared a pizza and garlic bread. On a whim, I wondered how much a manicure would be at a place like this, and so the server pointed us in the direction of the spa. We got lost several times on the way, I’m telling you this place is no joke. But when we finally emerged, we found ourselves on the streets of Venice. Apparently, the shopping section inside the hotel has been made to look like Venice, canals and all. There are bridges, cobblestone sidewalks, and the ceiling is painted to look like the sky on a summer day. You can even pay to take a gondola ride through the shopping center. And, yes, the gondoliers really do sing to you. The stores (and the spa) were much too expensive for either of us to even dream about getting anything, but it was really nice to see. One of the gondoliers even told us about a free show at the Hard Rock Hotel right across the street so we headed in that direction. In a complete coincidence, while crossing the street, someone called our names and we saw Devy getting out of a taxi. He joined us and we entered the Hard Rock tower. The show, called the “Bubble Show” is free but there were literally no signs describing what exactly it is. However, there was a huge line, so we joined and prepared to be surprised. We entered into a very strange auditorium. There were no seats and the walls were curved around us like we were standing in a huge cylinder. There were brightly colored LED jellyfish hanging from the ceiling and they moved up and down. In the center of the ceiling, water rained down in different patterns and shapes. Then, once everyone was inside, the walls began to glow and we realized that the entire room was one huge screen. The show was about 20 minutes long, about dragons, and was fabulous. If you ever find yourself in Macau, it is the first thing I would recommend.  Afterwards, we caught some dinner and headed back to the Lisboa to watch Devy gamble.

Day 5: The day of our flight, we slept in a little, grabbed a quick lunch at our hotel, and headed to the airport. Once inside, it was relatively empty but we found that our flight had been delayed about an hour. With nothing to do, Moriah and I decided that we wanted some ice cream. However, the only shops we could find were designer and the only food we could find was greasy Chinese. Let me tell you, we were already pretty sick of Chinese food. However, when we settled back down at our gate we noticed that almost everybody else at the gate had bags and bags from all of the designer stores. Either they won some serious money, or were already rich and needed to buy themselves some consolation prizes. Soon enough, the plane boarded and we were on our way to Shanghai, which I will try to blog about in a few days.

All in all, I had a really wonderful 5 days of independent travel. Hong Kong was by far one of the most fun places I have visited so far, and one of the first on my list to return to. Macau was also really fun, but I just felt some bad vibes there. Firstly, everyone there was literally obsessed with gambling. I mean, I know that that’s the main function of the city, but when I hear it being compared to Vegas I think shows, nightlife, cool day activities. And, I’m not saying we were bored during the day, but in three days Moriah and I saw everything there was to see. Devy might sing you a different tune though, seeing as he won about 12 hundred dollars (and still wouldn’t take us out to dinner, I might add). During the day in the main city the streets were empty and the casinos were packed, if that gives you any sense of the gambling obsession. Anyways, I’m really glad I got to see it but I’m not sure if I would return.

Vietnam

Hello all. Sorry its taken me so long to write this blog, the countries are coming up so fast now I really havnt even had an hour to myself in a few weeks. How to describe my time in ‘nam. I’m not going to sugar coat my time here, I’m going to tell you exactly how I feel about it.  It’s not all positive.

Day 1: We docked in Ho Chi Minh city in the morning and, looking out at the port, I had mixed feelings. The city had an air all to itself. It was large, but old. Many of the buildings had fallen into disrepair and the pollution rose off the highway in visible clouds. However, it seemed to have a nice charm to it as well. The architecture was an interesting mix of Asian and Western circa 1985 and the people were all chatting and hanging out together in the streets. I didn’t know what to expect. Skipper and I disembarked with no idea of what to do first. One of the easiest and cheapest ways of traveling in Vietnam is to hire a motorcycle taxi where you just sit on the back. This seemed like a fun idea so we grabbed two motorcycle guys (one of which thankfully spoke pretty good English) and asked them to take us to a good restaurant. When I think “nice restaurant” I think sit down, indoors, waiters. These dudes brought us to some sketchy side ally and led us through some winding streets and into a passageway that led to a back room with metal tables and chairs. The room was crowded and smelled amazing, the food that everyone was eating looked unbelievable. The taxi guy grabbed us some menus and translated them. Skipper ordered chicken and I ordered beef but when it came it was literally half of an entire chicken and a huge steak, all for under $10. The food was incredible and while we pigged out the taxi guy showed us pictures of sights in the area that he could take us to. We noticed one picture of a beautiful beach and decided it would be worth the trip. The taxi guy told us it would take an hour to get there and that it would be very cheap by motorcycle. It was already 2 PM since the ship had docked later than usual, and we had dinner plans at 7. But, we decided it would be worth it just to go for a few hours. So, we get on the motorcycles with these guys and begin driving. The scenery on the way was beautiful. We passed rice paddies as far as the eye could see with little Asian women wearing the pointy straw hats harvesting their crops. We saw big fat white ducks waddling around in little ponds, catching fish and yelling at each other. We passed some beautiful Buddhist temples and stunning mountains. It was such a gorgeous ride that we kind of lost track of time. A while later our guys pulled over at some really bizarre place that I can only describe as a milk amusement park. They couldn’t seem to describe it, but repeated “milk” over and over again. The guys got a glass of milk and left us to explore on our own. The place was huge and deserted, filled with weird plastic cow statues and stores selling all sorts of weird milk products. There were rides and cow statues that spoke in Vietnamese and literally no one there besides us and the store owners. After a while of complete confusion, the taxi guys found us and we resumed our drive. The highway started getting really gross and polluted and the guys insisted we buy these cloth masks that cover your nose and mouth. There were road side stands for these things like every five minutes.  With the masks on, we couldn’t really breathe but everything smelled much nicer. Just as I was beginning to wonder what time it was and if we would be there soon, it began to pour. The guys pulled over and we saw them taking out rain ponchos. I got all excited for about a second until they donned the ponchos themselves and motioned for us to get back on the motorcycles without anything. Then, they unceremoniously threw the backs of their ponchos over our heads and resumed driving. It was wet and hot and miserable and splashes of icy water sprayed my legs and feet for miles. Finally, the rain stopped and we took off the sticky ponchos. At this point, I knew it had been well over an hour and I started getting anxious. But, we just kept driving. The rest of the drive was long and (besides getting lost once or twice) uneventful. When we reached the beach, it was already 5 PM and the sun was setting. We both got really upset because the drive had taken three hours, not one, and we would have to cancel our dinner plans. Also, Skipper had a trip planned for the next morning so we wouldn’t even be able to spend the night, we would have to go right back. Then, to top it all off the taxi drivers tried to charge us $100 US even though they knew we had only wanted to go an hour away. When we refused to pay that much their excuse was, “Being on the back of a motorcycle for three hours is very tiring.” We were like, WE KNOW.  So, basically, we walked off after only paying them half of what they were asking (even though we really shouldn’t have even paid them that much). We went to dinner at a beautiful resort overlooking the beach and it was really really nice. But, then we just had to turn around and go all the way back, a complete bummer. This time we hired a metered car taxi which was much more comfortable, only took two hours, and was much less expensive (even though the motorcycle guys had earlier persuaded us to go by bike because they claimed it was both faster and cheaper). On our way home, Moriah texted us that she coincidentally was in the same taxi as the guy who had driven us three hours away. She said he had taken a picture of us and was showing it to all of the SAS kids back in Ho Chi Minh city trying to get our phone numbers so that they could call and yell at us. It was totally weird. Oh, and then when we got back, we could clearly see the meter and knew how much we owed. But as soon as we pulled up to the ship, the second bike guy recognized us and got in the front seat of our taxi and tried to get the new taxi driver to charge us more because he said we hadn’t paid him. We had to yell at him to leave, pay the driver the original amount, and then got back on the ship totally pissed off and exhausted. Not a great start to Vietnam.

Day 2: I woke up, sore from sitting on that stupid motorcycle for three stupid hours, and began getting dressed for my trip. I had signed up for a really cool looking trip called the “Mekong Delta Trip” a few months earlier and could not remember what it was. But, I remembered it had sounded cool so I got ready and boarded the bus at 945 AM. The bus took us about an hour away to an area called the Mekong River Delta which is a really beautiful area right on a huge bustling river. We grabbed a snack at the lotus gardens and then boarded a boat that would take us down the river. The views were really incredible. The river was full of floating fish farms. The fishermen built floating houses on the river and extended nets down below them inside which they raised the fish. We pulled up to one of them and saw the fishermen loading enormous bags of fish into a canoe, off to the market. The river itself was huge, but full of little inlets and passageways and islands. It was beautiful. Next, we docked on an island and trekked a little through the natural vegetation.  Huge clumps of sweet smelling lemongrass and stubby little pineapple plants sprung up under tropical trees and our guide stopped occasionally to point out a cool flower or bug. It was hot outside, and terribly muggy and humid. Most of the others on my trip had brought little portable fans or hats, and I was super jealous. We emerged from the jungle on a small dirt road with one shop as far as the eye could see. There, our guide explained, we would wait to be picked up. We all crowded into the small patch of shade and waited. And waited. The guide frantically called people on his cell but no one showed up to meet us for about twenty minutes. It was super hot. Finally, from the distance, we heard the clip clop of little hooves and a few wagons appeared around the bend. The “horses” were really just little ponies with silly feather hats on. We all loaded into the wagons and I felt so bad for the little guys pulling us around in the heat. It looked like they had been doing it all day. They pulled us for a few miles and dropped us off in front of a stunning graveyard. The graves were huge and portraits of the deceased stared at me seriously. Just a tad creepy. The guide arrived and we followed him down another path that led to a small restaurant where we were served tea and got to sample some fresh tropical fruits. Also, there was a guy holding a huge boa constrictor and we all got to hold him too, which was  a great photo opp. There was a shop attached to the restaurant and after I had downed some yummy fruit, I went and looked around. The guide had been talking a lot about how important coconuts were and all of the different types of coconuts (yes, there are apparently different types. Including the “water coconut” that grows underwater and looks literally nothing like a palm coconut). The store was filled with stuff made from the wood of the coconut trees and it was all really gorgeous. They also sold the traditional favorite drink of Vietnam called “snake wine”. I kid you not, this stuff was actually a sealed bottle of wine containing a dead pickled snake positioned with a scorpion in its mouth. They were really really creepy. And people actually drink this stuff. Its supposed to be an aphrodisiac, but I got nauseous just looking at the stuff so somehow I don’t believe it works. The guide opened a bottle of the wine and let people sample it, but I refused to even smell the stuff. There was a dead snake in there! Come on! Next, we boarded small canoes that fit only a few people each and we paddled down a small river for about a mile. We passed many women in canoes fishing, wearing the iconic Vietnamese straw hats. A tall bamboo forest towered over us on either side and occasionally we passed water coconuts bobbing around. We docked on a rickety bamboo pier on another small island, this one containing a famous coconut candy factory. We got to watch how the ladies boiled down the coconuts and mixed the paste with sugar and malt and formed them into bars with the consistency of very sticky toffee. Then, they mixed them with fruits and chocolate and wrapped them in edible rice paper. We got to sample some of the different flavors, but to be honest they we so sticky I didn’t really like them. It was cool to watch though. We also got to taste their candied coconut which was really fabulous (if you’re reading this dad, I got you a bag and gave it to the Childers to give to you. Enjoy!). Next, the canoes took us to yet another tiny island, this one containing one restaurant. We sat down and almost immediately the waitress plopped down an enormous fish on our table. The fish was an Elephant Ear fish, and it was actually about that size. It was fried up and placed on a stand, where it kind of glared at me and its sharp little teeth poked out of its mean looking mouth. I tried some, but it looking at me made me feel weird so I didn’t eat much. No one really did.  At that point, our trip was over and we boarded the boat which took us back to the bus which took us back to our ship. I had an absolutely wonderful day and, for me, it totally redeemed the experience I had on my first day in Vietnam.

Day 3: After the stresses of my first day and the full day trip on my second, I was ready to have a relaxing day on the third. Devy and I left the ship and decided simply to wander around the city. We got a taxi to city center and walked around by ourselves for about three hours just exploring. In the middle of the city is a huge green park with massive old trees and little cobblestone pathways. It is really beautiful. Also, I noticed that the center of the park is full of free exercise equipment like treadmills and pull up bars. People wandered in and out of the park in their gym clothes to use the machines for an hour or so and then go about their day. It was a free outdoor gym. We wandered in and out of markets and shops. There are tons of restaurants all over the city with every different type of food. The famous food in Vietnam is called Pho which is a  delicious soup that usually has noodles or fish in it. At one point we found ourselves in the vegetable market. Ladies in straw hats perched on plastic stools hovered over mounds of fresh veggies laid out on bright cloths on the ground.  The women running the stands would often wander to another stand to gossip with that owner or settle down to play some cards together. As it got dark, Devy and I found a Japanese Shabu-Shabu restaurant and I insisted we eat there. For those of you who don’t know, Shabu-shabu is basically where they give you a huge pot of boiling broth and a plate full of raw meat that you cook yourself in the broth. I tried it for the first time when I was in Japan a few years ago and its been one of the things I’ve been looking forward to the most about visiting Japan. But, for obvious reasons, we are not going to Japan anymore and I still needed to have my shabu-shabu. I was worried that nothing would come close to the restaurant I had been to in Japan, but this was delicious. Along with the meat they brought us raw veggies of every kind and bunch of different varieties of dumplings to be boiled up. We dumped them all in together and it was some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten. After, we met up with some friends and went out. Night life in Vietnam was actually really busy, not at all what I was expecting. Funny side note: one of the most famous bars in the city is called Apocalypse Now.

Day 4: The next day I woke up not feeling well. Either I hadn’t cooked some of the meat right at the shabu-shabu place or had eaten something else that disagreed with me, but I felt nauseas all morning and couldn’t get out of bed. So, I stayed in for a while and felt sorry for myself. But then after a few hours I started perking up in time for Moriah and Skipper to come to my room and wake me up. We went and grabbed a late lunch and did some sight seeing in the city, including the Vietnam War museum. They had an exhibit on Agent Orange that was so graphic that some of the other SASers we were with literally had to run to the bathrooms and throw up. I wont go into details here, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Then, when it got dark, the girls and I went to dinner. We had read about a particular street in the guidebook that was famous for really fun nightlife so we headed over and picked a place to eat. The restaurant was right on the intersection of two busy streets and we ate outside so we were right in the middle of the action. Even though it was fun to be there, it was also a little sketchy. Private security guards from the restaurant patrolled our table and were watching us like hawks. At first I thought it was because they were suspicious of us, but I soon realized it was because they knew we would be targets for street crime. Soon, little kids selling things approached our table trying to get us to buy little souvenirs and stuff.  One little boy tried to sell one of my friends a box of twizlers for $10. Then, when she finally bargained him down to a reasonable price and he left, she realized that the package was open and three of them were missing. Pissed off, she called over one of the security guards who examined the package as if he were conducting an official investigation. Some time later, he returned with the boy who slammed another pack of twizzlers down on the table and glared at us as if him having to do what was right was the gravest injustice. Only a few minutes later, a cute little girl approached us trying to sell balloons. When we didn’t buy any, she pointed her fingers at skipper as if she were holding a gun and said “bang bang”, laughing. It was pretty creepy. Then, the bar we were at tried to pretend like we hadn’t paid our bill like 8 times, even though we certainly had, and started freaking out at us. It was insane. We ended up just walking out. The rest of the night was fun until Skipper and I were getting into a taxi and a guy on a motorcycle zoomed by. I heard Skipper yelp and realized that as the guy passed, he had grabbed her purse and it had snapped off her wrist. So, we spent a while getting in touch with her mom and cancelling her credit cards, which was aggravating and annoying. Soon after, my friend Jaime was walking down the street and the same exact thing happened to her. Except, her purse strap was thicker and instead of snapping she just got dragged down the street, literally about 10 feet. When she got up (still holding her purse, thankfully) her arms were bloody and raw. That was terrible, but she took it like a champ. The night went on, and as me and Moriah were riding home together piled onto one motorcycle, I felt a sudden jerk and the strap of my little coach purse snapped right off my wrist as my wallet was ripped away from me and the guy took off. I never even saw his face. Luckily, all my cash and my cell were in my pockets, and the only thing of any value that I lost was my camera. It still had all of the pictures from Vietnam on it, so unfortunately I cant show you guys any of them. It was not a great last night. I was able to call my dad and cancel my credit cards instantly, so the guy didn’t get any money from me. It was just really aggravating. Especially because when it happened I was on the back of a moving motorcycle. If my purse hadn’t been so flimsy and snapped instantly, I would have been pulled from the motorcycle and probably seriously hurt. But I wasn’t, so I guess everything turned out okay.

Day 5: Skipper came and woke me up in the morning and we grabbed a taxi to the central market. The market was inside of a huge building and was just row after row of stalls with everything from fresh produce to knock off bags. And, yes, I did get myself a little Gucci to make up for the night before. Bargaining was the name of the game and skipper and I stood at stands for literally 20 minutes, fake walking away multiple times, and ended up getting great deals. Someone later told me that when you buy something from those stands the owners give you a plastic bag the color of which depends on how good of a bargainer you are. This way the other stand owners know what price to quote you. I thought that was pretty cool. We shopped around and got frozen yoghurt and I lamented about my situation, consoled a little by my new Gucci. Then, we were able to find an internet café and skyped with some people, which was a nice end to the port. We were both exhausted from the night before so we headed back to the ship a few hours early and napped before dinner. Moriah’s parents had met her in Vietnam and taken her to Cambodia, and they arrived on the ship to have dinner with us. It was actually really nice to talk to people from home. I kind of keep forgetting that life is going on outside of this trip and my ports. Anyways, dinner was really nice and I was able to give the Childers some things to bring home for you all, so that was good. Understandably, I went to sleep early.

Well, I guess that post was a little less negative than I thought it would be. It wasn’t that I had a bad time or that Vietnam is not a cool country. Its really cool and beautiful, I enjoyed being able to see it. I guess I just had some bad experiences. I mean, people have tried to scam me in every country. But usually, when you catch them doing it they admit it and apologize. But here, its like the people get super offended to be accused and then get mad at you for even suggesting such a thing. And here, more than any other country, I felt like the locals looked at me like a dollar sign and not a real person. It’s a bit aggravating when you’re trying to get to know someone and learn about the culture. I’m not trying to make any generalizations, like all Vietnamese people are meanies. I had some great guides and such. I just had a couple of bad times that I had not yet experienced in any other country. SAS kids have been robbed everywhere we’ve been. I don’t know. I guess in the short time I was there, I kind of just got a bad impression.