Vietnam

VIETNAM – I didn’t know what to expect going into Vietnam. It’s a country I didn’t know much about except for the brief history that I was taught about the Vietnam War. The first day in Vietnam the ship made the scenic trip up the Saigon River to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). I honestly don’t know how this keeps happening but once again I was first off the ship because a day trip I was on had to get off quickly in order to go to our meeting. We headed to a porcelain factory and spoke with the CEO. It was very interesting seeing how this high-end tableware and various products are made. The best part though was the CEO hosted us to a lunch at one of his restaurants and it was delicious. After a while I lost track but it was like a seven-course meal or something. Back in town later in the day, I went into town and just explored the area before heading back to the ship for the night. There are market areas where you can go get your goods very cheap like backpacks, luggage, shoes, shirts, or pretty much anything. They are probably all knock offs though. Downtown Saigon is pretty modern and a very nice city area. Walking around and getting across streets is an adventure however. Pretty much all the Vietnamese havemotorbikes so there’s hundreds of them passing by at once and at many places there isn’t a traffic light. So how do you cross? Well you literally step out into traffic keep a steady pace and don’t stop and somehow everyone maneuvers around you. It really is a crazy experience and quite the adrenaline rush.

            The second day I had an early departure to head up to Hanoi in the northern part of Vietnam. It’s also the capital city of the country. Hanoi is quite different than Saigon with less city skyscrapers and less of a modern city feel. The Old Quarter though provides an interesting spunk to the city. Arriving in the city by noontime, I had read about a local place that maybe I could try for lunch. The dish I got was basically a noodle bowl with some meat in it. I don’t know exactly what the ingredients were because they didn’t speak English and they just brought us something to eat. It was delicious and the atmosphere was definitely interesting. We dined on tiny plastic stools in a run down open-air store front along the street. After lunch, I toured around the city in probably a way I shouldn’t be saying publicly but motorbike taxis are quite popular. So for a few hours in the afternoon I hoped on one of those and explored Hanoi. This was quite the experience being with all the other motorbikes and crazytraffic but it is really a quite efficient and fun way to get around. The first place I stopped at was the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Around here they have a national park to commemorate the man. You can actually go inside and view his body but unfortunately it its closed on Monday’s. Ho Chi Minh is the leader who led Vietnam to independence against the French and Americans. I also made stops at the Temple of Literature and the Hanoi Hilton. The temple is just an interesting temple area in the city but the Hanoi Hilton is what the American POW’s called this prison in the middle of Hanoi. This is where Sen. John McCain was imprisoned during his capture in Vietnam. In the evening, I went to a water puppet show, which actually was quite interesting and bizarre at the same time.

            On the third day, I took a four-hour bus ride to get to Ha Long Bay on the coast east of Hanoi. This was a spot I was really looking forward to since it was named one of the seven natural wonders of the world. This was the third one I hadseen on this trip along with the Amazon River and Table Mountain being the other two. Ha Long Bay did not disappoint although the weather may have notbeen ideal. It was mostly overcast while we were there so I didn’t get a chance to see the bay when it was completely clear. The boat that we were on was modeled after an old looking junk boat but the interiors of these boats arevery luxurious. Our cruise on the bay was for about 24 hours. The bay is flooded with day trip boats and also the overnight ones. Because some of the boats actually have some character to them, it is a cool sight seeing them all on the bay. Late in the afternoon we stopped to go explore one of the caves and then kayak a little around the bay. Ha Long Bay has around 2,000 mountainous islands popping up around the bay anywhere you look providing an awesome sight or new pattern to see each minute I look a different direction. Lush green brush grows out of the rocky stone. At night on the boat they try to make it a fun night with music and dancing. It was also nice sitting out on the top deck surrounded by the dark shadows of the islands while finally experiencing a comfortable temperature around 70 degrees.

            Waking up on Ha Long Bay was an awesome experience because you just open your door and you are in the middle of this marvelous natural wonder. The boat cruised around the bay a little more in the morning before heading back to the harbor so we could drive back to Hanoi. By time we reached Hanoi it was late afternoon so we had just a couple hours to kill before heading back to the airport for the flight back to Saigon.

            For my final day in Vietnam, I first headed to the War Remnants Museum in Saigon. This also is referred to as the American War Crimes Museum. This experience probably was the most impactful emotionally for all of my five days in Vietnam. First off, in Vietnam the war is called the American War. The museum is quite biased in how it expresses it views but this is a perspective that Americans rarely if ever get to hear. As you enter the museum, outside there stands all of the junk that we left behind once we fled out of Saigon. Various planes, helicopters, tanks, and bombs are all out on display with the lettering “U.S. Army.” Three items really stuck out to me in the museum. First, was a small picture frame displaying awards that an American solider had earned during the war with the message, “To a United Vietnam. I was wrong. I am sorry.” Second, was a picture in the section about countries and people objecting to the war. The picturethat stuck out was the famous picture of the Kent State shooting with the young lady standing over the dead body and giving out a scream. Third, was the exhibit on Agent Orange. This really hits home because Agent Orange is something that is still affecting people today. Because of what we (Americans) decided to do people are still suffering. In the exhibit there was a letterwritten by a young lady aspiring to be a doctor who wrote a letter to President Obama asking for the Americans to provide some type of compensation for thedamages. Over the years some has come there way but not enough. The Agent Orange section of the museum is just brutal highlighting deformities and the horrifying effects of this toxic liquid. Agent Orange was used to basicallyclear the jungle because the Viet Cong (The people the U.S. was trying to fight) were fighting guerilla warfare and would use the jungle to hide.  Because of this Americans would end up killing thousands of innocent citizens in villages by bombing them hoping to kill Viet Cong. More bombs were dropped in Vietnam than any previous war.

            I could go on and on about the war because we had long discussions on the ship in seminars and in classes about the war. We are lucky enough to have President LBJ’s daughter on the ship and hearing her view from a perspective of a presidentduring the war and as a wife of someone who went to fight in Vietnam. I’ve learned that this was a war that the U.S. had no business fighting. If we had known the history of this country then we may have thought twice about stepping into Vietnam. The Vietnamese had been fighting for independence for over 2,000 years against the Chinese, French, and then the Americans. Once the Vietnamese gained independence from the French, that’s when the American stepped in trying to take that away again. That’s something you really can’t fight and contradictory of the values we hold in the Constitution. Those contradictions are boldly highlighted in the museum in large quotes from famous lines about what makes the U.S. great.

            The museum really set up a pondering question for myself as I left Vietnam. How in theheck are we allowed to still go in there and walk out alive?? The museum really made me pounder this because the brutality was displayed often throughout the museum. I never felt mistreated once while in Vietnam and found everyone to be very friendly and that’s something I just can’t quite wrap my head around yet.

           

Food ~ Pho, Bo Bun. There are a lot of things I tried that I don’t have the names of. A lot of seafood, rice, and noodles are what is included in the cuisine.

 

Drinks ~ Tiger Beer

 

I know it’s been quite a while since I posted but as I have said everything is starting to get really crazy and fast. Since I have last posted the Indians have had Opening Day, the Buckeyes were in the Final Four, and I had my 21^st birthday in Beijing. I was confident that the Buckeyes would win it all since I’m not there. It sure doesn’t feel like I’m 21 but thanks to everyone who sent cards my way. I promise you I had a good time and will try to update you sometime soon. It was really cool to still be able to get cards around my birthday. As I post this I’m looking out at the amazing city of Shanghai and its vast different glittering colors of the skyline.  It’s been quite chilly in China compared to the other ports as we head further north. I’ll try to update soon on the week in China but it may not happen until after Japan. The ship has left Shanghai and we’re heading to Japan where we arrive in two quick days on Tuesday morning.

           

 

Singapore

SINGAPORE – It’s been a long time since I was in Singapore for the first time so I had a feeling a lot had changed in this ultra modern city. From just a city perspective, Singapore is just downright awesome. The city is clean, there’s little crime to worry about, and the public transportation system is phenomenal.  Singapore just reeks of riches and I’m sure this will be present in modern cites we visit like Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo. The world would be a better place if we all had cities like Singapore. Without a doubt, I’d put Singapore up there as the best city we’ve visited. Cities like Rio and Cape Town win with beauty.

            First off today was a hot day! The humidity is just ridiculous in Singapore. Since I had been here before I had a relaxed mind sight on the day. I had a rough outline of what I wanted to do but it was going to be more of see where life takes me today mentality.  The ship was docked in a great spot so immediately as we got off there was a SMRT station there ready to take us pretty much anywhere in the city. My plan was to go to China Town and pick up a sightseeing bus route from that point, similar to what I did in Cape Town. China Town is a very interesting part of the city and provided anice taste of what’s to come in a little over a week. I headed straight for Maxwell Road Food Center where I knew that there was a food stall I wanted to eat at. One of the best parts about Singapore is the food because the city is so ethnically mixed that it has influences from all around the world. They say the two national sports in Singapore are eating and shopping. Singapore is essentially the shopping hub for most of Asia. Food stalls are all over Singapore and is the cities version of fast food but gourmet and delicious. Take note U.S.A., this is why we are so fat… I wanted to try stall 10/11 because Anthony Bourdain had eaten there before and raved about it. Well it did not disappoint. The dish was chicken and rice, a signature Singapore dish. Honestly, it’s the best chicken I have ever had in my life. They serve strips of boiled chicken over rice with two sauces, one spicy and the other sweet, along with a bowl of chicken broth. The chicken was so moist and tender, absolutely delicious. The name of the stall was Tian Tian.

            Once finished in China Town I found the bus and rode through the city to the botanical gardens, which is another beautiful spot. There are various gardens and a rainforest area but the most noteworthy spot is the National Orchid Garden, which has the largest compilation of tropical orchids in the world. The smell and sight of different flowers was great. They also had cooled greenhouses, which provided a nice escape from the heat too. From the gardens, I headed back into the city down Orchid Street, the main shopping hub of Singapore. I stopped at Raffles Hotel and had a look there to see this historic hotel. We actually stayed here last time I was in Singapore so I wanted to see it again to see if I remembered it well. At the Long Bar at Raffles is supposedly the spot where they invented the Singapore Sling. So I had to go try one there even though it probably will go down as the most expensive cocktail I’ll ever pay for. The bar was cool though and had some spunk. I headed across the streetnext and checked out the mall there to escape the heat. It was all very high end shopping. It also had started to thunderstorm and honestly it is the first time it has rained while I have been on land on this trip. So I checked outanother hotel that supposedly had a rooftop bar on the 70^th floor. Since I wasn’t going on top of Marina Bay Sands I figured this would be a nice alternative. It actually was really cool and is higher than Marina Bay Sands so it was well worth it. The view was spectacular but unfortunately, I couldn’t see too far in the distance because of the thunderstorm.

            By now it was late afternoon and I wanted to hit a few more stops before heading back to the ship area. I made a stop at Marina Bay Sands to check out the lobby andsurrounding area. The place is just nuts with a huge mall and casino attached. Pretty much anything you could imagine is there and the building is really cool too. If you don’t know about Marina Bay Sands, it’s basically a really cool hotel that has three towers connected at the top by a platform that has a swimming pool and other awesome stuff. I learned that in its first year this resort made a $1.5 billion profit and had a 99% occupancy rate! My last stop was in the main business district downtown, Raffles Place where I wanted to see another food market, Lo Pa Sat. I didn’t have too much time so I grabbed some spring rolls quickly before finding the SMRT back to the harbor front getting back to the ship at 8 p.m.

            It was another long exhausting day trying to move around the entire city. The ship is off again and heading north to Vietnam where we will dock in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) on Sunday, Mar. 25. While Singapore is well known for its strict restrictive laws it has becoming a booming business center in the world. Also, because of the strategic placement along the Strait of Malacca it allows them to take in massive amount of money with international trade. The city is far beyond most cities I’ve been to especially in the U.S.A. A lot of this has to do with having a restrictive government system allowing them to do things such as build a floor a day for a skyscraper. The efficiency in the way they canaccomplish tasks and projects are an amazing attribute.

India

INDIA – Four cities in six days. The best way to describe India was craziness with a lot going on in a short amount of time and a lot of people.  Reflecting now as we travel to Singapore it has just started to sink in just how much of the country I covered in six days. Once we docked in Cochin, I immediately flew up to Delhi, and then continued to Agra and Varanasi on consecutive days after that. Currently, I’m pretty much as far away from home as you can get, half way around the world. It’s hard to believe I’m already at this point on the voyage as we move into Asia.

            On day one, I was first off the ship because our group had to be to the airport quickly in order to make our flight to Delhi. Somehow this is the third time I’ve been the first group off the ship so I have been really lucky so far (As you will find out later, I know for a fact I will be the first group off in San Diego too!). I knew that our flight to Delhi would be a few hours but it was odd when the plane started to land just over an hour into the flight. I guess it’s quite popular in Indian air travel to have layovers in cities to let passengers off and come on. So it was quite bizarre wondering what city we were in and why we had landed in this place. Delhi was not what I was expecting for the capital city of India. I was expecting a city similar to what I saw in Ghana. A city that was dirty and not too pleasing to the eye. To my surprise, Delhi is one of the greener cites that I have seen with tree lined streets along with open grass fields and parks. Not many large skyscrapers dominate the scene but instead diverse government buildings, monuments, and historical structures all with various architectures fill the skyline. Delhi is the second largest city in India behind Mumbai and that was immediately apparent when I arrived as we drove through the city to our hotel because of just how many cars were on the road and by the actual size of the city.

            The second day was a long action packed day trip to Agra, a former capital city of India. The day began at 4:30 a.m. in order to be able to make the train to Agra aboard the Shatabdi Express. You could write a whole book on Indian train travel itself. It truly is a unique Indian experience. So I was very intrigued to see the stations and environment. Outside the station vendors scramble to sell breakfast items to travelers and packs of cars pull in front of the station to drop off passengers honking their horns. A lot of action before the sun is even up yet. Inside the Delhi station is bustling with activity even at 5:45 a.m. Thousands of people moving to find their platforms is an overwhelming environment along with a confusing system to locate the correct spot to be.  Aboard the train was probably not the most typical Indian experience as our car was air conditioned and served chai but it still was very interesting people watching. I sat next to an Indian who tried to speak with me a little bit about where I’m from and my travels. I tried to glance at the Indian newspaper to get an idea of India’s current events but the sunrise over the countryside was another good distractor for the two-hour trip to Agra. Sleep wasn’t an option because I know I didn’t want to miss anything on the train ride. The itinerary for Agra was filled with visiting various historic sites of the area including Fatehpur Sikri, the Agra Fort, and of course, the Taj Mahal. The Agra Fort was where the capital of India once was located and then it moved to Fatehpur Sikri and then back to the Agra Fort again during the Mughal reign. Both of these spots provide unique sites of historical Indianarchitecture and are World Heritage Sites.  The sandstone of the structures has a red colored tint to it along with white marble lined areas. The highlight of the day though had to be the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It truly is an amazing site. I was there in the late afternoon for a couple hours as the sun set in the distance. I never realized that you could actually go inside of the Taj, which you are able to do. The massive size of the structure along with the exquisite detail of the marble is beautiful. From the distance it’s easy to get mesmerized from this perfect symmetrical object in front my eyes. I was amazed just how complex the design was yet it just looked perfect in every way. As the sun sets, the Taj changes colors from a white to a pinkish to a darker grey color.  Once finished at the Taj, we headed to thetrain station for the trip back to Delhi aboard a similar train we took in the morning.

            Day three I was awake pretty early again to see more of Delhi before heading to Varanasi. Probably the most notable place that I saw in the morning was the location where Gandhi was cremated. There is an entire park area that is dedicated to the location. Also there is an area similar to the National Mall in D.C. where there is a massive arch dedicated to fallen soldiers that is a pretty interesting monument to see. In the afternoon, I took a flight to Varanasi landing there just before the sun began to set. Immediately the bus took us to the city center area to get our first taste of Varanasi. Varanasi known as “the holy city of India” is one of the oldest cities in the world built B.C. and older than cities like Jerusalem. It’s hard to fathom just how old the city actually is. Inside the city there gets a point where it’s extremely hard to move cars through. So there I hoped on a cycle rickshaw to get further inside. From the cycle rickshaw it was a lot easier to see how nuts traffic in India is. The double yellow line is non-existent. The middle of the road is pretty much for the taking for whoever wants to take it and pass the other traffic. Cars pass traffic then dodge out of the way at the last minute in order to avoid the car down the road coming straight at you. On the cycle rickshaw, it’s amazing being up close to the traffic craziness as people on motor bikes zoom by along with bigger cars honking their horn wanting people on bikes to get out of the way. Once through the madness, it gets to a point where only foot traffic can survive. Here large stairs cascade down to the Ganges River called Ghats.  Each evening after the sunset there is a ceremony that I watched with music, fire, and incense. People gather around the steps and come up on boats to view the seven platforms in which they perform the Hindus ritual. The next day we were headed back to the same place to see the contrast in the rituals that go on during the morning and evening at the Ganges.

            The main reason for a visit to Varanasi is to come to the Ganges at sunrise so I woke up at 4:30 a.m. once again on day four in order to make our way back to where we were the previous evening.  Hindus people come to the river at sunrise to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges. This practice is unlike any religious practice I have ever witnessed before. TheGanges itself is heavily polluted however. Indians haven’t quite figured out the concept of disposing trash properly yet and much of it makes its way to the river. The river is also a place of body dumping because of its holiness toHindus. Someone who dies in Varanasi is cremated at the banks and granted instant salvation. Although I didn’t see any, sometimes bodies are just dumped into the river if they cannot be cremated. Surprisingly it wasn’t too stinky, the sight of the crematory at the banks was pretty surreal along with people bathing at the banks as the sun began to peak over the haze on the horizon.  Inside the older parts of the city the walkways are very narrow. Not much is open in the early morning but with a group of Americans walking through the city it’s easy to draw people’s attention that want to sell things. Varanasi silk is a world famous item soclothing dominates the stalls that line the streets. Varanasi is also a holy area for Buddhists, something that I was not completely aware of. It’s in a city nearby called Sarnath. A very old memorial was built there to recognize where Buddha gave his first sermon after he achieved Enlightenment. There are also remnants of monasteries built there that were unfortunately destroyed when Muslims came through and found the city. It’s also considered one of the four places of pilgrimage in Buddhism.  On premises, there is a museum housing a very amazing sculpture of Buddha withvery fine detail, which is seen as the best representation of the man himself in the entire world. After another whirlwind morning it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready to go to the airport. The rest of the day would be spent traveling back to Cochin on flights. This time we had only one stop in Delhi before heading straight to Cochin. It was an exhausting day getting back to the ship around midnight.

            The last two days I spent exploring Cochin. It was great to be away from a large group and be able to do things at a slower pace. On the fifth day, I went to the Fort Cochin area of the city, which is the oldest part of Cochin. In this part of the city, there are old fort remnants, Chinese fishing nets, and a spice market.  In Cochin, the area is very diverse so there is also a lot of a different religious influence. On the last day, I got a group together that wanted to go to the backwater region in the area. It was an hour and a half drive to get there. This region is very similar to Amazon lifestyle with people living right on the water. The area is verybeautiful lined with coconut trees and canal ways leading to homes along the waterways. The backwater region is a very popular vacation spot for Indian people. For my last few hours in India, we decided to throw a little St. Patrick’s Day celebration of our own at a nearby hotel but it wasn’t quite the same without all the green. I heard it was amazing weather in Cleveland with lots of people this year.

            As you can probably see from the fast nature in trying to explain what happened while in India it only now is hitting me just how much I was able to accomplish in six days. Everything was really fast paced but it was an awesome time and well worth it. India is a very interesting country and it will be interesting to see how it compares with the rising powers in the world as India is currently achieving economic growth of 8-9% a year. India has a population of over 1.2 billion people on land size that is 1/3 of the size of the U.S.A. The U.S.A. has population of .3 billion. So that’s a lot of people in the country in a smaller region.

 

Food ~ There’s so much good food in India, where to begin. I don’t have specific names of dishes but I definitely had a lot of Dahl (Lentils). A lot of Curry dishes, and Indian bread is fantastic, a lot likepita bread but crispy. Pretty much all dishes are served with rice. Food in the north and south are very different. Northern food is more of what Americansconsider to be Indian food.

Malabar Tiger Prawn Curry – Malabar is a local spice mixed with coconut milk. A lot of the food was pretty spicy but I enjoyed it for the most part, it wasn’t too hot.

 

Drinks ~ Kingfisher beer. It’s available in the states…try it!  Chai – Indian tea with milk-very good.

 

 

I know everything is going to start to get even more insane as the ship is heading down the Strait of Malacca toward the largest trading hub in the world, Singapore. Going down the Strait every so often you will see cargo ships pass by which is pretty cool to see. We arrive in Singapore tomorrow, Thursday, Mar. 22 where we get pretty much a full day to explore. Then it’s another quick turnaround to get to the rest of the ports through Asia.

 

 

The first day on ship after India we had the Sea Olympics, which is a Semester at Sea tradition. It’s a fun day filled with various competitive activities. I did things like trivia and the scavenger hunt. Each floor on the ship is split up into different seas and that is how we compete. I am in the Aegean Sea and we actually won! The prize is the right to be first off the ship in San Diego and our own private party in the Glazier Lounge (The Faculty/Staff Lounge), which is actually a really sought after prize.

Today, our final day before Singapore, we have been learning about Vietnam and the Vietnam War before we arrive there on Sunday. We have some very interesting people on the ship who are historians and veterans of the war so its been really interesting learning from them. Actually a pair of lifelong learners who joined the voyage recently was Sen. Chuck Robb and his wife Lynda Bird Johnson Robb. Lynda is actually the daughter of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Chuck is a former senator and governor in Virginia. He also served in the Vietnam War. So it has been really amazing hearing from them first hand accounts of perspective of what was happening in the LBJ administration and on the ground as well.

 

 

March Madness

Starting tomorrow the real madness begins. The trip is about to fly by as we hit five countries over the next month with not very much transit time between ports. In each of these next countries, I’m going to be doing some major traveling within the countries and doing a lot of very interesting things. So the voyage is going to really start to have that “Amazing Race” kind of feel. The ship docks in Cochin, India tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Monday, Mar. 12 where it will be for six days. India is going to be another amazing stop and it will be interesting to see how it compares to the other developing countries I've seen so far. Of course I'm really looking forward to the food as well. I will be heading to the north making stops in Delhi, Agra, and Varanasi in a short amount of time. From Mauritius, the ship has not been going in a straight path. We have been trying to cut around the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean and are currently in pirate country. I’ll try my best to keep updates on here after each port coming up but I have a feeling it’s going to start to get very crazy. I hear something called March Madness is starting up back home…who would have thought that. India tomorrow….