Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I am now safely back in China, but excited to recap my travels in SE Asia to distract myself from coursework!

Vietnam was my first stop. I flew into Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon. I stayed in a small guest house without a working air conditioner, which was terrible! Vietnam was always at least 30 degrees Celsius (around 86 F) and usually more. I never made the mistake of going without AC again.

During my first full day in Vietnam I took a little tour of various markets and pagodas throughout town. I was in a little bicycle rickshaw guided by a nice Vietnamese man, and it was a great way to get a feel for the city and get a lot of sightseeing out of the way.

After purchasing my train ticket north and booking a tour of the tunnels, I decided to explore the city further, and see some of the main sites like the Cathedral and War Remnants Museum, but got incredibly lost on the way. I am not very good at paper maps, apparently. I walked into a residential area of the city, completely unsure of how to get home. Luckily, an extremely friendly family rescued me! The mom got the whole family involved in the effort. Her younger daughter, Trinh, spoke English, so she did most of the translating. Dad was trying to figure out my crummy map, the older sister was trying to call a cab and the younger brother was trying to flag one down in the street. All the while, they invited me into their home to sit and have some water. Ultimately, Trinh drove me home on her motorbike. She refused to accept any money for gas, but we exchanged contact information. A few days later, she sent me an email, and a picture she drew of us. What an amazing family! This was probably one of the most memorable moments from my trip, and was a just one of many examples of the hospitality and warmness of the Vietnamese people.

My last day in HCMC was consumed with sightseeing. I took a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels with a group of about 20. The tunnels were really interesting. They have expanded them so Western-sized tourists can fit in, but there also some areas intact so you could understand how small and compact they really were. People can try to fit in, but I declined that opportunity just in case my bum decided to embarrass me in front of the group. Besides the tunnels themselves, we got an overview of the fighting tactics and booby traps used during the war. I also shot an AK47, which was my first time shooting a gun ever!

After the tunnels, I was dropped off at the museum to actually see all the stuff I missed when I got lost. It was very interesting. It is very heavily biased, as can be expected, and was extremely graphic. It has a decidedly anti-American/South Vietnam tone, and constantly refers to the "war of American aggression." The most powerful portion, however, was the Agent Orange exhibit. It featured images and stories of people affected by the poisoning, as well as pleas for the US government to acknowledge the poisoning and compensate victims. There was a donation bin that was just filled with money at the end, which I contributed to as well. Even though it is clearly propaganda and one-sided, it made me feel really bad. It made me wonder how young Germans feel going to places like the Holocaust Museum.

After the museum, I visited the Reunification Palace and the cathedral. Then I walked back to the city, enjoying street food on my way. I grabbed my stuff, then went to the train station to board the overnight train to Da Nang, which would lead to my next destination, Hoi An. Overall, I enjoyed my time in HCMC a lot, and it was a great introduction to SE Asia!

Apparently very few people wanted to go to HCMC from Shanghai on May 2.

Enjoying a Bia Saigon on the street. At night, sidewalks would be completely full of people socialising and having drinks together.

A sculpture garden I found. 

Reunification Palace

Cathedral

Spring rolls!

Fried corn with hot sauce and shrimp flakes.

One pagoda of many

Pho! Notice all of the things that are served with it: sauces, basil, lime, sprouts and more!

Riding around in my rickshaw

Another pagoda

War Remnants Museum

Trinh's drawing of us

And the original! This was my photo, so Trinh drew from memory.

Me in the tunnel! I was lucky because I didn't need to actually crawl, but some of the taller men did.

Booby trap

A tunnel entrance. Can you see the person in there?

Another, naturally hidden, entrance

More traps/weapons

Trying out the gun. I failed to hit the target. :-(

Asian Adventure!

I have been terrible at updates! My last semester in Edinburgh went by in a blur. I am excited to be on exchange and to get my degree, but I am also sad to be nearing the end, and am already starting to dread having to say goodbye to my MBA family. I left Edinburgh in early April, and have been in Asia ever since!

I have been having a great time in Asia so far. Kicking things off, I spent a week in Seoul, Korea before arriving in Shanghai, China to start my exchange. There are six other Edinburgh students in Shanghai with me.  My friend Jason is from Taiwan, so he has been a tremendous help to us all getting settled, fed and more. We are staying in serviced apartments for the duration of the exchange, which is more expensive than normal apartments, but far less of a hassle. After a week in a big room, Liz, Cassie and I have moved into a two bedroom flat.

China has a "Great Firewall" that restricts access to some websites. Sadly, two of them are Facebook and Google! While there are some workarounds, my overall access to both sites is limited, but I will make a better effort to stay up to date!

Classes started my first week in China. All the SIMBA classes are 4 days, Thursday through Sunday, so one is already done with! So far in Shanghai we have explored the city, and did a short day trip to Hangzhou to look at West Lake. We rented bicycles and rode around. It was really fun!

Because I have quite a bit of time before my next class, I decided to head to Southeast Asia. I just got in to Vietnam tonight, and will be in Laos next week and then Thailand. Cassie and Liz may be joining me in Thailand, which is great!

I have already experienced some ups and downs. I had to wait over an hour to get my visa at the airport, and I am pretty sure I somehow got ripped off by a cab driver (That was my own fault for not researching the value of currency here! At least it was only a $10 lesson.). My hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is very basic and a bit dodgy. I have a fan and an AC unit, but I would bet money that no cool air is actually being produced. The man at the desk is very nice and accommodating, however. I can't be too picky for only $13 a night!

Things improved when I went out to explore. I went to a tiny outdoor pho restaurant, where I was joined by two nice Vietnamese men who showed me how to eat and season my dish. It was much more delicious after their intervention! They even ended up paying for my meal, which was really kind. One of them knew some English, but for the most part communication was smiling and hand gestures!

Tomorrow I will explore more of HCM and buy a train ticket for my journey north. On Saturday I hope to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, made famous by their use during the Vietnam War, and then start my journey north to Hoi An! Pictures coming soon.