County Warm of Conceptions: Neon Tigers

3.22.09

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Woke up for some breakfast before departing the ship.

-Explored the city
-Looked for tailors
-Helped Disha and Hannah order a dress (which I designed)
-Got some lunch (spicy szcheuan Chicken)
-Looked around some more
-Got some juice (passion fruit smoothie)
-Went into a less touristy, market area. Lots of locals. Lots of shops. Looked for more tailors to make suits. Everywhere expensive.
-More exploring
-Went to the Market in the center of the city
-> Found stall selling suits for $60
-Paid 1,000,000 dong!
-Got some dinner (steam boat?)
-Went back, freshened up
-Went to Apocalypse Now dance club, lots of SASers

Thoughts
-Hot
-Busy
-Traffic -> Near death just walking several times
-Wonderful cityscape
-Enjoyable locals

3.23.09

-Woke up early for breakfast
-Went to the War Remnant Museum of the American War (Vietnam War)

Thoughts:
*Depressing
->Treatment of civilians, of prisoners, etc
->Agent Orange and horrific effects
->The suffering and loss of life
*Educational
->Learned about the stages of the war
->Who it affected, where it affected
*Children's pictures about the war
->Fear of Agent Orange
->Call for peace
->Victory
->Some had fantastic styles -> should be artists

Definitely put us all in a somber mood
*Wished they had a room at the end full of:
-Puppies
-Kitties
-Balloons
-Trampolines
-Rainbows
-> Just to make everyone happy again

Despite seeing the horrors of the war, it was cool to then walk out into a world 30 years later and see a thriving city and nearly all animosity towards America gone. They gladly accept USD, for goodness sake!

-Afterwards, got some lunch at Jollibee!
*He's a bee, that's jolly
*Ate a hamburger, a little weird
*Fries
*Ice Cream cone
*Good times

-Walked a bit, saw the replication of Notre Dame.
-Got some iced tea nearby

-Split up into two groups
-Keith and I went to the post office, got him some stamps
-Made our way through the town to the Ben Thanh Market
*Found the food section
*Decided to return for dinner

-Walked to the Art Museum
*Found out it was closed on Mondays... Poop
-Walked then to the Tourist center, asked about a supermarket
-Went to the Tax Department store
*Got some groceries -> including Pokémon Jello things
*Looked around the rest, found a toy store, almost bought Pokémon cards

-Shuttled back to the ship
*Unloaded goods, enjoyed the A/C

3.24.09

Woke up early to take off on a four hour bus ride to Cat Tien National Park!
Located north of Ho Chi Minh City, Cat Tien is one of the few remaining rainforested areas in Vietnam, thanks to the destruction of foliage brought about by Agent Orange and other defoliants used during the Vietnam War.

-Upon arriving, settled into rooms (which were pretty nice with two beds w/mosquito nets, ensuite bathroom w/shower, a TV, AC, and bugs!)
-Was allowed free time (in the sweltering heat) which consisted of looking around, taking a nap, and sweating.
-Left on a speed boat down the Dong Nai river. Got to see some of the little homes in the village just across the river from the park.
*took a truck back -> Sat on the exposed back, had to dodge tree branches and stuff. Quite exciting... and dangerous! But not really that dangerous.
-Ate a pretty good Vietnamese dinner complete with beef, chicken, pork, seafood, noodles, rice, and bottled water!
-Went on a night ride through the park to search for nocturnal animals. Saw some deer. Lots of deer.
-Arrived back at the living quarters to sleep

3.25.09

-Woke up extremely early. Somewhere around 5:30. Maybe 6:00. I'm not positive when exactly. It was early.
-Ate a quick breakfast -> Ramen with fried egg
-Left by truck to one of the hiking paths through the rainforest
-Hiked for nearly two hours ~5 km
*The rainforest was beautiful. Interesting bugs everywhere, beautiful flora, and the sun sneaking through the breaks in the leaves of the trees lit it up just enough.
*Still really warm though
-Arrived at a little pond/lake in the middle of the forest.
*It was nice to relax and look over at all the birds the enjoying the lake
*Learned how to play chinese chess. At least attempted to learn. It's very similar to western chess, but with some alterations. Definitely a fun time. Keith and I attempted a game, but our Vietnamese guide had to help Keith win. Stupid Keith.
*Ate a delicious lunch prepared by the people who lived in the park. Very authentic. And very good.
-Left the way we came, but only took us just over an hour to get back.
*trucked back to the Park HQ
-Again, we got some free time until dinner. Unfortunately, the lack of much to hike out to and the extreme heat, it led to some napping in our nicely cooled room. Did get some reading done, too.
-After another good meal we were free to sleep again, which we gladly did.

3.26.09

-Woke up early again to join our trip leader in bird watching
*Saw quite a few birds, from orioles to parakeets to other crazy names I don't remember.
-Left then, for breakfast -> bread with egg
-Took another truck up to see the rapids and waterfalls of the river.
-Hiked along the rocks, taking snapshots
-Sat on the rocks, just absorbing the beauty of the park that lay ahead
-After awhile, we loaded back up on the trucks to return to the living quarters
-After packing up and checking out, we ate our last meal
*at lunch, there were a bunch of Vietnamese tourists visiting the park. They were all super loud, super happy, and super drunk. They had been taking shot after shot of rice wine while we were they. They were celebrating something, and I'm not sure what.
-After lunch, we began the four hour trek back to the ship
-Upon arriving at the ship, I put all my baggage back, grabbed my laptop, and hoarded the internet at the cafe next to our ship.

Thoughts on Vietnam:
-Everyone said it would be a big culture shock and moving place. Granted the War Remnants Museum was moving, but the rest of Vietnam wasn't really. It was cool to see how far Vietnam and the US had gotten since the war, and how much the Vietnamese loved Americans. But I didn't really feel what I think I was supposed to. Oh well. It was still an exciting place.

The park was beautiful, the city was exciting, and the people was great. Our course, vendors tried to steal our money, and taxi drivers told us things didn't open until five hours after they actually did, but the people were still great. Many were quite helpful, they enjoyed talking with American travelers, and they were overall easy to converse with.

I did like Vietnam, and the only thing calling me back is the fact that I didn't experience the entire country.

PICTURES: