My uncle from VA, hanging out in Saigon
Big ol' buddha
Central Highlands, White Elephant Waterfall
EZ Riders and friends
Biggest waterfall in Vietnam
Getting closer to the falls...
Elephant Ride in Dak Lak
Top of the World
No parachutes
Passionfruit
Rollin
Rose Gardener
Terraced Fields
Vietnamese Myth: Dragons create rain
First day of cruising
My Aunt's house in Da Lat
Phuc and An, my cousin
Saigon
Saigon Post Office
Wednesday October 29th Day 64 Enroute to Saigon/HCM City, Vietnam
We get to Vietnam tomorrow. I have a few relatives that I might meet up with, and I’ve also made friends with our interport Vietnamese student, Phuc. She said her friends would get a kick out of meeting me, not sure why, just that a Vietnamese (albeit American) kid is going around the world.
Played a little concert for one of the lifelong learner’s birthday yesterday, it was appreciated, I think. Last night was the crew talent show, that was fun, I was helping out with as stage crew, moving mics around and whatnot. Still haven’t finished Chesapeake (book I’ve been reading since summer), but about ¾ done. Finally wrote some postcards and sent them in Malaysia, some of them were from Namibia.
Can’t believe the election is so close. I’m getting very anxious.
I think I’m witnessing faculty flirting right now. Ouch…drink invitation rebuffed on account of pre-existing plans (game of bridge). Transition to eager discussion of travel plans. Off to lunch.
Monday November 3rd Day 69 Saigon/HCM City, Vietnam
Listening to “Hannah” by Ray LaMontagne. Not so much a port stay as much as a 5-day introduction to the elements of Vietnam that were already a part of me, whether I knew it or not. More than any other port so far, more than any place I’ve ever been, I was moved by the natural beauty of Vietnam, and by the friendly, sincere, generous people. The food is the best too, in my opinion. Meeting up with family members was an added bonus, along with a great opportunity to practice my Vietnamese.
Recap:
Day 1: Leave the ship with Phuc (Vietnamese Interport Student), Julien, Molly, joined by Linda and head to Wrap and Roll Banh Cuon restaurant. Clean, western style fast foody kind of joint, clean but not particularly delicious. Not bad though. Walk around a bit, drink some sugarcane juice (Nuoc Mia, awesome), go to the bookstore to get a map, head to post office. Saigon’s post office is beautiful, call uncle (mom’s cousin, out of town in Nha Trang), and Aunt (out of town in Da Lat). Contemplate heading to Da Lat (in central Vietnam), where my Aunt Nga is building a house. Only have four days left though, Dad lat is 7-8 hours away by bus.
Run into Autumn and Kim at a store. They are planning to go to Da Lat at some point, to do an Easy Rider tour (motorcycle tour). Decide that we’ll take the overnight bus together to Da Lat. Don’t know how long I’ll stay. Pho (Beef noodle soup, staple of Viet cuisine) dinner at Pho 24, with Lily, Seamus. Rejoin Autumn and Kim at Andrew’s b-day party at the Sheraton.
Fancy European restaurant on the top level. Great desserts, but not a Vietnamese experience at all. Head to someone’s hotel suite, celebrations continue, Autumn Kim and I head to bus station, run into Ben, who was also planning to go but couldn’t find us until now.
Depart on bus to Da Lat.
Day 2: Arrive around 5 am in Da Lat. Get a taxi to Aunt Nga’s hotel (house still under construction). Meet her, wash up, head to a Pho breakfast, longans (grape-like fruit with peel and a pit), and awesome coffee. Check out her house, its going to be awesome, has great views, will be done in a month. Decide that I’ll join Autumn, Kim, Ben on Easy Rider tour. Go to Peace Café (also hotel), out of which the Easy Rider tours are run. Ask for Ha.o, the easy rider guide who took Autumn’s siblings, Walker and Prairie, in years past. Eventually find him, look for Walker and Prairie’s notes in Hao’s guestbook, really cool that we will be able to have him as a tour guide. Everyone has his or her own guide, mine’s name is Hung. We will take a 2 day tour starting tomorrow morning, weave our way through the central highlands and take a bus the second night back to Saigon. Hop on the back of the bikes and take a short tour through the Da Lat area, go to a temple with a huge dragon, a cool embroidery and silk village-type mall, hike up Nuoi Ba (Woman Mountain, ridgeline looks like a woman laying down), make it ¾ of the way up, realize my travel pouch has dropped out of my jacket (credit cards, money, ship ID), so I run back down and fortunately find it in the one place I ran off the trail. Phew.
Back to Café, walk around Da Lat, go to the big shopping district, buy some coffee, tea, trinkets.
Dinner with my Aunt at Dalat House, best dinner yet. Kim is not feeling well though.
We all go to a massage parlor, turns out not to be a classy establishment.
Go back to Peace Café, walk into Da Lat, Golf 3 dance club, awesome, great electro music, grab some drinks, dance a while. Live band comes on. Awesome experience. Surf the net a while, go to sleep.
Day 3:
Wake up for tour, Kim is now too sick to go. Have breakfast, hop on the bikes, don’t really know where we’re going. Go to temples, flower gardens, coffee bean plantations, mushroom farm, rice wine factory, silk factory, “White Elephant” waterfall. Guides stop along the road to talk about history, culture. End up in Dak Lak province, by a lake (Ho Lak), take a nap. Eat dinner at the hotel with the Easy Riders, hang out and drink rice wine til evening, exhausted, go to sleep. Riding through the countryside on these motorcycles might be the coolest thing I’ve done on this trip.
Day 4:
Breakfast, hop back on the bikes
Autumn and I go for an Elephant ride (our elephant’s name is Khun). It’s really fun, our elephant driver(?) takes us around and into the lake. Visit some minority villages (there are 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam), have a tasty lunch w/ passionfruit (so delicious, sour and sweet, looks very weird, like alien embryos inside of a big round red lemon). Hike up a hill where there are power line towers, climb to the top of one, amazing view. Go to a brick-making village. Lots of these villages revolve around one piece of industrial technology, aside from the agricultural production. Biggest waterfall in Vietnam, walk to the edge and dip our feet in. Most beautiful sight, stay for a while. Tour ends in the capital of the Central Highlands. Bid farewell to our amazing tour guides. Crispy noodles for dinner, shopping, overnight sleeper bus to Saigon, much nicer bus than on the way up, but sleeping next to stranger who has his elbow out, I keep rolling into it with my head. It’s kind of a funny situation.
Day 5:
Get back to Saigon at 4 am, take a taxi back to the ship. Catch a couple hours of sleep, after reading political news for a couple hours. Head out with Autumn and Phuc. Go to Post office, call home, call Uncle Thoang(mom’s cousin), and cousin (mom’s older sister’s daughter, An). Will meet my Uncle in 15 minutes, An at 3:30. I’ve never met An. Meet Aunt and Uncle, they’re cruising around on a motorbike, make lunch plans.
Buy some postcards, go to Ben Thanh (huge textile market), Autumn buys some silk, we get some fruit drinks. Meet up with Allison (sang with me at talent show), head to Parkson tower for lunch with Uncle, buffet style, impressive array of Vietnamese food, fruit selection. Dragonfruit, banana/rice pudding is great.
Say bye to Uncle (they live in Virginia but I haven’t seen him in a while). Phuc takes us to the Independence/Reunification Palace, walk around, tour the place. Common theme of semester at sea experience: widening perspectives bring troubled thoughts and increased awareness. This stop, in relation to the Vietnam war particularly.
Autumn goes back to the ship, Phuc, Allison, and I meet An, go to District 3 for some mango desserts. Then to karaoke bar (private karaoke rooms). Sing A Whole new world, more than words, let’s stay together, Wonderful tonight, Phuc is AMAZING at karaoke.
District 5 for fried fish dinner. Buy a “Viet Tien” shirt across the street.
Say goodbye at the shuttle that brings us back to ship. I will miss them both.
Got to know Phuc pretty well, she is extremely nice, also ambitious and fun-loving. An is quieter, very nice, will see her again I’m sure. Look forward to coming back to Vietnam, perhaps living here for a little while like I had previously planned. Easy Rider tour is highly recommended. Never got to Ha Long bay, will go next time. We are back on the open seas now, next stop Hong Kong. I absolutely adore Vietnam, and I am grateful for having some wonderful travel companions along the way.
Wednesday November 5th Day 71
This moment is beyond comprehension. Poetry has returned to power. Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America. President Barack Obama. After following this election process for a tenth of my life, I am immensely proud of our country for choosing an incredibly capable, intellectually curious, eloquent, and pragmatic leader to our highest office. We, a country built on the backs of slaves, have elected a man who is, at once, a historic part of the African American tradition as well as a descendant of slave owners. I am optimistic that this is a signal for the return of rationality in our public discourse. A return for the respect for our civil rights, our constitutional rights.
It’s a good day to be alive.
It’s a good day to be a young person in America, being brought into the political process in a way that promotes optimism, involvement, and hope.
This day was possible because we believed it could happen. We were told over and over again that it couldn’t. Intolerance always turns more heads than substance. It seemed like the intolerance and invective might drown out the substantive issues that remain as alarming as ever.
It turns out that the American people were ready to vote for the person who I feel is best equipped to navigate us through these troubled times. I hope that we are right. Still, even as our chances for success and prosperity rely upon the choice we have made, they also rely upon the cooperation and willingness of those who chose differently. I believe that we are capable of this feat; capable of agreeing to disagree, and capable of uniting under our common causes. This is the America I believe in.
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!
Big ol' buddha
Central Highlands, White Elephant Waterfall
EZ Riders and friends
Biggest waterfall in Vietnam
Getting closer to the falls...
Elephant Ride in Dak Lak
Top of the World
No parachutes
Passionfruit
Rollin
Rose Gardener
Terraced Fields
Vietnamese Myth: Dragons create rain
First day of cruising
My Aunt's house in Da Lat
Phuc and An, my cousin
Saigon
Saigon Post Office
Wednesday October 29th Day 64 Enroute to Saigon/HCM City, Vietnam
We get to Vietnam tomorrow. I have a few relatives that I might meet up with, and I’ve also made friends with our interport Vietnamese student, Phuc. She said her friends would get a kick out of meeting me, not sure why, just that a Vietnamese (albeit American) kid is going around the world.
Played a little concert for one of the lifelong learner’s birthday yesterday, it was appreciated, I think. Last night was the crew talent show, that was fun, I was helping out with as stage crew, moving mics around and whatnot. Still haven’t finished Chesapeake (book I’ve been reading since summer), but about ¾ done. Finally wrote some postcards and sent them in Malaysia, some of them were from Namibia.
Can’t believe the election is so close. I’m getting very anxious.
I think I’m witnessing faculty flirting right now. Ouch…drink invitation rebuffed on account of pre-existing plans (game of bridge). Transition to eager discussion of travel plans. Off to lunch.
Monday November 3rd Day 69 Saigon/HCM City, Vietnam
Listening to “Hannah” by Ray LaMontagne. Not so much a port stay as much as a 5-day introduction to the elements of Vietnam that were already a part of me, whether I knew it or not. More than any other port so far, more than any place I’ve ever been, I was moved by the natural beauty of Vietnam, and by the friendly, sincere, generous people. The food is the best too, in my opinion. Meeting up with family members was an added bonus, along with a great opportunity to practice my Vietnamese.
Recap:
Day 1: Leave the ship with Phuc (Vietnamese Interport Student), Julien, Molly, joined by Linda and head to Wrap and Roll Banh Cuon restaurant. Clean, western style fast foody kind of joint, clean but not particularly delicious. Not bad though. Walk around a bit, drink some sugarcane juice (Nuoc Mia, awesome), go to the bookstore to get a map, head to post office. Saigon’s post office is beautiful, call uncle (mom’s cousin, out of town in Nha Trang), and Aunt (out of town in Da Lat). Contemplate heading to Da Lat (in central Vietnam), where my Aunt Nga is building a house. Only have four days left though, Dad lat is 7-8 hours away by bus.
Run into Autumn and Kim at a store. They are planning to go to Da Lat at some point, to do an Easy Rider tour (motorcycle tour). Decide that we’ll take the overnight bus together to Da Lat. Don’t know how long I’ll stay. Pho (Beef noodle soup, staple of Viet cuisine) dinner at Pho 24, with Lily, Seamus. Rejoin Autumn and Kim at Andrew’s b-day party at the Sheraton.
Fancy European restaurant on the top level. Great desserts, but not a Vietnamese experience at all. Head to someone’s hotel suite, celebrations continue, Autumn Kim and I head to bus station, run into Ben, who was also planning to go but couldn’t find us until now.
Depart on bus to Da Lat.
Day 2: Arrive around 5 am in Da Lat. Get a taxi to Aunt Nga’s hotel (house still under construction). Meet her, wash up, head to a Pho breakfast, longans (grape-like fruit with peel and a pit), and awesome coffee. Check out her house, its going to be awesome, has great views, will be done in a month. Decide that I’ll join Autumn, Kim, Ben on Easy Rider tour. Go to Peace Café (also hotel), out of which the Easy Rider tours are run. Ask for Ha.o, the easy rider guide who took Autumn’s siblings, Walker and Prairie, in years past. Eventually find him, look for Walker and Prairie’s notes in Hao’s guestbook, really cool that we will be able to have him as a tour guide. Everyone has his or her own guide, mine’s name is Hung. We will take a 2 day tour starting tomorrow morning, weave our way through the central highlands and take a bus the second night back to Saigon. Hop on the back of the bikes and take a short tour through the Da Lat area, go to a temple with a huge dragon, a cool embroidery and silk village-type mall, hike up Nuoi Ba (Woman Mountain, ridgeline looks like a woman laying down), make it ¾ of the way up, realize my travel pouch has dropped out of my jacket (credit cards, money, ship ID), so I run back down and fortunately find it in the one place I ran off the trail. Phew.
Back to Café, walk around Da Lat, go to the big shopping district, buy some coffee, tea, trinkets.
Dinner with my Aunt at Dalat House, best dinner yet. Kim is not feeling well though.
We all go to a massage parlor, turns out not to be a classy establishment.
Go back to Peace Café, walk into Da Lat, Golf 3 dance club, awesome, great electro music, grab some drinks, dance a while. Live band comes on. Awesome experience. Surf the net a while, go to sleep.
Day 3:
Wake up for tour, Kim is now too sick to go. Have breakfast, hop on the bikes, don’t really know where we’re going. Go to temples, flower gardens, coffee bean plantations, mushroom farm, rice wine factory, silk factory, “White Elephant” waterfall. Guides stop along the road to talk about history, culture. End up in Dak Lak province, by a lake (Ho Lak), take a nap. Eat dinner at the hotel with the Easy Riders, hang out and drink rice wine til evening, exhausted, go to sleep. Riding through the countryside on these motorcycles might be the coolest thing I’ve done on this trip.
Day 4:
Breakfast, hop back on the bikes
Autumn and I go for an Elephant ride (our elephant’s name is Khun). It’s really fun, our elephant driver(?) takes us around and into the lake. Visit some minority villages (there are 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam), have a tasty lunch w/ passionfruit (so delicious, sour and sweet, looks very weird, like alien embryos inside of a big round red lemon). Hike up a hill where there are power line towers, climb to the top of one, amazing view. Go to a brick-making village. Lots of these villages revolve around one piece of industrial technology, aside from the agricultural production. Biggest waterfall in Vietnam, walk to the edge and dip our feet in. Most beautiful sight, stay for a while. Tour ends in the capital of the Central Highlands. Bid farewell to our amazing tour guides. Crispy noodles for dinner, shopping, overnight sleeper bus to Saigon, much nicer bus than on the way up, but sleeping next to stranger who has his elbow out, I keep rolling into it with my head. It’s kind of a funny situation.
Day 5:
Get back to Saigon at 4 am, take a taxi back to the ship. Catch a couple hours of sleep, after reading political news for a couple hours. Head out with Autumn and Phuc. Go to Post office, call home, call Uncle Thoang(mom’s cousin), and cousin (mom’s older sister’s daughter, An). Will meet my Uncle in 15 minutes, An at 3:30. I’ve never met An. Meet Aunt and Uncle, they’re cruising around on a motorbike, make lunch plans.
Buy some postcards, go to Ben Thanh (huge textile market), Autumn buys some silk, we get some fruit drinks. Meet up with Allison (sang with me at talent show), head to Parkson tower for lunch with Uncle, buffet style, impressive array of Vietnamese food, fruit selection. Dragonfruit, banana/rice pudding is great.
Say bye to Uncle (they live in Virginia but I haven’t seen him in a while). Phuc takes us to the Independence/Reunification Palace, walk around, tour the place. Common theme of semester at sea experience: widening perspectives bring troubled thoughts and increased awareness. This stop, in relation to the Vietnam war particularly.
Autumn goes back to the ship, Phuc, Allison, and I meet An, go to District 3 for some mango desserts. Then to karaoke bar (private karaoke rooms). Sing A Whole new world, more than words, let’s stay together, Wonderful tonight, Phuc is AMAZING at karaoke.
District 5 for fried fish dinner. Buy a “Viet Tien” shirt across the street.
Say goodbye at the shuttle that brings us back to ship. I will miss them both.
Got to know Phuc pretty well, she is extremely nice, also ambitious and fun-loving. An is quieter, very nice, will see her again I’m sure. Look forward to coming back to Vietnam, perhaps living here for a little while like I had previously planned. Easy Rider tour is highly recommended. Never got to Ha Long bay, will go next time. We are back on the open seas now, next stop Hong Kong. I absolutely adore Vietnam, and I am grateful for having some wonderful travel companions along the way.
Wednesday November 5th Day 71
This moment is beyond comprehension. Poetry has returned to power. Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America. President Barack Obama. After following this election process for a tenth of my life, I am immensely proud of our country for choosing an incredibly capable, intellectually curious, eloquent, and pragmatic leader to our highest office. We, a country built on the backs of slaves, have elected a man who is, at once, a historic part of the African American tradition as well as a descendant of slave owners. I am optimistic that this is a signal for the return of rationality in our public discourse. A return for the respect for our civil rights, our constitutional rights.
It’s a good day to be alive.
It’s a good day to be a young person in America, being brought into the political process in a way that promotes optimism, involvement, and hope.
This day was possible because we believed it could happen. We were told over and over again that it couldn’t. Intolerance always turns more heads than substance. It seemed like the intolerance and invective might drown out the substantive issues that remain as alarming as ever.
It turns out that the American people were ready to vote for the person who I feel is best equipped to navigate us through these troubled times. I hope that we are right. Still, even as our chances for success and prosperity rely upon the choice we have made, they also rely upon the cooperation and willingness of those who chose differently. I believe that we are capable of this feat; capable of agreeing to disagree, and capable of uniting under our common causes. This is the America I believe in.
YES WE CAN!!!!!!!
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