Vietnam!

Hey All!
I woke up at 5AM this morning to watch us come in! It is really beautiful and all the little fishing boats and houses were fun to see from the water as we arrived. One of the things that you can only experience on SAS is the fact that you get to wake up in a cool new place every few days and that on mornings like this one, you can find a friend with a French press, grab some mugs and go sit and watch the sun rise over a brand new city that you have never been to before. I feel very lucky. Once we got in port we visited the History Museum, which was really cool and had lots of pictures and descriptions talking about Vietnams culture in the past, present and future. At the museum, they have a water puppet performance. This is a tradition in Vietnam and dates back to the 11th century. I didn’t know this and so I was totally surprised. The stage is a pool of water and the puppets emerge from the water and the puppeteers are hidden behind a large set. It was really cool. Then we went to the Presidents Palace and got to walk around and see all the rooms. It was fancy. Then we went to the Thien Hau Pagoda which was really interesting. People come there to pray and light in scents and depending on how many they light to burn, means different things. Some only light one to pray for everyone and everything. Others light many to pray for good health, a job, work, happiness etc. There were also in scents that hung from the ceiling and burned. It was really beautiful. We had a really amazing 6-course meal for lunch. We had a lotus salad (I think that is what it was) and it was tasty. Then we had spring rolls, then fruit, then sticky white rice, tofu, sweet and sour soup, and rice cakes. It was super yummy. We saw the Notre Dame Cathedral and City Hall. The last place that we visited was called Handicapped Handcrafters where they employ handicapped people to make this AMAZING eggshell and etched stone pieces of traditional Vietnamese artwork. It was really neat to be able to see the process and time that goes into each of the pieces.

That night, we went to what we thought would be a coffee house and music place and it turned out to be just a big seating area with a stage. The music was not a small coffee shop setting at all and the singers were in these VERY sparkle and shine outfits and sang a whole bunch of Vietnamese songs. It was like something I have seen out of a movie.

Vietnam is huge and there is a ton of traffic. Everyone rides a moped and there are NO traffic rules whatsoever. You can ride on the sidewalk, you can go through a light, and you can do whatever you want. I have seen mopeds carrying up to 5 people, with babies, with dogs, with HUGE loads of whatever. If you happen to not have a moped and are crossing the street (me) you just start walking and you don’t stop or flinch or sprint. You just move at a cow like pace and all the mopeds go around you at a bazillion miles an hour. I swear, when I get home, is going to be the quietest place ever compared to here!