Viet Nam

Hanoi

For Spring Break two friends and I decided to go and see the land of ‘Nam.  We flew into Hanoi the capital and it was your stereotypical big, dirty city.  We walked around and saw the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the one stilt pagoda and saw a water puppet show.  Now the water puppet show is what Viet Nam is most famous for.  It is an art form that is truly unique.  Puppets dance on the water while a live band plays and sings for the puppets.  The puppets danced and acted out Vietnamese folktales and stories of love, tragedy, fishing and horse racing.  It was an interesting art form to witness but a must if you are ever in Hanoi.  While at the water puppet show I saw a guy I went to SOU with and I have come to realize how small the world really is.  

 Hoi An

From Hanoi we flew to Hoi An: a small fishing village that is known for its tailoring.  In this town we played at the beach, rode bicycles and enjoyed street food.  What blew me away the most was how friendly the people were.  They always wanted to help us get to where we needed to go and would offer to escort us personally to our destinations.  Compared to the Thai culture where every night is a party, the Vietnamese go to bed early and get up way before the sun to get set up for the endless amounts of markets and to bake the bread they are famous for. 

Ha Long

From Hoi An we flew back up to Hanoi, and hopped a three hour bus to Ha Long.  In Ha Long we were to spend the night on a Junk boat and be taken out to Ha Long Bay which is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  Unfortunately the weather was rainy and foggy so we didn’t get the best visibility of the islands we were passing in the boat, but it truly was such an amazing experience to sleep on a boat and cruise through these islands that remain untouched by humans.  The food on the Junk boat was delicious and there was plenty of it. Some of the most interesting sea food I have ever seen and eaten but none the less it was so good! On our junk we met couples from all over the world and shared stories and chit chatted about all of our travels.   At one point our junk stopped and we got off on an island that housed a giant cave.  We went deep into the cave and saw lots of stalactites and stalagmites.  After the cave we got to kayak around some of the islands.  While we were kayaking I was heartbroken by all the garbage in the water from the junks and tourists.  It was mainly plastic bags and bottles, but it just broke my heart that people don’t take the time to care for the earth and oceans.  Please recycle and put your trash in a garbage can!  After two days and one night on the junk we were dropped off at the pier and hopped on the three hour bus back to Hanoi. 

We had one full day left and we decided to book a tour that would take us out of the city and into the rural areas outside of Hanoi.  Our guide was a hoot and a half and made the experience all the more fun.  We went out to see some temples, a fishing village and bike ride through the countryside.  On our way back to the hostel we were walking and two men stopped us and gestured if we wanted a ride home on their motorbike.  We gestured back no and then we realized that these men were deaf.  Elise and I quickly began signing to them and we ended up ‘chatting’ with them for over an hour.  It was amazing how much sign came back to me and even more so how much I could understand.  It was so much fun that I was inspired to read my sign book when I got home and practice more sign in my classroom with my students. 

Our flight back to Shenzhen was uneventful and I was so happy to be home.  It was weird calling China ‘home’ but it has become my home away from home.  I really enjoyed Viet Nam and its beautiful scenery and friendly people.