A Brief View of Vietnam

Heyo,

The two weeks following our trip to Thailand was compromised of a mad rush to study for our finals and take them. On Wed Dec 1st, both Dan and I completed our last final in our Statistics class. We then headed downtown to celebrate a little bit. The next morning we headed to Vietnam, which is what most this post will cover. I set up the trip with the intent that we would experience the culture of Vietnam the second day and the history the third. We arrived in Vietnam around 2pm and made it through the very strict customs. (We had to do a lot of work prior to leaving Singapore so that we would be allowed into the country) We spent the afternoon visiting the main attractions of Ho Chi Minh City (previously called Saigon). Just for those who are wondering, Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the country (the vietcong in particular) during its most difficult times including the Vietnam War. He is considered the only father of the country and a very respected man, thus the reason of the name change of the city. In addition, all women who sent their sons to the war are considered the mothers of the country. To the right you see me flashing the peace sign in the post office of Ho Chi Minh City. If you look at the pictures linked

at the bottom you will see that most of the buildings appear from france, which is because of their presence there in the early 1900's.

Because of this, the city is nicknamed the orient of Paris. The next day we signed up for a tour to go see the Mekong Delta, which is the most southern part of Vietnam and also the most fertile land which makes it good

for farming. The picture to the left shows me on one of the boats we were riding through the jungle. We ate food cooked by inhabitants on a island and listened to them play music. The food was amazing, although at the time I was a little concerned about getting sick, but all turned out well. The next day we headed to Cu Chi Tunnels which is located in the city of Cu Chi. This is where the Vietnam War took place. The north (Vietcong) lead by Ho Chi Minh were north of the city while the American and southern Vietnam were located to the south. The Vietcong constructed over 270 km of tunnels to transport warriors and keep women and children safe. These tunnels were very complex with areas to diffuse smoke, air holes, and entrances located in strategic places with escape routes that lead to the Saigon river, where they would emerge under water. The tunnels were constructed small to prevent Americans from maneuvering easily in them. While at the Cu Chi Tunnels we also learned about contraptions used to horribly injure American soldiers,

it was very fascinating and pictures of these contraptions can be found in the link below. We were allowed to go through a 40 meter section of one of the tunnels which was enlarged to make the task easier, however it was still significantly small and a little nerve racking, since there was no light. The picture to the right shows Dan ahead of me. We had our backpacks with all of our stuff which made it even harder. Our tour guide told us of a story where an American Vietnam Veteran came to see the tunnels. He weighed 120kg and was urged not to go because of the possibility of getting stuck, however he said that he had to see them and wanted to before he died. He did get stuck, and after pulling on him from both directions they got him out, and although very bloody he was just so happy to have seen it. They were really neat! After we arrived back in Ho Chi Minh City, Dan and I went to the War Remnants Museum. It is a highly controversial museum but I really wanted to see it and learn more about it. Although I wasn't expecting what I was about to see. The first floor was laid our with hundreds of pictures of deformed Vietnamese from Agent Orange along with all the weapons used in the war (this floor was by far the most horrifying), the second floor consisted of war pictures and the Vietcong side of the story while the third floor consisted of letters and news paper and magazine pictures from the US (the US story was here although probably slightly biased by the Vietnamese). Outside was a replica of the jail cells. We spent about 3 hours here and I learned just about everything you could about the war. I'll probably never forget it.. Soon after we got some dinner and then headed to the air port to fly back to Singapore.

We found it really interesting, that after all of this stuff that the US has done to the Vietnamese that they all still love Americans and were possibly the friendlies inhabitants that we have visited. Our tour guide of the Cu Chi Tunnels said it very well at the end, "we thank you for coming to see this part of our history, we are not here to say that we were in the right or were smarter, we are here just to show our way of fighting and its the one of the few parts of our history that we have pride in." Another tid bit of information is even though Vietnam is still considered a communist state, it is a very forward thinking communist state. They call themselves communist, but for every major decision that they have, they send out surveys to the public to get their input, which is why some call it a fake communist country or communist with a democratic spin. The country is moving forward fast and will probably in no time be just as developed as Singapore. Ho Chi Minh City will be opening the longest under water highway tunnel in south easy asia in the next year and have 4 metro train systems being installed. All in all, the trip was by far the most educational of all the trips that we have done, and I would highly recommend it. And the food was amazing! If you would like to see more photos which will tell the story with more detail click here.

In approximately 9 hours I will be heading to the airport to catch my plane back home. My study abroad experience here at Singapore was eye opening and definitely worth my time. I look forward to telling you all more about it when I get home. This will be my last post. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

This is Brett Hauser Signing off from Signapore!! Later