Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam was so unique. Due to the country's history with Europe, the architecure is amazing. The buildings are a fusion of Asian and French style that I absolutely love. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but hopefully I can borrow some from someone else later.

We were in Hanoi for a really short time, but we made it to the Water Puppet Show. This type of show started in the rice fields. The workers made puppets and controlled their movement with long bamboo rods under the water for entertainment. It was really quite impressing how well they can control the puppets!

We visited Ho-chi-minh...literally. Vietnam loved their leader so much that they have preserved his body. We walked past his body surrounded by guards in a cold, dark room illuminated by red lights. It was a little bit creepy (the cold, dark, red part didn't help), but I'm sure it was all for preservation purposes. :) Our professor believes that if America could have preserved George Washington, they would have done it. probably true...

In Hochiminh City, I can't even express to you how many motorbikes there are. It is insane. Crossing the street gave an adrenaline rush everytime. Traffic does not stop for anyone. You basically close your eyes and cross the street at a steady pace. Do not stop or hesitate! The traffic flows around you like water. I'm pretty sure it's better than bungy jumping...

We visited the Hochiming tunnels that the Vietnamise used during the war with America. We saw the traps they used and the genious of their tunnels where people would sometimes live in for a year. I was able to crawl through one of them, and it was not friendly towards the claustrophobic. You are bent in half the whole time going deeper and deeper into pitch black tunnels feeling your way through. At one point I had to scoot on my back to get through a smaller opening. Later from someone's pictures, we discovered there was a scorpian right where we were crawling. thank goodness no one got stung!

There are definately at least two sides of a story in war. So it is with the "American War"(according to Vietnam) or the "Vietnam War" (according to America). It was such an experience to hear the other side of the story and to see the suffering on both sides. Of course there is so much more to say on this topic, but my internet minutes are running out...

thanks for keeping up with my journey!