Pre-port was filled with the normal fun—language, culture, and history. I learned more about the Vietnam War than I ever have before, we learned customs around bargaining for lower prices, and we learned some basic Vietnamese—
Hello—Xin chao
Goodbye—Tam beit
Thank you—Cam on
it's too expensive—Dat qua
Excuse me/sorry—Xin loi
What we did learn, much too late, is that if you pronounce thank you as "cahm" on, rhyming with the first syllable in comedy (the wrong way) vs "cam" on, as in camera (the right way), you are telling someone to shut up rather than thank you. This provided many odd stares and awkward laughs at the end of each cab/bus/plane ride.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Day One:
We got up early to watch the ship go up the Saigon River. It took us until around noon to pull into the port. We entered Ho Chi Minh, and our first lesson was to learn how to cross the street. If you've never seen what it's like to cross the street in Vietnam, I encourage you to google it if you want. The pedestrians never have the right of way and it's a bit of a free for all—and so incredibly fun. We walked to the post office (a beautiful yellow building) in the city center and found Book Street (a street filled with bookshops—my actual dream street). My friends and I ate dinner at a Thai restaurant (continuing the tradition of rarely eating the cuisine of the country we're in—don't worry, we've eaten a lot of pho since that first night). We finished the night by walking around the different parks and being interviewed by a Vietnamese newspaper about the coronavirus.
HCMC Day Two:
Today Meriel, Sean, and I gave did a self-guided walking tour. We found an adorable craft store (and I picked up some stickers for my water bottle), walked around the university, the reunification palace, and found a botanical garden. For lunch we ate at a Vietnamese vegetarian cult restaurant called "the Loving Hut." It was great. Right next to the restaurant was this great park. We played on the playground, worked out at the outdoor open gym, and watched some guys practice boxing. We finished the day with a $13 hour long foot massage. We love Vietnam.
HCMC/Hoi An:
On day three of our vietnamese venture, we packed up and flew to Hoi An. I adore this town. After being surrounded in the hustle of Ho Chi Minh City, this small town was a dream. We flew in the day before they celebrated the lunar new year with a lantern festival, so it was a bit crowded, but it was so lovely. We checked in to our resort hotel and went down to the pool. We sat poolside with drinks sharing our favourite moments of the trip so far and things we're looking forward to. That night we all ordered room service and watched Marvel movies.
Hoi An Day Two:
Lantern festival day!
This morning we all went to a spa for massages and facials. They were different than what I expected they would be, but definitely a memory I'll keep. We spent most of that day in the market bargaining for elephant pants and tank tops. When the average temperature is 88°, you need to make sure you've got clothes to battle the heat. Before the festival we sat outside an Irish pub and listened to live music. As the sun began to set the boats came out filled with lanterns. The river lit up with colours and traditional music—it was mesmerizing. My friend Saherish paid for us to get into a boat and travel up and down the river for a while. It felt like I was in Tangled during the scene where there are hundreds of lanterns surrounding them in the boat. After all of that beauty, I got to play soccer with some kiddos on the street—the cherry on top of a lovely day.
Hoi An Day Three:
My friend Liz had found a basket boat for all of us to do this morning. We rode with local guides around coconut island and learned more about the land and local culture of Hoi An. One man was doing tricks in his boat and dancing to Gangnam Style. We got to get into his boat and he would rock it to make us spin around—it was so fun. We ate lunch at a Banh Mi (baguette filled with veggies and assorted proteins of your choice) place Anthony Bourdain claimed was the best banh mi he ever had. The rest of the day we spent relaxing enjoying Hoi An. I could happily see myself coming back to this place.
(The next morning we flew back to Ho Chi Minh and spent the next couple days staying on/near the ship catching back up on sleep).
Pictured below: My friends (from left to right) Sean, Angie, Kendall, Saherish, Meriel, me, Liz, and Kali outside the post office in Ho Chi Minh; the boat ride at the lantern festival, me on the basket boat tour with my rice hat
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