Vietnam

Okay I figured that is about time that I share a little bit about my trip to Vietnam with everyone. After talking with Mari it appears that the email I sent upon returning to the States may have caused a little concern or something. So for the record I had a great time and I was amazed at the many different experiences I had in just under two weeks.

There is just no way for me to cover all of what went down back in 'Nam (I only took 598 pics), but here are just a few of the highlights.

One of the first things that we did was to meet with the owner/head editor of the Saigon Times, an english paper and magazine in Saigon. After our meeting with him and discussing the difficulties of trying to run a newspaper in a communist country we took a group photo with him, and much too our suprise we were in the paper and magazine a couple of days later. ( http://www.saigontimesweekly.saigonnet.vn/2008/issue03/3vietnam_scene.htm )
Now before you feel bad that part of my body is cut off in this picture you should know that there is a student to my left...sucks to be him.

After our meeting with the Saigon Times our professor told us he wanted us to experience the real Vietnam so he said goodbye and left us to wander by ourselves and for the record people don't speak english. In any event we wandered around Saigon in between meetings for about 4 days. One of the most fascinating things we noticed in Saigon was the traffic. Everyone rides scooters, on the sidewalks, the wrong way on a one way street, etc. It was not uncommon to see 4-6 people on a scooter (Mom, Dad, and 4 kids!!) We saw one guy riding with 4 chairs and a dining room table on the front...no ropes! We saw another guy pulling a water heater attached to a dolly!

In this picture, I bravely stuck my head out the window of our taxi and people were just driving underneath my arms while I was taking the picture it was nuts!! It made driving in downtown Rio like a Sunday drive on the Alpine Loop.

One of the most memorable experiences I had came on one of our last days in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon). We had some free time and a couple went to a large War museum. I have to admit that I am somewhat ignorant to the details of the Vietnam war, but that being said this was an intense experience. The musuem was split into sections with some sections being filled with Vietnamese propaganda and the other with AP stories and photos. I don't want to be too graphic but some of the things I saw and read really affected me and will be things that are hard to forget.

We then took a hydrofoil boat out to a ocean resort town for a little R&R.

Our hotel was right on the beach, we swam in the ocean and visited some fishing villages. We also went to a restaurant where the food was farmed right next to the "hut"

That was it for the South, now it was time to fly to the capital of Hanoi. This brings me to one of the other most incredible experiences of the trip...Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay we were told has recently been made one of the seven wonders of the world. Just so you have an idea we were there for 24 hours and I took almost 100 pictures. We spent the night on a dragon boat and visited some famous caves. We had some of the best seafood I have ever eaten...it was amazing! It was here that some also showed me how to take pictures with my camera in the middle of the night when it is pitch black...take a look.

Here we are ferrying out of the city to our dragon boat...

Here are shots at night from the upper deck of the dragon boat. All the dragon boats spend the night in the same spot and then go out among the islands in the morning...And then as the day begins to break the bay begins to look so different...

Here we are on the top deck of the dragon boat...

Of course there were a few of us that felt we needed to join the "polar bear" club and go swimming in the bay and yes it was freezing! Being MBA students we collectively decided with our higher education that the best way to mitigate the effect of the cold water was to jump off the top of the boat...a dozen times!

Here are some shots from inside this gigantic cave that was made up of many rooms and rock formations...you can see the cave above my head and to the right...


Now for the food shots...

The last pic is from a place where we just picked what we were going to eat out of live tanks with sea creatures in them...don't ask!

Here are some random pics...there was a 60+ yr old lady that was riding this bike if you look close you can see her toes in the bottom of the pic and yes she is standing up...

This is Uncle Ho's tomb. To get inside you are not allowed to take cameras, you have to wear pants, you have to keeps your hands out of your pockets and at your sides. Once inside you can't stop, you just walk without talking and you walk around a glass casket with Ho Chi Minh's body preserved inside. Oh, and did I mention that there are armed guards everywhere and if you are doing anything that they don't approve of...well look out.

Finally, one of the last groups we met with over there was a group of foreign investors from Japan. They happened to be former students of our professor and they started a bowling alley. Which is about to be torn down to make room for a new venture that had caught their interest. However, we did get to bowl and of course there was money placed on who would win. The funny thing is that when the investors heard us placing bets on who was going to win they decided to donate a decorated bowling pin that they sell in their alley. Well the rules were simple he with the highest score in any of the 3 games walks with the money and the trophy pin.

Of course I couldn't bowl 3 games seriously so after some wicked sweet curves and slider balls I went for the between the legs shot...I got 8 pins, not bad.

But when crunch time came I stepped up and took the boys to town with a score of 186. So I got the trophy and a picture next to this wicked awesome disco ball, which is also the biggest disco ball I have ever seen!

I know that this was a school trip that was required in order for me to graduate, but I don't want anyone to feel too bad I made the sacrafice for my family and for all of you! HAHA are you kidding this was the trip of a lifetime...now I just have to find a way out of the dog house for leaving Jen home with the 3 kids for 10 days!!

Any suggestions?