Vietnam and Cambodia: The Final Days but Not the Final Word

The next morning, after a fun night out in Siem Reap, we headed to the opposite side of town for a different cultural experience. Our tour took us to Tonle Sap Lake, one of the largest bodies of water in Southeast Asia. The lake is famous for the unique lifestyle of the local villagers. Because of the intense rainy seasons and the violent swings in the water level of the lake, the villagers have settled on very unique residences.

 

They live in floating houses.

 

 

Not only that, but they have floating villages that are completely self-sustainable. There are over 1000 families living in this condition. That’s right. They survive on floating convenience stores, floating workshops, and even the casual, everyday floating pagoda.

 

 

Truly a sight to behold!

 

Although this trip was largely meant as a survey of the landscape, I couldn’t help but take an interest in the lives of the villagers. Just one peek into a floating home was enough to reveal the real depths of the poverty around us. Most of the homes were one large room that was separated by a hanging sheet if the family was lucky enough to have one. Living  and working spaces were small and cramped at best, and the people were subsisting on the very minimum amount of goods and services necessary to survive.

 

To say this did not look like an ideal living condition is an obvious and unnecessary understatement.

 

That image stuck with me throughout the afternoon. We visited a local artistry, spent some time in the tourist market, ate lunch at the hotel, and finally made our way back to the airport to fly to Ho Chi Minh City. While all of these activities were fun and interesting, my mind was stuck back on the water. I had seen my first sight that I just couldn’t shake.

 

The flight back to the ship allowed for me to clear my head and record some of my thoughts, which came out varied and jumbled at best. What I do know is that a trip of this magnitude and scope can’t be summarized in one pretty line about the state of the globe or the situation of humanity. Rather, it’s a constant conversation—one in which each port adds to something from the previous one and changes our vision of our place in the world.

 

Hopefully that vision is something I can articulate later in the trip.

 

Anyway, by the time we got back to the ship, it was dinner time. Several of us who had traveled together in Cambodia decided to try out a local restaurant called Temple Club, which was started by a UVA alum. The lounge had been rumored to host the likes of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt among others. I guess the list of things Angie and I have in common just doubled.

 

 

Drinks and laughter and AMAZING food were had by all.

 

The next morning was my first full day in Vietnam, so I got an early start. I left the ship with 3 other SASers, and we headed into the heart of Ho Chi Minh, with literally no plan in mind. I was reminded just how great it is to immerse yourself in a city on foot because of the sheer variety of all that we were able to experience.

 

We explored the meaning of life at a peaceful Buddhist temple:

 

 

We sampled the king of fruits—the durian—at a local produce market:

 

 

We smothered ourselves with incense at a Hindu temple:

 

 

We even got one hour massages… for $8 USD. No, that is not a typo!

 

 

It was one of the most amazing days in port thus far.

 

After our peaceful, albeit eventful, day, we went back to the ship to regroup for a night out on the town. Once again, we had heard about a nightlife that didn’t disappoint, so we got dressed up and had dinner on the ship before heading out. For some reason, everyone at the table had found their inner comedian in Vietnam, so we laughed until we cried, and then we finally left to see the sights in Saigon.

 

Our first stop was a rooftop bar on one of the tallest buildings in the city that offered an incredible view of the landscape.

 

 

We paid the price of the view on our bar tab and decided to head to a lower, cheaper venue.

 

 

Unfortunately not a lot of pictures survived from that night, but there is one gem that stood out. While we spent most of our night wandering from hotel to bar to alley, we made one deliberate stop at the Sheraton to see a live band. The male lead (Usher’s doppelganger) and the female lead (Fergie’s twin) were real life troubadours who spent their days traveling from city to city, all over the world, singing and entertaining. And they were AMAZING! So amazing, in fact, that one guy in our group decided to join them on stage in tribute.

 

 

The rest is picture history!

 

The next day, despite our obvious exhaustion, a few of my travel buddies and I decided to try and make the most out of our last day in port.

 

My friend Anna was a total saint and agreed to go to Mass with me first thing in the morning (pun intended). The church was really beautiful and the Mass was in English, so she didn’t suffer too much, but I thanked her immensely for making the trek out after such a late night.

 

 

We spent the rest of the day checking off Vietnamese boxes which we had not yet crossed.

 

That meant French pastries and iced coffee:

 

 

More inexpensive pampering with $10 USD manis and pedis:

 

 

Lunch with a local Vietnamese couple:

 

 

And of course, the one I had been avoiding… a visit to the Vietnam War Museum.

 

 

The museum was an incredibly difficult personal experience despite being surrounded by so many other observers. I’m still trying to piece together all of my thoughts, but unfortunately they remain probably the furthest thing from coherent as humanly possible.

 

Tough thoughts are stubborn that way.

 

All I’m really sure of at this point is that the museum was painful to experience, so I did not stay very long. Even one generation removed, I still felt the immediacy and awfulness of that part of our shared history. But mainly, my heart hurt for my close relatives, mentors, and friends who had the unfortunate fate of being involved in a war which has had lasting effects on so many lives including theirs, even to present day.

 

I was really worried that this ugly past would continue to cast a dark shadow on American tourists traveling in Vietnam. But one positive thing that came from my trip was the sense that the Vietnamese people are ready and willing to move forward towards a new shared future—one of peace and cooperation and most of all collaboration. It was refreshing to hear stories from my fellow travelers of the kindness and generosity they were shown by the locals. It made me feel that even though we can’t change the past, we can certainly do our part to improve the future.

 

 

I know this is cheesy, but looking over the bow of the ship on the last night and watching the sun set over Ho Chi Minh’s skyline gave me a bright sense of peace to what was a somewhat turbulent trip.

 

I’ll pause for a collective ‘awwww.’

 

I had a really incredible experience in Vietnam, but the minute I boarded the ship, people were already talking about landing in Singapore in just two days time. I’m looking forward to it, but I still have so many things to process about both Vietnam and Cambodia. I’m hoping two days will be enough!

 

See you on the other side!

 

Question of the Day: What was your last cheesy, ‘Kodak’ moment?