Hong Kong was great, Beijing was AMAZING, and I'm now in Shanghai. I'll have much to tell you about over the next few days. But for now, let me finish up SE Asia. AND a huge shout out to my mama!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Wish you were here to celebrate :)
- The Vietnamese are the nicest group of people I’ve seen throughout the trip. People would come over to help and my reaction would be to decline (in Morocco or Ghana, people wanted money in exchange for their help). But they genuinely just wanted to help and then leave.
- In the market, while we were waiting for a friend, one shopkeeper approached us. I thought she was going to give us the hard sell on her tshirts, but instead she wanted us to sit on some stools with her and chat. I’ve obviously gotten a little jaded from people try to help me.
- Saigon is not at all what I expected. It’s a big CITY and is very easily walkable. It’s very clean, very modern (compared with the cities I saw in Cambodia), and has a ton to do.
- Motorbikes. Everyone in Saigon rides a motorbike. And there are few traffic lights. To cross the street, you have to walk out into a pack of hundreds of motorbikes coming at you. You just look straight ahead and walk at a steady pace. They are great drivers and will swerve around you, as long as you don’t stop or change your pace. It’s quite an adrenaline rush, literally stepping out into oncoming traffic.
- I’ve started to really enjoy the bargaining process. There are times when it’s exhausting, and Singapore was a nice break from it, but I like the idea that both the seller and buyer work out a way to both be happy and both feel like they got a good deal. I bargained well for one item in particular that I cannot share because it’s my stepmom’s Christmas present (hey MP!)
- In Vietnam, though, you don’t want to shop in the beginning of the day. Many believe that the first sale of the day sets the tone for the entire day, so they aren’t willing to give as much.
- In Cambodia, it was really interesting to hear the differing viewpoints of the 2 different guides we had: one was all about the government line – “we’re a democracy, we love Americans even though they bombed us secretly so we just blame Vietnam, our king isn’t married because he used to be a monk and is very religious” and the other was all about his opinion – “we’re communist, we prefer Koreans and Chinese, our king is gay because he’s a ballet dancer and is 57 without kids.”
- What’s eerie about Cambodia is that our guide told us many, many, many of the Khmer Rouge are still around, but nobody knows who they are. They all deny it and they’ve all changed their appearance. It left me feeling uneasy.
- Siem Reap was the final malarious area that I would be in. I took my malaria meds as recommended (beginning the day before arrival) and was really hoping I wouldn’t get bit. I wore jeans the whole time there and had on long sleeves on the day we spent the most time outside. Nonetheless, I have 3 mosquito bites and will be taking the medicine through Dec 4.
- Something I take for granted at home is the ability to use the bathroom just about anywhere I go. And I know that the bathroom will be relatively clean, have toilet paper, have a toilet, and I can put the toilet paper into the toilet. Not the case in most of the world.
- At orientation, a woman who works for ISE told us “the ship will become a beacon in a sea of chaos” and I felt that so deeply when I returned from Cambodia and saw the lights of the Explorer as we turned the corner. It’s hard to describe, but it’s my home and I have a lot of affection for the ship.
- I will never tire of seeing the Buddhist monks frolicking in their orange robes: I laugh every time I see monks on a cell phone, monks on a motorbike, monks shopping. The painting I bought in Cambodia is monks with umbrellas.
- Asia is going by so quickly, we all keep forgetting where we are, where we were, what currency we’re using, what the exchange rate is, etc. I definitely bought a couple things in Vietnam with the Indian exchange rate in my head instead of the Vietnamese one. Oops.
Happy Monday!
No comments:
Post a Comment