Good morning Vietnam.

Happy Easter

On Easter Sunday, we took a tuktuk to St. Josephs in the north end of Phnom Penh. We understood three words from the service, “Hello to visitors.” The mass took place in a large hall with a simple altar and cross. The congregation remained seated on mats throughout the mass . . . . no sit, stand, kneel, sit, etc. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast. That afternoon, we ponied up $7 each to rub shoulders with the five star travelers by the pool at Hotel Cambodiana, nothing like a cool dip when it’s 104 degrees out.

Mekong Express

Our Vietnam visas were processed Monday after Easter. On Tuesday, we set out from Phnom Penh on a 3 day/2 night tour ending in Saigon, Vietnam. The tour went something like this:

PHNOM PENH - small bus – big bus – boat – border crossing – boat – scooter – sleep – scooter – boat – big bus – tuktuk – boat – sleep – scooter – small bus – boat – big bus – ferry – big bus – SAIGON

I’m sure I forgot a couple modes of transportation. Anyway, the tour was 2 parts fun, 1 part frustrating. To describe it as “organized chaos” would be generous. To focus on the fun . . . It was very interesting cruising down the Mekong and several of its infinite number of tributaries . . . misty jungles, water buffalos, small villages, just like you’d imagine. The highlight of our trip was the homestay we did our second night in the outskirts of Can Tho. We took a boat from the town out to the country where we met up with Fon and his family. Their home was surrounded by rice paddies and mango and banana plantations. During the afternoon, Fon and I caught small perch-looking fish from a pond on their property . . . worms and cane poles, Huck Finn style. Megan relaxed in a hammock with a good book. That afternoon, Khan (Fon’s cousin) took us for a tour through the surrounding fields and village. Khan was a super guy . . . he hoped to become engaged next month to his sweetheart of 13 years, who he’s continued a long-distance relationship with since meeting at a summer camp in high school. They meet once a year on average. That’s patience. The other thing we found very interesting about Khan was his overwhelming support of Jon McCain (he carries a picture of him around). He was very hopeful that McCain’s experience in Vietnam may translate to the continued growth of US-Vietnam relations. For dinner, Fon’s mother laid out quite the spread . . . soups, stir fries, my fish, green beans, rice, rice crackers. We ate and ate and ate while enjoying the bottle of wine we picked at Cambodia’s only winery. The other highlight of the trip was meeting Aaron and Sally, our new friends from Australia. It was fun having another couple to laugh with at both the good and bad of the tour. We spent several enjoyable evenings with the friendly couple after arriving in Saigon.

Pass on Twister Spacebowl

Alright, we made it to Saigon. What should we do . . . Markets? Museums? Palaces? Who needs culture when you’ve got a waterpark? That’s right. We hit the Dam Sen Waterpark. It was awesome. I haven’t been to a waterpark since Wild River Country in Little Rock when I was in junior high. So Friday at the waterpark . . . It was Megan, me, and a thousand bonkers kids on school field trips. We rode the slides all day. Our favorite was “Black Thunder”, a tunnel slide which launched the two of us screaming through the dark on a figure eight inner tube before flying into a pool. Our nemesis was “Twister Spacebowl”, which hurled us down a long straight-shot into a gigantic enclosed cone where we spun and tumbled around until gravity eventually won, dumping us into another pool. This ride was responsible for a majority of the aches and pains that we’re still feeling 4 days later. The day was a blast.

Jesus meets Vegas

This last Sunday, we headed down to Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Saigon’s historic district for the 9:30 mass. The church was built in 18something-or-other. It’s big and beautiful, a classic cathedral. However, once inside, you quickly notice a little twist . . . . neon lights adorn just about every religious monument and statue. Behind the altar, a life-sized statue of Mary is lined with light blue neon. Underneath, a half moon and star in white neon frames the words “Ave Maria”, also in neon. Above Mary, you’ll find the crucifix, tastefully lined with neon. This is not uncommon. In fact, Notre Dame is quite subtle compared to other churches in the city, which cannot be differentiated from the city’s many Karaoke bars at a distance. Hundreds of meters of neon line the outside of some churches.

Cu Chi Tunnels

Yesterday, we jumped on a bus for the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels. At 12:00, we witnessed a Cao Dai mass, whose unique religion is a blend of Jesus, Vishnu, and Victor Hugo worship. It was weird, really weird . . . to us. Afterwards, we went to Cu Chi Tunnels, located about 60 kilometers from the heart of Saigon. The Viet Cong controlled tunnels served as protection and ambush grounds for the US and South Vietnamese forces during the “American War”. It was an enlightening experience . . . pretty unthinkable that our troops went crawling through these incredibly cramped, dark, hot, stuffy tunnels in search of whatever was hiding in the darkness. Our guide was an older gentleman who served in the South Vietnamese army as an interpreter for the US Army. After the war, he was put through two and a half years of “reeducation” by the new Communist government. The time we’ve spent in Saigon, which has included visits to the tunnels, “Reunification” Palace, and War Remnants Museum, has been extremely educational as our knowledge of the Vietnam War was minimal. Their take on the American involvement/motives is interesting.

I did take the opportunity to shoot an AK-47 at the shooting range in the tunnel complex . . . no ducks involved. 5 rounds for $7. It was cool.

Communism meets capitalism . . .

Vietnam is quite a blend of two worlds, communism and capitalism. The communist government is most evident through its control of the media. Antennas shoot up everywhere to pick up the government run public television. If you’re wealthy, you can pay $4/month for cable TV, which buys you some outside channels like BBC and CNN. However, the government is free to censor it as well. While at our homestay, we awoke at 4:30 am to public announcements over loudspeakers sprinkled throughout the countryside. Over breakfast, Fon told us it was the standard government news and propaganda. In other ways, things seem extremely modern and capitalist. Privately owned businesses compete fiercely. Life in the city appears no different than life in most other major Western cities.

So far, we are very impressed with Vietnam. The countryside is beautiful. Saigon is very modern, clean, well landscaped, efficient, and fun. The French influence is evident in the tree-lined streets and tasty baguettes. We’re looking forward to what lies to the north. From here, we’re heading to Dalat in the mountains, then onto Mui Ne by the sea.

Things are great.

One note on pictures: I cannot seem to get pictures uploaded onto the blog, not sure why, just doesn’t seem to happen. We’re going to throw everything in an on-line album on one of the photo webpages today. We’ll attach the link to the blog afterwards.