Part One of My Asian Adventures

Sorry it has taken me so long to write on this!!!! We only had 3 days at sea between Vietnam and China, and I was very busy so it was hard to take some time to update you all! So here is what happened while I was in Vietnam and China….

November 3- November 7
Port #7
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Day 1: We arrive in Ho Chi Minh City! Our port was right downtown so it was nice to be in an actual city again. It was super crowded and super hot and humid, but still a good time just like all the other places. I was told by older friends who have been on SAS that they had dresses made and the guys had suits made and they actually turn out pretty well. So right when we got off the boat, a few girls and I went to a shop to pick out fabric and get measured to have dresses made. It ended up taking a while, but then after that we just kind of wandered through the city checking out a few shops. That night a large group of us went to the top of the Rex Hotel for dinner which was very cool because you could see all of Ho Chi Minh City from the top. We met up with a bunch of other kids from SAS later on and all went out together that night.

Day 2: I had my first motorbike ride! They literally have motorbikes EVERYWHERE (much more common than cars) and a lot of them serve as taxis. You just flag one over, hop on back, the guys gives you a helmet, and then off you go! I might have had a minor panic attack the first time because the traffic is so crazy but once you got used to it they were pretty fun. I don’t think I took one normal taxi for the rest of the week ha. I went to the Ben Than Market (rated as one of the top ten things to do in Vietnam) where I spent the day yet again bargaining. After all these markets in so many countries I think I’m going to have a hard time shopping in the US where I actually have to pay what the price tag says ha. But this market was huge and they literally had anything that you could think of. Later that night I went out to dinner with a few girls because one of my friends’ stepmom was in town. So she treated us to a good dinner which was really nice. We ate at the top of a hotel which has been around for a very long time and it was used by a lot of American journalists during the Vietnam War because it’s a very tall building so they could watch everything that was happening. So that was pretty cool to be there. (By the way, did you know they call it the American War here? Pretty interesting.) After we left dinner (with lots of People and US magazines from America which Brittany’s stepmom brought for us…) we met up with more people and went to a few bars in the area.

Day 3: I was on a SAS trip all day which took me to the Cao Dai Temple and then to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cao Dai religion is a blend of many religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and a few more. They take a lot of the main principles from each religion and combine them. The tower looked like something that belonged in Disney World. It had so many crazy colors and decorations, definitely something new for me to see as far as religious institutions go. Then we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels which were used during the war by the Vietcong. They’re super tiny tunnels that run underground, it is estimated that they run for about 200 miles. We went inside them and crawled around, and if you were claustrophobic this would have been a big problem ha. We also saw some of the “traps” that the Vietcong used. Seeing all these things gave me much better insight as to how tricky the whole Guerilla Warfare aspect of the war was. Later on I went out to dinner with a group of people to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant… the spring rolls there, oh my gosh, heaven. (Leave it to me to tell you about the food.)

Day 4: I had another SAS trip where we went to the Mekong Delta. We were taken on a boat ride through it and then we stopped at a farmer’s house where they showed us how necessary the Delta is to most of Asia for its water supply. We also went to a candy factory type place along the Delta where they’re known for the coconut candy they make. Seeing as how I am obsessed with coconut, I was pretty excited. Don’t worry; I bought a few boxes to bring back home. Then we had lunch along the Delta. Everything was amazing, probably the best foreign meal I’ve had on this trip yet. Pho soup (which Vietnam is known for) spring rolls, some weird fish that I had never heard of ha, and all sorts of crazy fruit that I had never heard of either. We then made the trip back to the ship and got ready for our last night out in Vietnam.

Day 5: I went into downtown Ho Chi Minh City again where we wandered through some shops and utilized the free wifi internet at the Rex hotel for a little bit. Then the group who had dresses made went back to the shop to pick them up. They all turned out pretty well actually, which I was surprised by. We then went to lunch at a place called Lemon Grass that was recommended to me by friends from last year. If you are ever in Ho Chi Ming City, this is a place that you MUST go to. From there we went back to the ship, cleaned ourselves up, and headed to a bar with friends to end our time in Vietnam. We had to be back on the ship by 9pm, and then the boat left very early the next morning.

OFF TO CHINA!

November 11- November 16
Port #8
Hong Kong (plus Beijing and Shanghai), China

Day 1: I have been told how amazing the Hong Kong skyline is from my teachers this entire trip, so I woke up early enough to watch us pull into port as the sun was rising. My teachers did not let me down, it was an incredible skyline. I thought Ho Chi Minh was a modern big city… but Hong Kong but that to shame ha. If you sort of ignored the massive Chinese symbols on all the buildings, you would have thought you were in downtown Chicago or New York. Right away after getting off the ship, I took a ferry ride to Macao which is a small island right off of Hong Kong. It’s known as the “Vegas” of Asia and the 10th tallest building in the world is there, the Macao Tower. The Macao Tower is also home to the highest bungee jump IN THE WORLD. So, bungee jumping I went! From the point where I jumped to the ground was 760 feet. It was quite possibly the craziest but coolest thing I have ever done. There were so many of us that went and by the time it was my turn to go it had turned to nighttime so I went jumping when it was pitch black out except for all the casino lights below me. It was amaazzzinnnggg… way too impossible to even describe. Don’t worry, I have a video and plenty of pictures to show you all. By the time we got back to the ship we had to hurry and get ready and meet everyone else on the infamous “LKF Street.” It’s known for having a good nightlife, so all of my friends and I went. It lived up to its reputation to say the least.

Day 2: I spent the day walking around Hong Kong. The shopping there was crazy. Every other store was some high end designer place like Louis Vuitton or Gucci. It was insane. (No worries Mom and Dad, I stuck to H & M) Oh. And FINALLY- Starbucks! First time I’ve been to one since we left America! That made us all very excited. Later that day we had an hour train ride to another part of Hong Kong where we had a hotel for the night. We had an early morning flight the next day and wanted to be closer to the airport so we were guaranteed to make our flight and everything. We had dinner inside the hotel and just kind of took it easy for the rest of the night.

Day 3: Made our flight to Beijing! It was about a 3 hour flight, and once we got there we went straight to our hotel to drop off our things and then headed into town. I was with a group of 16 kids, all from USD. After we checked in, we headed out to see Tian’anmen Square. Oh by the way, I forgot to mention. IT WAS FREEZING. This was the first cold spot we’ve had on our entire trip. It was like 20 degrees and there was snow on the ground, so that was quite the shock for us all. Good thing I packed well. Anyways, it was very cool to be at the Square and see it after knowing how much history it has.

Day 4: We woke up early and had rented a driver/van for the day that took us all to the Great Wall of China. It was about an hour away from out hotel. Seeing the wall was such a cool thing because it’s one of those things you always hear about, but I never really expected to be climbing it. Still freezing, but definitely worth it. After leaving the wall, we went to see some of the structures from the Olympics. We saw the Birds Nest (where the opening and closing ceremonies took place) and the Aqua Cube (where Michael Phelps owed everyone else…) it was so strange to be standing there because it’s such a large part of history. That night we had a group dinner with everyone and just relaxed in the hotel and tried to defrost ourselves.

Day 5: Another flight, this time to Shanghai. (The boat was traveling from Hong Kong to Shanghai while we were spending time in Beijing.) Another very cool city with a great skyline along the water. It was raining and cloudy which was a bummer, but it was a warmer than Beijing so that was a plus. We hit up some more markets after we dropped our bags off at the ship. Then we got ready and went out for a nice dinner to celebrate my friend’s 21st birthday. While the Chinese food had all been very good, it was nice to switch it up and go to a normal steak/seafood place ha. I was with a group of about 20 people at dinner, and afterwards we headed to a club where we were told everyone else would be at. We had a very fun time, and I think it’s fair for me to say that Kelsey had a very birthday.

Day 6: Initially, our ship was supposed to leave today at about 6pm… but because of some bad weather, we gained another night in Shanghai! A few girls and I went out, stopping at Starbucks first of course, to a mall and wandered around Shanghai since we didn’t get to see too much the previous day. It rained the entire time we were out, but we managed. We stopped at a really good place for lunch and went to a mall that was super nice. Then we went back to the ship and got ready for our last night out in China. We went to another area of the city that I hadn’t been to yet so it was neat to see another section of it. We had a great night, and then the ship left the following morning.

So now here I am! We’re heading to Japan and will arrive in 2 days. I can’t believe how fast this is going by, after Japan we go to Hawaii which means AMERICA. It’s all flying by, but I have loved every single second of it. (Minus the terrible rocky, rough water that we are experiencing right now. We’re back in 20 to 30 foot waves… not fun.) I’m sad I won’t be home for Thanksgiving for the first time ever, so I will be thinking of everyone a lot during that time. Hope it’s a good one though! I’ll be sure to update you on Japan as soon as I get back… I promise! Miss you all very much.

Love,
Alex