Back in 'Nam...

        Breaking news: Vietnam just soared to the top of my list of favorite places. It was completely unexpected. I’ll be honest. Looking at the itinerary when I signed up for SAS, I was pretty indifferent about Vietnam. I had no idea how I would spend my time. Plain and simple, I just didn’t know anything about Vietnam beyond its war history.
        I was lucky enough to have a local show me around Ho Chi Minh City on our first day in Vietnam. She was the niece of someone my mom works with. Her name is Halong and she was a godsend. Ho Chi Minh is a big city. Think NYC but replace the cars with millions of motorcycles that don’t obey traffic laws. One of the scariest/most exciting things to do is cross those streets with cars, motorcycles, and busses showing no signs of slowing down despite the fact that you are standing right in their path. As long as you maintain the same pace and have no “deer in the headlights” moments, traffic flow parts around you like the Red Sea. The second scariest/most exciting thing to do is to ride one of the motorcycles. For a dollar or two the moto will take you wherever you need to go. They give you a helmet, you hop on the back and hug the driver as you dangerously weave through the mass of other weaving motorcycles at high speed and more times than not blow through red lights or ditch the road for the sidewalk.
        It’s a crazy, lively place but it all ceases at 1am. There’s a curfew in Vietnam. Most bars and restaurants are shut down by 12 (except a few which I never figured out why).  But the night hours leading up to 12 am are some of the best. One night, I literally went barhopping from rooftop to rooftop of skyscraper hotels. The city has a great bar/club scene and the locals just love to be out. On our day with Halong, she took us to a night market. Along the way we passed a city green or park of some sort. There was a pavilion at the center where couples were learning to dance to traditional Vietnamese music. There were people lining the sidewalks selling exotic fruits, DVD’s, clothing, handbags, and other goods. Young couples parked it along the perimeter of the park, perched on their motorcycles, cuddling and observing the madness around them. According to one of our tour guides later in the week, if a guy doesn’t have a motorcycle, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. It’s imperative to the relationship for the sole reason of these night outings to the center of town.
        One of the best parts about having a local as your guide was having the chance to try real authentic Vietnamese food at non-touristy restaurants. For lunch we had Pho, some egg soup and apricot milkshakes, during which I attempted to eat my entire bowl of Pho with chopsticks. It took a while. For dinner we had Vietnamese pancakes full of mushrooms, shrimp, sprouts and other things I always just assumed I didn’t like. Our side dish was an order of snails. Despite every single thing Halong ordered being things I didn’t like, I ended up enjoying all of it, the only exception being the snails. I don’t think I will ever be eating those again. She also brought us to the coffee shop she works at, Highland’s, for a famous, iced Vietnamese traditional coffee. Best thing I’ve ever tasted. It’s so strong that they don’t give you a lot in a cup. The whole coffee-drinking experience is sadly over in a few sips.
Halong also took us to several marketplaces where I bought all of the seasons of How I Met Your Mother for $9 and a North Face jacket for $30. The prices were insanely cheap at least after you bargained them down. Speaking of insanely cheap, Vietnam is THE place for a spa day. You could just walk into any of the 5 star hotels that occur every other storefront, locate their spa and book a facial, mani/pedi, and massage for a grand total of probably around $30. You could do that and benefit from both the quality of the spa and the inexpensive services IF you are smart enough to book ahead of time. I wasn’t. Smart me thought I could just walk into the spa at my hotel at Nha Trang on the last morning we were there to get a massage, mani and pedi. Nope fully booked. Duh. I was NOT leaving Vietnam without a cheap massage. My first professional massage in my life. Eyeing me from across the street was a flashing sign saying simply “Massage.” Okay that’ll do it. My friend, being just as desperate as I, walked in, checked prices, saw $6 for a Swedish full body massage, and within 5 minutes we were face down on tables. It was definitely no hotel spa. No soothing music. The pillow I was supposed to lay my face down on looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. I could hear everything going on in the lobby throughout the massage. But it was $6. What did I expect? I walked away covered in oil and my next shower was not going to be until much later that night when we were back at the ship in Ho Chi Minh City. Next time I visit Vietnam I will definitely plan ahead and make a reservation. I got my mani/pedi at another small place down the street from “Massage.” I was their only customer at the time and neither of the girls working there spoke any English. I pointed to my hands and my feet and they got the idea. It was kind of awkward. I had one girl painting my toenails and one painting my fingernails. Because neither of us could communicate with each other, we would just smile and then they would talk in rapid Vietnamese, giggle and talk some more. It sure seemed like they were talking about me, probably about the horrendous shape of my feet and fingernails. And there I am smiling at them like a fool.
Yeah so Nha Trang. Confused when I mentioned that above? Nha Trang is the beach town I visited for the middle three days of our time in Vietnam. I had signed up for the trip before I boarded the ship because I had no idea how to spend five days in Vietnam. I am soooo glad I did because Nha Trang was amazing. It was a 45-minute flight away and so very different from the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh. It was the perfect place to just chill out, soak up some sun, shop and eat of course and visit a few Buddhist temples and big fat and happy Buddha statues. It’s basically a beach town but there are gorgeous mountains along the coast. When our flight landed at around 6am, the sun was just rising and the drive from the airport to our hotel was unreal. It was so beautiful it could have been fake. I was probably just dreaming it. The mountains were just a silhouette stretching out into the ocean that was speckled with the fishing boats that were just returning from a hopefully successful night of fishing. The rising sun made the whole scene sort of take on this yellowish-gold hue. The fog hadn’t yet burned off over the water so everything was slightly hidden, but still visible, behind a golden haze. It was breathtaking.
I ate more seafood than I knew was possible in those three days. Every lunch and dinner we were presented with plates of spring rolls, calamari, mussels, fish, etc. It was all surprisingly delicious. This seafood-hater became a seafood-lover by the end of the trip. I am a picky eater no more. That is one thing I will forever be thankful to Semester at Sea for; expanding my tastebuds.
All in all, after spending some time in Ho Chi Minh City and some time in Nha Trang combined with the stories I heard of other people’s travels to Halong Bay and Hanoi, I am committed to coming back. Every city is so different from the next. The people are so friendly. It is one of the most affordable places on earth. There is delicious food. Tons of things to do. I’ll be back, I promise.