SEMESTER AT SEA: SPRING 2012VIETNAM

Hello everyone!

This week, we were in Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia near China, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It is also the country that the United States fought in the 1960’s. While in Vietnam, I learned a lot about the food, the culture, and the Vietnamese perspective of the war. I received your questions, and I look forward to answering them soon!

When departing from the ship, we were greeted by these lovely Vietnamese ladies as well as many other family members and locals. The hats that they are wearing are very common in Vietnam and they are usually worn when working in the rice paddies, which are all over Vietnam!

This is from the Cu Chi tunnels, which were built during the American War (referred to in Vietnam) and was used by the guerilla fighters to hide, build weapons, and support families and to get around undetected. I was able to crawl around one of the tunnels used and it was only big enough to crawl in. Over 2,000 people lived in these tunnels! Could you imagine living like this? Visiting the tunnels and other war museums in Ha Noi made me very sad, but I am glad that was able to see everything.

This was one of the many traps that the Vietnamese built to stop enemy soldiers. There were over a dozen different types of traps, snares, and other methods that they used.

‘

Here is one of the many rice fields located in Vietnam. Like many Asian countries, rice is one of the staple crops in the people’s diet. Look forward to eating a lot of rice if you visit Asia. There are many other options though, so don’t worry!

This is from Ha Long Bay, an absolutely beautiful area with plenty of mountains, islands and crystal blue water. However, there has been a lot of pollution lately and you can easily see trash in the water.

We have been moving quickly from country to country and I will be in China in a few hours!

Bye!

-Eric H