As we boarded the busses for the ride to the Cu Chi Tunnels, I wasn’t really aware of what I was in store for. We stopped first at a huge cemetery called the graveyard of 10,000 soldiers, not too far outside of Ho Chi Minh. Only 30% of the tombs had actually bodies buried beneath them, but each one had the name of a Vietnamese soldier who died or “went missing” during the war. Towards the front of the cemetery there was a larger-than-life statue of a Vietnamese mother holding the slain body of her son, a fallen soldier.
It reminded me very much of the Pietá, and to me it communicated much of the same message.After the cemetery we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, the system of underground tunnels the Viet Cong used to undermine American military efforts throughout the country. As our guide took us through the complex we saw the camouflaged entrance holes to the tunnels, almost exactly the size of my Macbook laptop, I kid you not. One of the tiniest, skinniest girls on our tour tried to fit into the tunnel, and even she had trouble. Apparently, in order to be in the Vietnamese army during the time, men had to weight under 50kg (I think that’s under 100lbs, not sure though) and could not exceed some absurdly small height limit as well. We saw the traps the Vietnamese army laid in the ground to nab American soldiers, ones that had actually been in use during the war. One of them was a VERY well camouflaged door-type deal that when you stepped on it, you fell through and were pierced through your entire body with giant needles poking up from the ground (maybe 3ft high). That was scary, considering I thought it was the entrance and almost stepped on it (I’m an idiot), before our guide restrained me…oops. We saw all of the other weapons, traps, and tanks used in the war, what the soldiers wore (their shoes were made out of Goodyear tires), women’s involvement in the war, etc. We then reached the firing range. I had heard the guns go off multiple times during the tour, but I wasn’t really aware of the fact that firing actual AK47s from the Vietnam War was a possibility on this tour. As Jen, Kierstin and I divvied up our bullets and put on our earmuffs, my palms started to sweat a little!
When it was my turn to shoot, I grabbed the gun (I had help with how to hold it), placed the butt against my shoulder and fired. It was the strangest feeling I have ever had. I was exhilarated, but at the same time, I remembered that this was one of the actual guns used and fired during the Vietnam War, perhaps the most devastating war of the century, and I was disgusted with myself. Over 5 million people from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the United States died during the war. The United States dropped more bombs on Vietnam than all of the bombs dropped by every country in World War II combined, in one fourth of the territory. That’s something to think about. After the shooting range we actually got to crawl through the tunnels, and oh my goodness I am claustrophobic! But I went down anyway and Jen had to coach me through the 300 meters of intense hyperventilation! It was TINY DOWN THERE! You had to crouch down, nearly bent over double, and sort of shuffle through a tiny tunnel with no way out for a LONG time. And, to make matters worse for those little Vietnamese men, for whom I’m sure it was a piece of cake because they’re probably half my size anyway, the tunnels were 40% SMALLER during the war than they are now. Holy I would be dying! Here's me in the tiniest space of my life...
The next day as we visited the War Remnants Museum, I was continually astonished and horrified by all the facts, figures, personal stories, and especially the photographs displayed around the museum. The smiling, bubbly disposition that I normally have quickly changed as I walked through that museum. I honestly have never been so moved by something in my life. By the end I had tears streaming down my cheeks as I stared at the many of faces of those women, men, and children slaughtered during the war. And after reading about the effects of Agent Orange, and experiencing a population still feeling the repercussions of that horror, I was never more ashamed of the United States in my life.
As I looked at the weapons exhibit I stared at the AK47s, still remembering how it felt in my hands, and I can’t really describe how I felt. Sad, upset, sickened, doesn’t really touch on it. Just tonight we had a panel of faculty, staff, and lifelong learners who were alive during the war share their experiences with anyone interested in listening. Some were faculty members at universities, some were students, some lost friends and family in the war, some were anti-war radicals, some were an inch away from being drafted, and just one was a veteran. As he told his story, tears pouring down his face, I couldn’t help but cry myself, one more time. It was amazing listening to him speak, and knowing that I will never be able to fully understand what that generation went through makes the whole thing all the more incomprehensible.Breather.
Okay so now on to lighter topics. After the museum, Kierstin, Jess and I went to the Benh Thanh Market, the largest everything-in-the-world-you-could-ever-want market I have ever seen. You name it, they sold it. We picked out bracelets, paintings, DVDs, t-shirts, fabrics, and everything was SO CHEAP!
I think this is where everyone spent unnecessary amounts of money. We got off the boat and found out that with the exchange rate against the dong, we were millionaires two times over with 120 American dollars. The boys threw out lots of dong jokes, too. “I have lots of dong” was quite the common phrase, haha. We found a tailor that my friend Sydney had recommended close to the market, gave them the fabrics, and I had two custom-made dresses made to fit my body for $20. TWO DRESSES. That was nuts. We explored the night markets; the hawker stalls, and ate some dank Vietnamese food. I have had my fair share of noodles, steamed rice, vegetables, spring rolls, and chicken. Yum.The first night in Vietnam was very fun. All of our friends went out to a great dinner, where the Vietnamese waitress, who was the cutest thing ever, told me she thinks I look like Drew Barrymore. We tipped her well! All of our friends ended up at the same terrace club, so we had a great time.
The second night we experienced more of what Ho Chi Minh is like on a (somewhat) regular night. Apparently the police like to randomly come out to bars and clubs on Friday nights and shut them down. We stopped at 5 different places that were getting shut down by the police (meaning they either weren’t letting foreigners in, or they were forcing everybody out), before we met up with some local Vietnamese who showed us the place to go. The two Vietnamese boys, as it turns out, were actually born in the US, studied there, and came back to Vietnam to live after college. 
They were with a beautiful Brazilian girl, Izabelli, who happened to be an international model. They took us to one of their favorite local spots, Q Bar, which was verrrrrry interesting on Halloween night. But that’s another story. The favored mode of transportation in Ho Chi Minh in motorbike, so when we left, we each hopped on our own motorbike and rode back to the ship.
However, Kierstin decided she did not want to night to end there, so we all paid our drivers to take us on a tour of the city by night, which was actually awesome! We definitely got the insiders view of all the monuments and famous sites around the city.
The next morning Jess and I woke up and packed to leave for Cambodia. We flew into Phnom Penh that afternoon, and drove straight to the National Museum, full of Buddhist and Hindu artifacts. 
After the museum we boarded big boats to sail down the Mekong River at sunset. This one's along the river before the sun went down.
As the sun went down the city began to light up, and we could see the Royal Palace (where the king lives) highlighted against the city skyline. After our lazy river cruise, our guides had planned for us to stop at the Palm Tree Orphanage, opened by two Semester at Sea alum from many years ago. 
We didn’t know this at the time, but the orphans were all, in one way of another victims of the Cambodian genocide lead by the Khmer Rouge. While the Khmer Rouge was removed from power in 1979, they still operated as a resistance movement well into the 1990s, and continued their brutal massacres of the Cambodian people. Many of these kids’ parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and other relatives had been killed by the Khmer Rouge, and were taken in by the orphanage because there was no one left alive to take care of them. One of the saddest parts was the story I heard from a girl I met named Srysat, who was 18 years old and from a small village far outside of Phnom Penh. She told me that the Khmer Rouge killed both of her parents and her three older brothers. To this day she still does not know why or where their bodies are buried. Our tour guide for the Phnom Penh portion of our tour, Sakha, told me that he felt lucky that only his brother and parents had been killed because he knew many others who had lost all of their family. He felt fortunate he had escaped with “so little loss”. These stories were just astonishing.
We arrived at the orphanage with more goodies than we knew what to do with. I spent $50 at a local bookstore, which is a lot in Cambodia, on masks, party hats, coloring books, crayons, markets, paints, silly string, paper, colored pencils, balloons, books, and all sorts of other things. When we arrived you would have thought it was Christmas! They were so happy to see us, so welcoming, and so eager to play! With all the masks and party hats it looked like their own Halloween! This was the third orphanage/school experience that I have had on this trip and I am just sorry that I haven’t done more.
These kids have been through so much, much more than any of us will experience in a lifetime, and they are still so happy, so eager to learn, so grateful to have any opportunity thrown their way. They make me appreciate what I have so much more, and they have an inexplicable capacity to put a genuine smile on my face like nothing else I’ve ever really experienced.The next day we took a tour of the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda in the morning. This is where the Cambodian king comes to stay when he is in town. It is also where his coronation takes place, and other important ceremonies in Cambodia’s capital city.
The palatial complex was huge! So many different buildings, pagodas, gardens, temples, and statues – most of it covered in gold. In the Silver Pagoda, called so because the floor is made out of actual silver (each tile weighs 1kg), there was a statue of Buddha made out of pure 24 karat gold, and adorned with over 9, 584 diamonds. The largest diamond, on the Buddha’s forehead, is probably about half the size of my palm.We left the Royal Palace and drove to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The museum building was originally a school, but when the Khmer Rouge took over, the stopped all education, so the building was used as Security Prison 21 (S-21), one of the most notorious torture prisons in Cambodia. All of the torture devices used were still in place, as well as the cells where prisoners were kept in detention before being taken to the Killing Fields to be murdered. In one of the buildings pictures of all the prisoners taken there (each one had to be documented upon entering) were up on the walls and large boards on wheels.
They put 10 of these picture boards in each room, with over 100 pictures per board. There were 3 stories to the building, about 8 rooms per floor. You do the math. About 2 million Cambodians were killed during the Khmer Rouge genocide. Men, women, children, teachers, intellectuals, government officials, essential anyone they believed to impede their goals (and their families). Prisoners could be detained as little as 2 days up to 2 months before being taken to the Killing Fields to be exterminated. In the museum there were large boards on the walls detailing the hundreds of different mass graves that were found, where they were located, and how many people they found inside them. Some had over 50,000. After the museum we went straight to the actual Killing Fields, and that was pretty disturbing.
The sites where the mass graves had been weren’t even marked because there were so many. They were just giant holes in the ground covered over with grass. There was a specific tree located next to a mass grave that our guide said was used specifically to kill children. They would swing their head against the tree until they died. The women were raped and murdered, with their husbands watching, and then they cut the men’s heads off. It was pretty horrific stuff. In the center of the fields there is a large white monument that as you approach, you can see is stacked floor-to-ceiling with the skulls of many of the victims buried at the Killing Fields. Underneath the skulls is a big pile of the clothes and other personal items of the victims found at the site. There is incense burning as you enter the glass doors, flowers strewn all over the steps, and signs of peace left by the many Cambodian schoolchildren who have since come to visit. Our guide explained that for many of them these offerings are, in a way, offerings to the spirits of their parents, who may or may not have been buried there, but they have no idea. They may be staring at the skull of their mom or dad when they enter, but they will never know.
So I wouldn’t exactly say that Phnom Penh was fun, but it was certainly moving, educational, and deeply sad. After the Killing Fields we drove to the airport to take our flight to Siem Reap. We arrived at sunset and drove straight to Angkor Wat, one of the temples built by the Khmer Empire somewhere between the 9th and 15th centuries. It’s most likely the postcard someone will send you when they go to Cambodia because it’s the most famous one. The sunset was absolutely beautiful, as they have been every night on this voyage. The sky just lights up in beautiful yellows, pinks, reds, blues, greens, and oranges – it literally looks like it is on fire, it is the coolest, most beautiful thing. This is my friend Josh's picture, but it was just so awesome I had to steal it!
Oh, and here's what Angkor Wat looks like in the day...also Josh's!
We walked around the temple a little bit, which was huge, before making our way to dinner and a cultural performance. On the way out though, the COOLEST thing happened. We ran into this very tame, actually quite sweet monkey that was roaming around outside the temple. He was actually so calm that he left people pet him! I got some great pictures really up close because he literally was within arms’ reach. God, I love monkeys!Anywho, after dinner we went to the hotel before going out to experience Siem Reap by night, which we were told is the most amazing city in Cambodia by many people we had met. Two French guys we had met in Ho Chi Minh said it is one of their favorite cities in Asia. The two clubs in the city, named Angkor What? and Temple (clever, clever), were crawling with visiting foreigners.
Angkor What? was awesome, and decorated all over the walls with writing of people who had visited before. We grabbed markers and each signed our names as big as we could on the wall. My name was spray painted big as day on the staircase too, so that was pretty awesome. Anyway, Siem Reap was really, really fun and we met some cool people. We ended up a local club where we realized that Cambodians really do like to dance, hahah it was quite an interesting sight.The next morning we woke up early to visit Angkor Thom complex, the ancient city of the Khmer Empire.
We walked through the South Gate of Angkor Thom, which was ginormous, and had the four faces of Buddha carved around the sides, representing the all-seeing eye of Buddha, who sees in all four directions.
We arrived at the center of the city, where the king Jayavarman built his official state temple, Bayon. The temple is carved in high relief, with depictions of historical events, everyday life, mythological events, and over 200 faces of the bodhisattva of compassion, Lockesvara. The temple was really sweet, but the coolest part was how we got our tour. Via elephant, no big deal. It was awesome! Lots of Dumbos hanging around that joint. We got to feed them bananas which was so weird! Their trunks are honestly the most bizarre looking things I have ever seen!
Some girl thought it would be really funny if I stuck the banana in my teeth, so that it was sticking out towards the elephant, and tried to feed it that way. So naturally, I did, and without touching my mouth/facial area (ew), he grabbed it out of my mouth! Haha it was awesome! So the elephant ride was great, and the temple was pretty neat as well.
After Bayon, we went to see the Elephant Terrace, which was a big grass thing with lots of elephants carved around it…that’s about it! But the next part was SO COOL. We went to this part of the temple complex called Baphuon, which is still in the middle of the jungle, and has not yet been restored. As it turns out, this is the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed, how cool is that? Anyway, it’s a tumbling down and all the stones are loose and stuff, so it looks kind of like Legends of the Hidden Temple. Sweet. We got to climb all around in it, wherever we wanted to go, in hidden passageways, over tumbling building rocks, just all over! My friend Colby and I slightly reenacted the TV show, no big deal…I always wanted to go on it and be a Blue Barracuda…hahaha. Hm.
Alright so the Tomb Raider temple was awesome and it was built into the actual environment so that it looked liked trees were growing out of it! The roots of these hundred foot trees branched over the entire temple and they looked like snakes or vines they way they curled and wound their way around the stonework.
On the way back to the bus we sped-walked through screaming throngs of children trying to sell us their goods. Turns out “Lady, lady 3 for 1 dolla! Just 1 dolla!” is not such a good selling tactic when it looks like what you should be selling is worth about 50 cents….oh well.So we left Cambodia after two full days of intense sightseeing, educational activities, and lots of fun! We got back to Vietnam half an hour before on-ship time, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were all sad to go! Not only were Vietnam and Cambodia SO MUCH FUN, they were beautiful countries with rich cultural histories. Because of the US’s involvement in both Vietnam and Cambodia (as much as they deny entering Cambodia) during the war, I think it was especially moving for me, as an American, to experience now the repercussions of our country’s actions. For everything we did, it is astonishing to me that as a large group of Americans were warmly welcomed into both Vietnam and Cambodia with open arms and open hearts. They truly are kind, generous, and clearly forgiving people. I will definitely miss flying down the streets of Ho Chi Minh city on a motorbike, passing by seemingly endless numbers of those triangle straw rice paddy hats…but I can’t really complain, can I? Hong Kong TOMORROW!
