Taking the Leap

I entered Vietnam initially through the land boarder at Moc Bai – Bavet from Cambodia into Ho Chi Minh.

I spent the previous 2 weeks at the Rural Teaching Organization in Bakong village. I loved staying with Phoeury, Sidao and their amazing family. Teaching English to the local 10 to 15 year old children was a big reward in itself. I taught prepositions, phonetics, this/that, these/those. have/ haven’t got, adverbs and past perfect tense. I taught past present. The struggle is, Khmer doesn’t have a similar alphabet. The words don’t have spaces. They don’t have pleurals in the sense that we do. It’s a beautiful language and to see them write it out is amazing.

The two weeks here was amongst the most rewarding of my life. The kids are happy and village life is simple. When it was time to go, I felt sad but ready. I learned that I am no longer the “city boy” I once thought that I was.

I left on a night bus on 3/8 after watching the sun set with Corey over the Angkor Wat ruins. I felt peace and closure. Boarding the night bus for the 13 hour ride from Siem Reap to Phenom Phen, and across the land boarder to Ho Chi Minh was surprisingly easy. I slept well and arrived in Vietnam watching the locals start their morning out of the crows nest of my sleeper bus seat.

I got to my hostel at the Rooftiles for a $6/night bunk, got some rest and hit the streets. First goal- Pho. Second goal was the War Remnants Museum. This was the reason for my arrival in Ho Chi Minh and man it was heavy in the most sincere way to see the carnage. The US putting good money after bad and continuing to throw men’s lives into the jungle of Vietnam where the objective was as unclear as the enemy. The part that hit me the hardest was the gallery of War Photographers. Many of whose camera were recovered off of their bodies, as they payed the ultimate sacrifice for their documentation of the reality of war.

It’s hard to believe that only 50 years ago, this country was war torn and divided in a way that is seemingly unrecogonozabke now. It made me feel apologetic for my countries objectively bad action. I can clearly and with empathy, see how the US involvement in this war was led by fear and anxiety. A preoccupation with a future world that was imagined to be more unsafe and unstable, if communism was allowed to flourish. It reminds me of the quote by Mark Twain- “My life has been full of terrible misfortune, most of which has never happened”.

The Vietnamese culture of independence and pride has been a theme during my entire visit. Everywhere i look, the streets were lined with the solitary white on red star of Vietnamese flag. For what it’s worth i really enjoyed Ho Chi Minh. I even attempted a morning run along the riverside, although my course was complicated greatly by the notorious early morning motorbike traffic.

In Ho Chi Minh, I took an egg coffee class. Robusta coffee, 3 egg yolks and some condensed milk is a hell of a way to drink coffee. Sweet and more caffeinated than any coffee I’ve ever had.

I saw the reunification palace which was bombed in 1975 by the north Vietnamese. That served as a nail in the coffin which officially led to southern surrender.

Later that night, I even attended a street food tour in order to make some sense of the highly acclaimed food scene. I joined fellow travelers on the back of a motorbike as we tried: Michelin rated Bo Kho (beef stew), Chuỗi Nep Nuong (banana coated with rice pastry, grilled and served with cream. So many other delicious street dishes. We even stopped by the monument of Thích Quang Đức. The Buddhist monk who gave the ultimate demonstration of impermanence in middle of a Ho China Minh intersection. In 1963, when the South Vietnamese placed a ban on Buddhism, in favor of a Christian state, he protested oppression with fire. He lit himself on fire a demonstration of the futile violence that had begotten the country.

It struck me that this is a country where big, costly actions have shifted politics, legitimacy and public opinion. I drew a similarity between the Tet offensive of the north Vietnamese, which cost lives, but spoke loudly and Tich Quang Ducs lethal demonstration. There were not outright wins by any case, but they shifted the narrative.

Two very exciting and packed days. I made a plan to take the first train from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang. I woke up early on the 11th and walked to my 6am train. I was able to upgrade my seat for only 200,000 dong ($7) and locked down a sleeper cabin all to myself. This is where I planned out the next few days. I would arrive in Nha Trang and rent a bike for the Nha Trang, Phan Rang and Da Lat loop. Everything was running smoothly and I felt like I was on top of the world!