Underground tunnels, guns, & more

Journal #31 March 23, 2009

Today me and my sisters woke up early and headed to the ship. We were on an SAS trip and were headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels are historical because during the Viet Nam War some Vietnamese people built tunnels under ground to hide from the troops. The bus ride was about 2 hours, I slept for a lot of it, and when we got there we were first encountered with a hiding spot. It was literally a hole that was 1 foot by 1 foot for the people to slide into when US troops were coming. I can not even begin to tell you how small it was.

We then got to see some traps that were used to catch soldiers. They were pretty creative. We got to see the sleeping area, the dinning area, and the cooking and meeting areas. We also were able to shoot an AK 47!!! That was really cool but we were not given any ear plugs so most of us were deaf for the next couple of hours.

Then we made it to the tunnels. The tunnels were not as small as I expected, we were actually able to have our legs straight but still hunched over. I can not even imagine living in these though. The Viet Nam people really were smart when preparing for war.

When we left the Cu Chi tunnels we went to a place where handicapped people make souvenirs. I did not buy anything because it was expensive but it was still cool to see how stuff was made and how much work was put into it. After the tunnels we went to the hotel and decided to plan out our next couple of days. We had a couple of choices, we could stay in the Ho Chi Min City, we could go to Ha Noi, which would cost of $400 each, or we could go to a beach about 4 hours away in Mui Ne. We talked to our concierge for about an hour and made our decision. Tomorrow we were going to go to Mui Ne and spend the night at Victoria Beach Resort. We signed all the papers and got ready to go out. I had not been to any markets in Viet Nam yet so I was desperate to go. We went to the night markets which were really cool. I got some souvenirs and was able to show Lisa and Wendy how to bargain!! I love to bargain :) We then went back to the hotel to pack and get some rest for the next day.

Family in Vietnam!

Journal #30 March 22, 2009

Well today was great!!!! I got to Viet Nam and I had a some people waiting for me :) LISA AND WENDY CAME TO VISIT ME!!!!! I woke up around 5 and watched the ship come into the river. The water was a little dirty looking and there were leaves everywhere. But the view was still amazing. Fishing boats were everywhere heading out to the ocean in hopes of catching some fish.

When we got to the port I ran straight to the port side and looked for my sisters.
Sadly since we had gotten there a little early none of the parents were there. I waited for about 5 min and then I saw a taxi drive up and guess who got out, my sisters :)!!!!!!!!!! I was jumping up and down and so were they. Of course I started crying and screaming. They made signs for me so that made me really happy.

The only thing that I was worried about was are they going to be allowed on the ship?? The port gate for Viet Nam is very strict on who can get through the gate and who can not. When the parents group started going through I was getting a little nervous. Of course they did not let Lisa and Wendy though :( so that was upsetting.

I had about an hour until I could get off the ship so we talked from a distance for a while. I went to my diplomatic meeting and when it was over I ran to get my passport and I was the first person off the ship!!!! Finally touching my sisters was absolutely awesome, I was just so happy to have family with me all the way across the world.

We went to the hotel, which was awesome, and rested for a little bit, I was tired from waking up so early and the girls were still a little jet lagged.

For lunch we went to a restaurant called “13” and it was really good. We got some spring rolls and rice with pork. My favorite were the spring rolls. After lunch we got in a taxi and headed to the War Remnants Museum. This museum explains the Viet Nam war, has a bunch of pictures, and even has a mock prison. I was surprised at how the museum portrayed some stuff. It seamed very biased. It was a really good experience to go through and I learned a lot of the war that I did not already know. I really enjoyed learning about “agent orange.” This was a chemical that the US used that made people have defects. The pictures were pretty detailed.

Then we walked around for about an hour and we stopped at a park. The park was pretty cool because it was filled with Vietnamese people. They were practicing Ti Chi, playing bad mitten, and just enjoying the beautiful day. Then we left for the hotel to rest up before dinner. For dinner we went to a restaurant at the top of the Rex Hotel. This bar was a place where American soldiers came during the war to hang out and get some drinks. The food was really good and the atmosphere was amazing. It was just so cool sitting there thinking that this is where some of my fellow Americans hung out about 40 years ago. Pretty cool.

When we got to the hotel we decided to go for a swim in the pool in the top of the hotel, 21 stories high. It was great being able to look over the city and relax in the pool. At around 11 that night I was able to get on Wendy’s computer and skype with my parents and brothers family at home. This was great!!! I got to see Lily and Lyla and see how big they have gotten. It was quite an experience watching my dad try and figure out skype. It was also an experience seeing how goofy my family is. They had a little too much fun with skype.

After a long day of seeing my family and being able to talk to some of them I was pleased. They only thing that would of made the day 100 times better was if my parents had come to Viet Nam, but it was still great to see them on the computer.

Love
Michelle

Concerts in Thailand

Journal #29 March 19, 2009

Well today is my last day in Thailand. Meghan and I woke up around 8 got ready, packed, made some phone calls home and headed off to the mall where we were going to be picked up by the bus. We had about 2 hours at the mall so we did some shopping!!! I was able to get some dresses. When we were about to leave we noticed that there was a concert going on. This was really cool, it was a Thailand rock/pop band. They were actually pretty good. We stayed there for about 3 songs and really enjoyed the cultural experience. There was about 50 people there that were about the same age as us. Most of them were boys. We left the mall and had about a 3 hour drive back to the ship. We had to get on the ship immediately because the ship was about to leave for Viet Nam. All in all Thailand was such an awesome place!! I really enjoyed my stay. I think my favorite part was being able to spend St. Patty’s day in Thailand with my friends. That was a lot of fun. I also enjoyed riding elephants and feeding them.

Love
Michelle

More Massages & Good Food in Bangkok!

Journal #28 March 18, 2009

So on our second day in Bangkok we decided to do some site seeing. We got up around 9 and headed to the Royal Palace. It was about a 15 min drive. When we got there we paid for out tickets and headed in. The Palace was enormous. The main thing that we wanted to see in the Palace was the Emerald Buddha. When we got to the place where it was, we had to take off our shoes and not allow our feet point towards Buddha. We were also not allowed to take pictures inside the building. Of course we wanted to remember this moment, so we secretively took pictures. But Doug was not so successful hahah, he got all his pictures deleted from his camera :(

When we left the palace we went to get some lunch. We went to a little hole in the wall restaurant which was pretty cool. We got some spring rolls and rice with pork. Very good food. After lunch me and Meghan headed back towards the hotel to get another massage. We got another 2 hour massage from the same lady. It was again another awesome massage but this time she really stretched my body.

We then went to dinner at the mall down the street. The restaurant was a type of place where you cook the food in front of you. You place the food in a pot and let it boil. We got beef, shrimp, and crab. DELICIOUS!!! Then we got a bottle of wine, and tub of ice cream and took it back to the hotel. Before we got ready for bed we went out to some of the markets on the streets. This was probably the coolest part because we were able to experience the culture of Thailand. There were tattoo parlors every so often and piercing parlors. It was kind of a thrilling thought to get a tattoo in Thailand but I would never do that. When we got back to the hotel we ate our ice cream, drank our wine, which by the way was disgusting, and watched a movie. We were exhausted from the days events.

Love
Michelle

St. Pattys Day in Bangkok!!

Journal #27 March 17, 2009

This morning I woke up at 7 and got ready for my bus ride to Bangkok. Meghan, Doug and I were headed there for the next 3 days. The bus ride was about a 2 hour drive. When we arrived we got to a mall that was huge!!! I have never been to a mall so big. We shopped for about an hour and then headed to our hotel. Our hotel was about 15 min away.

When we arrived at The Elegance Suites I saw how cool of a place it was. It was right in the middle of a little city. The streets were filled with shops and homes. We settled in and went to lunch. We went to a street vender that was right across the street from our hotel. It was really good, I got chicken and noodles. Let me tell you how much I love Thai food!!! And actually this is the first time in a while that I have not gotten sick from the food!!!!

After lunch all three of us went and got a Thai massage. We all were in the same room as we got massages. I absolutely loved it. It was 2 hours long and they stretched us and put our bodies in weird configurations to stretch us. I have never been so relaxed in my entire life, and the best thing about it was that it was only $12.

After the massage we walked to the mall and looked around for a little while. When we got back to the hotel we got ready for our night out on the town. It was St. Patty’s day so we decided to go to an Irish pub. We heard that a bunch of people were going to a place called Orilies. Getting to the pub was quite an experience. We first rode a train to the center area, then we walked for about 2 miles trying to find the spot. When we got tired we got in a taxi and he took us somewhere else, Orilies is supposedly not a very popular place because no one knew where it was. After about an hour of looking we gave up and went to Molly Malone’s which is also an Irish Pub. We sat at a table with two other couples. They were probably in their early thirties. We ordered our food and drinks and relaxed by listening to the music and watching rugby. When our food came I was overwhelmed by my huge hoagie!!! I was not able to eat half of it but it was still delicious.

The guy that was sitting next to me was Paul. I asked him if he knew where Orilies was and that started up our fun conversation. Come to find out he is Irish and lived in Northern Virginia for about 8 years. We even were able to show each other our drivers license to see the differences. He now owns a plumbing company in Thailand and actually works for the restaurant we were eating at. He was a really nice guy and bought us all about 3 drinks. He was funny because every time he would buy us a beer or mixed drink he would secretly tell the waiter to bring us a shot. The first shot was gross, it is an Irish tradition and we have to take the shot, that has coffee beans in it, and chew the beans at the end and “aaarrrgggg” at the same time, hahha quite comical. Paul talked to us for a long time about how men should be the head of the house. He had some good points but I did not agree with everything he said.

When we left Molly’s we walked around the corner and there was Orilies!! We were sooo close. So we decided to go in there for a little while. I was able to get my green beer, and meet some more cool people. When we left we got in a tuk tuk and headed for the Dome. This is place on the top of a hotel that overlooks all of Bangkok. The view was absolutely stunning!!! I could not take my eyes off of all the lights of the city. It truly was beautiful. My first day in Bangkok was fabulous. I really enjoyed everything about it and can not wait for the next days to come.

Love
Michelle

Zoo in Thailand

Journal #26 March 16, 2009

Today I was able to sleep in because I had a trip planned at 12 to go to a tiger zoo. I got lunch on the ship and got on the bus to go. Me and Meghan had decided to go on the trip together. There was a gigantic sign at the front of the entrance that was absolutely gorgeous. Big stone rocks and fake tigers.

The first thing that we saw was the tiger show. I was a little disappointed about this show. The tigers were sooo scared of the instructors and they flinched when they would get close. It was really close to animal cruelty. I thought the zoo was going to be more of an animal sanctuary but no it was more like a circus. I left the show early and decided to go feed baby tigers. They were so little and very cute. I got to hold the tiger and feed it milk. The tigers were very soft. That was probably my favorite part of the day. We then went to an elephant show that was very similar to the one that I went to the day before.

Next we went to a crocodile show. This was very different from the ones that are at home. They would stick their heads in the croc’s mouths and hold it there for a couple of seconds.

We then had about an hour to walk around on our own. Me and Meghan ate crocodile. It was sooo good!!!! It was very tough, but a really good meat. We then went to see the scorpion queen, chimpanzees, rabbits, camels, and many other animals.

After the zoo we headed to a place called “The Mini Siam.” This is a place that has miniature world wide monuments and structures. They only had two things from the US, the statue of liberty and mt. Rushmore.

Right before we left Meghan and I went to the markets that were right beside Siam. There was miles and miles of tables with food on them. I got the best piece of corn that I have ever tasted in my life. I also got some really good chicken and corn. The markets were really cool because there were so many people in there trying to sell their food. When we got back to the ship we got ready for our next couple of days in Bangkok.

Love
Michelle

Elephants playing basketball?!

Journal #25 March 15, 2009

Sorry I have not written in a while, I have been writing my journals but have not even had the time to send them. I am just none stop right now but I am having the time of my life while doing it.

So today we arrived in Thailand. I was not quite sure of what to expect. As I looked out of the ship all I could see was miles and miles of industrial port. It was not very pretty. The ship was cleared around 10am. As I got off the ship I knew that I had a trip at 1pm. I was going to an elephant village in Pattaya. There were a couple shops right off the boat so I decided to go look at them. The shops were filled with souvenirs and clothing. The women that were working at the stores were so pretty and nice. I decided to not go out on the town because I did not want to be late for my trip. So I spent the morning on the ship.

The elephant village was so much fun!!! When we first got there we were able to buy bananas to feed to the elephants. I was really excited. The elephants were sooo big and there were probably about 15 all on a line. I was able to feed the elephants and they were gross :( they slobbered all over my hand. But it was still cool.

Then we all sat down and he talked to us for about 10 min. then he said that he needed 10 people to come to the front. Of course I ran up there. So I was picked to ride the elephant and take a bath with it. I climbed onto the elephant and the guy who was riding with me was named wii. We walked for about half a mile and then the elephant walked into the water, with me on top of him, and dunked me in the water!!! I got wet but I did not get soaked. That was really cool. It was hard sitting on the elephant. It felt like I was going to fall off every now and then, but wii kept me safe.

After that everyone had a chance to ride the elephants and feed them. We then were seated and listened to a guy talk to us about the elephants. He told us many facts about elephants; such as, if u take a rope and wrap it around the elephants foot that will give you the length from the ground to the elephants shoulder, that the guy elephants have 5 legs ;) and that elephants are pregnant for about 21-22 months.

Then we were introduced to an elephant that used to be in the Thailand circus and could do a number of tricks. She found coins on the ground, ate a certain number of bananas from the ground and also played basketball. The cool thing was that I was picked from the crowd to play defense against the elephant. I stood underneath the hoop and waited for the elephant to come. She charged me from about 200 ft away and then stopped right before me. She then got on her back two feet and made the basket!!! That was pretty cool and a little scary.

When we left the village we headed back to the ship and me and a group of students went to the mall near our ship. Me and Meghan did some shopping and got some ice cream. The mall was very similar to America’s malls. One thing that I did notice was how fashionable the people of Thailand are. The clothes are very stylish. My first day in Thailand was really good. I love the scenery and the people are so friendly.