Liz came to Vietnam!
After that it was time to say farewell to Saigon! We hopped on the beach and headed to Vung Tau, for exploring the beach and climbing giant Jesus, and chilling with Jess.
Posts on Hanoi and Ha Long Bay to follow!
My wonderful girlfriend flew all the way from France to come visit me in Vietnam, and look at all the stuff we did together!
Liz, upon arrival in Vietnam
First was Bến Tre, where Liz and I ate homemade bánh xèo at Co Trang's house, took a Mekong riverboat cruise, and played a lot of soccer. We took a taxi to My Tho to have lunch with Lindsay, and she met almost all of my teachers and friends. She also got to sit in on my classes, and helped me teach! After three days of Ben Tre we ended with a relaxing evening at the rooftop café of Ham Luong Hotel.
Her first coconut in Bến Tre!
The Oscars were on live at Co Trang's house during lunch. It was a pretty weird experience
Co Trang's grandfather picked us fresh fruit from the orchard
Waiting for our motorbikes to cross the bridge
Liz playing soccer
At dinner
Chilling on the Mekong
Getting chè with Ms. Y and Mr. Luan
Mekong boat cruise!
We took a lot of pictures
Going through the canal
Serenity
Bamboo hats!
Chilling on the monkey bridge
Liz came to English Club!
All my students wanted to take pictures with her
One of my students made the small embroidered flower she is wearing in her hair
At my favorite phở place in all of Bến Tre, maybe all of Vietnam.
Next we went to Saigon, where we were re-introduced to the chaos of the city. Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum. Then we got dinner at the market, and capped off the evening at the rooftop bar of the Sheraton.
Liz tries to fly
Outside the War Remnants Museum
Picture states: "child abandoned after parents flee approaching ARVN forces"
The chaos of the night market
View from the top of the Sheraton
Liz at the rooftop bar
Both of us at the top of the Sheraton
The next day we went to see the Jade Emperor Pagoda and the History Museum, both beautiful buildings that I hadn’t got to explore yet. We met up with Quan for dinner, than wandered the park near Notre Dame of Saigon.
Entrance to the Jade Emperor Pagoda
Lots of turtles in the pool outside the pagoda
Buddha in the pagoda
One of the Jade Emperor's guardians, having just triumphed over the white tiger
The Jade Emperor himself
Liz with sugarcane juice, her new favorite drink
The History Museum
Inside the History Museum
Cannons on display
Children playing in the park
The backside of Notre Dame of Saigon
Notre Dame of Saigon at night
Then it was on to the Cu Chi Tunnels and Reunification Palace, finishing our time in Saigon with a solid tour of some Vietnam War history.
Welcome back to Cu Chi
At the firing range
Liz took a turn
All the bullets shot by tourists
Entering the tunnels
In the tunnels
Definitely not Jefferson-sized.
Ordering sugarcane juice across the street
The entrance to Reunification Palace
Reunification Palace is the former presidential residence and office of the president of South Vietnam (officially the Republic of Vietnam). It's an eerie feeling walking the halls of this gorgeous 60's era construction. The rooms are still polished and well-maintained, the lights clean and glistening, the fans humming silently. The halls echo with the sounds of footsteps and hurried conversations, but now they are of tour guides and tourists from all over the world. The ghosts of Ngo Dinh Diem and Nguyen Van Thieu, McNamara and Kennedy, they don't seem quite like ghosts in this building. It feels as though the presidential office is alive, and ready to spring to action. But no one is there to run it. It is a spectre, but one kept in suspended animation.
The main hall, where the President of South Vietnam held meetings and general announcements
A painting on the wall depicting the legendary Hung Kings.
The map room
President Diem's office
The window shades were influenced by traditional bamboo constructions
Carpet installed by Nguyen Van Thieu, Diem's successor
At the top of Reunification Palace
Liz at the top of the palace
The helipad
The underground bunker of the Palace, this is the map room
Every part of Vietnam, comprehensively covered
A hallway in the bunker. Reinforced steel and fluorescents everywhere
The radio room in the bunker
View from our hotel balcony
Our hotel
In front of giant Jesus
From the top of giant Jesus, looking out over Vung Tau
Looking down over Vung Tau
With the beautiful flowers
Posing
Getting a drink at the Imperial Hotel in Vung Tau
Once we were done with our time in Vung Tau, we boarded a plane and head north to Hanoi! This ends the first chapter of Liz's adventures in Vietnam, her time in the south.
Lessons learned:
- Liz likes sugarcane juice
- Liz does not like sunburns
- Liz is a lot better at playing soccer than me
- People at Ben Tre College like reminding me that Liz is a
lot better at soccer
- It's incredibly nice to be able to say, “yes, that’s my
girlfriend,” when people ask me if the girl I'm traveling with is my girlfriend.
People ask me this about literally any girl I’m traveling with, so it’s nice to
actually travel with my girlfriend for a change.
- My electric bike is really not designed for two people to sit on.
- All my Fulbright friends, but especially Tyler, Lindsay, Quan and Jess, are wonderful people and great friends. It was wonderful introducing them to Liz, and hearing them talk about the ups and downs of life in Vietnam. They did an excellent job highlighting the positives while being very upfront about the negatives of their various situations, while also making some interesting observations about Vietnam. Dare I say they were "cultural ambassadors?"
- A Vietnamese trip to the beach is much less relaxing than
an American trip to the beach.
- My girlfriend is pretty cool
Stay tuned!
Peace,
Jefferson
Jefferson
P.S.
So I was looking for a picture of a puppy to put here, but all I could find was a picture of a huge soft shell turtle. That's cool, right? I don't know. I'm losing my touch...
No comments:
Post a Comment