Blog, July 29th, 2015
Hello, My Faithful Readers:
The first is a photo of the top deck of the ship (AKA as my second home). I spent LOTS of time here watching as we floated by. The next is in Ha Long Bay. I just loved this area of the world. The next is a photo of the children at the mat factory and then me in one of the markets in Vietnam. Finally, a photo of motorcycle riders in Vietnam. Most everyone is dressed as shows, no matter how hot it is. They look like bandits and reminds me of the wild west.
Here we are at the end of July, 2015 and I am
celebrating completing my15th month of service - July 26th. The clock has now moved so that I can now
claim 15/12 (15 completed and 12 to go).
I don’t know why PCV’s mark time this way; but, we all seem to do it. I
know for myself it is about acknowledging how far I have come and to remind
myself of the limited time I have left of this experience.
As promised, I want to continue writing and finish
writing my experiences and travels during my recent trip to Vietnam and
Cambodia. When I last left you I was just finishing up my travels in Cambodia
at the Angkor Wat complex; but there is much more to Cambodia than just the
religious sites. Just so you know; lots of good stuff is happening here in
Georgia and I am making notes so that nothing will be missed when I next blog
about Peace Corps Georgia in August.
Below is the link to my most recent article - “Time” in the Peace Corps.
But first there are a couple of things happening in
Georgia that I want to talk about. First, I spent about five days helping with
a summer camp in Dzevri, Georgia. This location is in the west and it is not
too far from the Black Sea. It is a very small village but it has terrific
people living there as well as a wonderful school, teachers and programs. I will write more in another blog, but just
wanted to mention.
Dzevri is a distance from Sagarejo. I had to first
travel to Tbilisi; 2 hours and then transfer to the marsh’s going west. That
ride took 3-1/2 to 4 hours (depending on if the marsh had a layover at any
place along the way). Also, most times the marsh stops for shopping. If one of
the passengers calls out to stop; then the marsh stops. This trip we stopped
for someone to buy a hammock. Another stop was made for bread and another stop
for beer and soda. It is very annoying (to me) as it does increase the amount
of time one is on a “hot” marsh; but, the person asking does not seem to think
they are being inconvenient.
A couple of interesting things happened. The first
in the Sagarejo to Tbilisi marsh we stopped to pick up some people along the
road. When the driver noticed that one of the people had a fairly large dog in
his arms the driver would not open the door. I thought “are you kidding me?” I
don’t want to sit next to someone with a dog. Well, the person with the dog was
not happy and kept banging on the marsh to let him in. The driver was
hollering…”take a taxi” and the man kept banging. That was a first for me. I’ve
been on a marsh with chickens but thankfully not a dog. The second interesting
thing was getting on the marsh from Tbilisi to Dzevri. I got to the marsh stop
early and found a single seat by a window. It had a lot of leg room; so, I
thought I was golden. Well, the driver told me “no, you cannot sit there” and
then he pointed to a seat next to a woman who was coughing so hard I thought
she was going to bring up a lung. That is where I was to sit for the almost
four hour marsh ride. Well, I sit there or I don’t get on; so, that was where I
sat. This was also a first for me. I have never had an assigned seat on a
marsh. Most times you barely get a seat. Often I have to stand; so, maybe in
the future I will need a reservation (HA). Interestingly, the good seats with
the leg room, single seats by the window were given to the men. Such is
Georgia; the men are given priority most of the time.
Ok, so now let me begin to write about my journey to
Vietnam and Cambodia. When I last left
you we were in Cambodia and had just finishing the Angkor Wat temple complex.
We left the hotel and boarded beautiful buses and drove to the ship. One of the
reasons I picked this trip is that it set sail on my birthday; what could be
better! At dinner I was surprised with cake and candles. The lights went out
and everyone started singing. It was a wonderful surprise.
We boarded the ship at Prek Kdam, Cambodia and then cruised to Kampong Chhnang. After
breakfast we boarded tender boats and visited floating fishing villages. We had
not yet reached the Makong River. We were on the Tonle Sap River. The village
name was Koh Chen Village. This river, at least as far as I understand it,
flows backwards at times. I really didn’t
understand, but it is unique I am told.
Annual fluctuation of the
Mekong's water volume, supplemented by the Asian Monsoon
regime causes the
unique flow reversal of the Tonle Sap River.
We did see many floating fishing villages as we
traveled both in Cambodia and Vietnam and every single village had cell phone
towers, solar panels, television and cell phones. I was amazed at this. We
watched, as we floated by, as people were on computers and cell phones and when
we noticed some boats had doors and some did not the guide told us that the
door meant there were small children living there. It just seemed so odd to be
in such a remote area and people living in such primitive conditions that they
had the trappings of the modern world. I
was concerned, as we floated by, that we tourists were using these people and
locations as a tourist attraction and I did asks our tour guide about this
(sort of like a Disney ride). He said that no, the people didn’t feel we were
intruding. In fact they welcomed tourism as tourism brought money and that is
what they need. All of Vietnam and Cambodia are in position to accept more
tourists into their countries. We were told that the volume of tourism has
grown from a couple hundred thousand to seven million over the past years.
We then visited a Buddist Monastery in Oudong (which
was the former capital of Cambodia). It was a beautiful location and we were
treated to a Buddist ceremony in their great hall. At that point we traveled to
Wat Kapong Tralach Pieu and went on an ox cart ride. This was a very small
village that I am sure they have provided this ox cart service to our tour
company many times. As we arrived about thirty ox carts and drivers were lined
up waiting for us (two people had to go into the cart). We had to sign a waiver
that made my hair stand on end. In fact, I almost didn’t do this as the waiver
was graphic as to what could happen. However, I am so glad I did. It was a real
hoot! It was a bumpy ride but along the
way the children and town folks hollered and welcomed us. It was a 20-minute
ride and that was enough.
The ox cart is called “the Cambodian Limo” - J
The ship then set said for Phnom Penh. Overall, I
did not like Phnom Penh. I remember as a young woman hearing Phnom Penh in the
news over and over again. We had a city tour and I just didn’t like the feel of
the city. There was no beauty to it. There were stores and stores and stores
(mostly run by locals). There were hotels and buildings that I had no idea what
people did it them; but, it all seemed so thrown together. I know this location
was a prominent location during the war and seriously, I don’t know what if any
damage it received during the war. Maybe that accounted for the hodge-podge feel.
There was tons of traffic; motorbikes mostly. It felt frantic and disorganized.
I didn’t even want to walk around or go to the market.
We did have an excursion to the infamous Killing
Fields and also the Khmer Rouge’s S21 detention center. We were given much information from our
guides on the Pol Pot regime and the origins. I did not know that “Pol Pot” was
a political title meaning “Political Potential.” Many of the leaders did not
use their names but they used their political title. Again, I am embarrassed to
say that I know so little of this period in history.
We toured the fields and you could hear the wind as
it was so quiet. We walked and walked and witnessed the burial field where from
1975-79 a million people were killed and buried. Pol Pot killed his own people.
They say he was not insane; but, I just cannot get my head around a leader
killing his own people. As a tour group we had many conversations about this. I
for one was thinking back in history as to what I was doing during this period.
I know I heard about the Khmer Rouge regime but living across the world in the
USA it really didn’t have much impact on me.
Later that day we were to visit the Royal Palace;
however, I decided I had enough and stayed on the ship and went swimming, had a
drink, read my book and just relaxed. It was the first time in ten days that I
was not running to see something and it felt great!
The next day we spent the entire day cruising the
Mekong River. The river is so wide. Along the banks of the river there were
floating villages and here and there some houses; but, not much else. The open
spaces along the river made me think of Africa. I kept waiting to see a herd of
some animal running across the open space.
It was truly a beautiful day. It was really the
first day that we had down time. The trip was a vacation but not a vacation, if
you know what I mean. We were up at 6am; breakfast at 7am and then we were on
the move anywhere between 8 and 9am. We wanted to see as much as possible, so
it was really a working vacation with history at its core.
On the ship we relaxed, swam, read, talked and of
course we ate, ate, ate. We finally got to the “water boarder” between Vietnam
and Cambodia, as we were now leaving Cambodia and once again entering Vietnam.
(it was my first experience at a “water boarder” ) between countries. Usually
the Captain or someone on staff /crew goes ashore with the passports and visas
so that we can obtain clearance; however, what happened was the Vietnamese
officials boarded our ship. They asked for the Americans to gather in one room
and all the other guests (Canada, New Zealand, Europe, etc.) could go into
another room. We Americans were subjected to a non-invasive (in our ear) test
to determine if we had a fever. This activity, according to the staff, was very
unusual; however, we were told that the Vietnamese were concerned with (MERS) –
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome so that is why we were being
tested. We didn’t have any ideas what
would have happened if someone did in fact have a fever. Also, we didn’t
understand why the Americans were being singled out? But, it all worked out. We
received our clearance to enter the country and that was the end of that!
I just love ship board life. I love sitting on the
upper deck and watching as the ship floats along. Watching the shore line and
the boats that passed by, to me, it was so exciting. There was a lot of
dredging on the Mekong. I don’t understand anything about that; but, they say
the silt that comes up from the Mekong is very rich in nutrients and is sold
for lots of money.
The next day was July 4th and the crew
celebrated with lots of red, white and
blue cake and sparklers. We all sang the Star, Spangle banner and toasted to
the USA. As we were back in Vietnam we toured some more floating villages and
got to see workshops of rattan mats and a silk-making workshop. We also were
transported to these locations in a “xe-loi” (Trishaw). This vehicle did not
have a back to it. It was a one person vehicle with a bicycle driver in the
front of the vehicle. I really had to keep my balance; or, I was afraid I would
tip it over.
It was so funny to see the trishaw fly by when it
was carrying small children and then there was me and my driver who (with the
extra weight of an adult – thanks goodness I had less tonnage than previous)
struggle to keep the vehicle going J.
We visited local markets with all kinds of foods.
Living here in Georgia I was very accustomed to seeing markets such as what we
were seeing in Vietnam. It was so much
fun to watch the inter-action of the locals in the market.
We then arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City – HCMC
(as it is called). Saigon was known as the “Paris of the Orient.” We toured the Presidential Palace, The Saigon
Central Post Office and the Thien Hau Pagoda.
We were told the difference between a pagoda and a
temple; however, I cannot remember what it was. The Central Post Office was
amazing. It was more like a train station and the architect was Gustave Eiffel.
I was very impressed with this building. It is one of the oldest in Saigon.
Nearby was the famous building that was the backdrop to the evacuation of
Saigon, 40 years ago. This famous picture was supposed to have been the US
embassy; however, it was not the embassy. The building today has many other
buildings surrounding it; as over the years the area was developed. It brought
back many memories.
After checking into another beautiful Sofitel hotel
in Saigon, we again went on tour. I chose going to the War Remnants Museum
instead of shopping and brother what a mistake that was. I was so disappointed
in this museum. In my fantasy world I really thought the museum would give a
balanced picture of the “American War”; however, that was not so. It was so
one-sided. It showed war for what it was; that is “hell” – but, most of the
museum was devoted to the horrible things that were done to Vietnam by the
Americans. I did see most of the museum; but I felt like I should have gone
shopping instead. I left early; it was a very sad time.
We did have free time and I went out to explore some
on my own. The traffic was as horrific as it was in Hanoi. I liked Saigon. As I walked, once again, I
had visions of what this city must have been like during the war and also the
occupation. In the evening a group of travelers ended up on the roof of the
hotel at the pool (on the 18th floor). Wow, what a beautiful sight.
Many of the buildings are outlined in lights throughout Saigon and we had a
front row seat at the pool. I did get to swim and just loved the pool. There
was lots of great conversation with wine and other good food to eat.
The next to the last day was spent at the CuChi
Tunnels (outside of Saigon) – link below. This was an optional tour and I am
glad I went but had such mixed feelings about it.
Throughout the tour I kept thinking that here I was
paying money to tour an area that had as one of its purposes to kill Americans.
The horrible torture devices that was created and built in order to trap
American Soldiers in the area of the tunnels made me sick to my stomach. Booby
traps were situated every place that we looked. The area had been completely
saturated with agent orange and other chemicals during the war. After 40 years
the area is just coming back to life. During
our walk around we could hear gun fire in the background. We all thought that
possibly it was done for effect; however, when we reached the mid-point there
was a gun range for anyone who wanted to pay money to shoot a gun. All kinds of
weapons were available to shoot. I didn’t see them firsthand but was told there
were hand pistols and automatic weapons. It was very scarey to hear live gun
fire as we walked around.
I didn’t go into the tunnels; although a few in my
group did. Most had to crawl on their hands and knees to go through as the
tunnels were so small and narrow. The tunnel system was very big. I believe I understood that the US Army base
built (unknown to them) their base on top of the tunnels. At night the
Vietnamese came up from the tunnels and stole anything that they could;
clothing, food, candy, cigaretts etc. I know my time there only scratched the
surface of the history associated with this place. It took 25 years to build
this underground city and the tunnels had a hospital, kitchens, weapons
factories and living spaces.
This was an all day event and it was my last day
full day in South East Asia. The next day I was to fly home to Tbilisi. I am
sure I am left out lots of good stuff; but, I have written a lot and I
appreciate your patience, dear reader, in staying with me. As I continue to
blog in August I will, for sure, insert information and observations that occur
to me about my travels. I know I am NOT done with this part of the world.
Vietnam and Cambodia are changing very fast; coming into the modern and
homogenized world that we all live in. In 10-years time I am sure I won’t
recognize the places that I visited during this trip. The world is getting
small and small and not many places are left untouched.
A final note that was really great. My travels took me from Saigon to Doha, Qatar
and I had a layover from 10pm to 7:30am (when my flight left for Tbilisi).
Friends had told that during their layover the airline put them up at a hotel;
so, I checked in at the transfer desk and sure enough, I was eligible for a
hotel room for the night. The airport provided transportation to and from the
airport and I rode through the city of Doha to my five start hotel. It was
beautiful and because of that (and I didn’t have to sleep in the airport) I
woke up refreshed and clean (had another shower) and started the flight back in
tip-top shape. One thing that was strange my hotel room did not have any
windows. When I moved the curtain to see out; it was a brick wall. It felt like
a horror movie; but, I was so tired I just feel into bed and went to sleep.
I will close for now and will, from time to time,
share more memories as they come to me.
All
the best, Catherine Lawrence, G14
Peace Corps Volunteer/Georgia – 7/29/15
The
contents of this blog are mine personally and do not reflect any position of
the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.
