Last Day in Vietnam

Nga and Truc in front of the  high school that Nga and our RC student Lan went to. We got to learn about the Vietnamese educational system.

War Remnants Museum

Saigon street scene

Saigon skyline as we leave

We were fortunate enough to have our tour guide (Nga) back again for this last day in Vietnam plus another one of Lan's friends, Truc, who joined in as well and took us on quite a tour. They were just great and we really appreciated getting to see Vietnam through their eyes. We were able to take them out to lunch to thank them for all of their time and it was a real treat!  We visited Nga and Lan's high school in central Saigon, and also the War Remnants Museum nearby.  It was both interesting and disturbing to see the Vietnam war portrayed from their perspective.  We got back to the ship in the mid afternoon and sailed back out the Saigon River early the next morning (Nov. 8)

Cambodia and Angkor Wat

Tina climbing to the top level of Angkor Wat

Khmer dancers

Indiana Barnes and the temple of ......

Buddha faces

On the second day in Saigon we left for a three day Semester at Sea trip to Cambodia and Angkor Wat.  We flew to Siem Reap and spent the afternoon visiting and climbing Angkor Wat-the largest temple. Note the pics that show proof that Tina did indeed climb to the highest level of the temple. In the evening we went to a restaurant that featured a show of traditional Cambodian dancing.  The second day was "temple marathon" day...we visited ten smaller temples near Angkor Wat.  In many ways the smaller temples were more impressive than Angkor Wat.  Some had been completely cleared of the jungle vegetation and others had been left with tree roots snaking through the temple stones.  Tina's favorite temple was the one that is in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider".  It was truly cool. As the sun set on Angkor Wat we expected the treasure to be revealed when the sun hit a certain spot.  No such luck!

More Vietnam Photos

Reunification Palace (former Presidential Palace)

A war room in basement of Palace

Water puppet show

Central Committee Building at night

Nya and friends from the ship at dinner

Good Morning, Vietnam!

Dawn along the Saigon River

A typical row of houses in Saigon

Buddhist temple in Saigon

"Uncle Ho" statue with Central Committee Building

After only one day at sea between Singapore and Vietnam, we sailed up the Saigon River at dawn on November 3rd to Ho Chi Minh City (which the locals still call Saigon).  On the first day we toured the city and saw a Buddhist temple, and the former Presidential Palace (now called the Reunification Palace), where the North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates in 1975 when Saigon fell.  At the palace we saw the underground war rooms that still had maps posted from wartime.  We also drove past some of the major buildings in downtown Saigon, some of which remain from French colonial times.  Saigon is now a bustling major city, with chaotic traffic.  Like China, the Vietnamese have embraced free market capitalism in their economy, while still maintaining a communist government.  After our tour, we met Nga, a high school classmate of one of our Randolph College students from Saigon, and she took us to one of her favorite restaurants.  The food was great and we only paid a little over $25 for six people!  More about Nga after Cambodia....

Singapore!

National Botanical Garden

Market in Singapore's India Town

Frying Chicken (Chef Mac is on the left)

Tina and our team preparing Kung Pao Chicken

Our creation... We ate it for lunch

Our voyage has been a whirlwind of activity since Tina Boarded in Singapore, so it has been awhile since I have posted.  The ship arrived in Singapore early on Sunday, Oct. 31, and Tina was there waiting to board!  We threw her bags in the cabin and immediately headed out to do a city orientation tour.  Singapore is incredibly clean and landscaped.  Someone called it "Disneyland with the death penalty".  Even our landing passes had "Death penalty for drug possession" printed in red on them.  We had a wonderful time in Singapore, though.  On the first day we visited the National Orchid Gardens and the Chinatown and India Town sections of the city.  That evening we went to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo.  Since it was Halloween, the Night Safari was decorated with ghouls and goblins, and zombie tour guides.  The students loved it and really got into the spooky tram ride.

The second day we went to the At Sunrice culinary school and learned how to cook Kung Pao Chicken and Fried Rice.  We got the recipes and are looking forward to preparing a dinner when we return!