08/01/2015
The following is the Vietnam Trip article Rachel Pilley wrote for the Taieri College Year Book. Great article Rachel!
Vietnam History Trip 2014
Xin Chao! On April 17th, 23 year 12 and 13 students and 6 staff travelled to Vietnam for the trip of a lifetime. This was a fantastic opportunity to experience a completely different culture, enjoying the sights and sounds of Vietnam while gaining a better understanding of the historical struggle for independence, which we were introduced to in NCEA Level 2 History. 8.30am we departed New Zealand, full of excitement for our Vietnamese adventure.
After our overnight stay at Singapore Changi International Airport (which is definitely worth a visit!) we landed in Hanoi, the cultural capital of Vietnam. The cultural differences definitely hit us (as well as the heat and humidity) while having our first walk around; the crazy traffic “system” was something to get used to quickly - with the non-stop swarms scooters, not to mention the risk of taking your chances by crossing the road. We walked through streets full of shoes, wallets, bags and many, many other “necessitates”, promising ourselves to go back for more in the coming days.
Visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and viewing Ho Chi Minh himself was such a surreal experience, and showed us how devoted to him the Vietnamese are and the deep respect they have for their hero. After looking around at the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh’s House on Stilts and the One Pillar Pagoda, we moved on to the much-anticipated Silk Village and History Military Museum; and later on the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ Prison, the French influenced architecture of the Opera House and the St. Josephs Cathedral. When we weren’t looking at the historical aspects of Hanoi, we were immersing ourselves in the markets and enjoying the new concept of bartering with the locals, who were more than happy to bargain with us. Another place worth several visits was an ice-cream restaurant called “Fanny-Mae’s” – their presentation of desserts was absolutely incredible, not to mention it tasted AMAZING!
One of the highlights of the trip was the overnight stay on Halong Bay, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Halong Bay became a special place for us; sailing through amazing scenic views, kayaking through caves was incredible, and having a memorable evening watching Blickie and our tour guide JJ dancing along to Gangnam Style became a night that will never be forgotten.
We left North Vietnam to land in Danang, which is about halfway down the country. Here we immediately jumped into the pool at our hotel, relishing the opportunity to finally splash around and cool off. Danang features an area called Marble Mountain, where there the Buddhist religion influenced the construction of many Buddha statues and a few Pagodas all throughout the mountain. This was amazing to look around; I think all of us picked up a few small Buddha statues for ourselves to take home.
Our next bus ride took us to the paradise of Hoi An, a smaller town full of small restaurants, shops and tailors. We went straight to a tailor by the name of Mr Xe, an old favourite from previous trips. Mr Xe and his team worked to create our custom-made formal suits and dresses, and they all looked amazing. Hoi An is one of our most favourite places in Vietnam – the group really became like family due to the main gathering spot at the pool, and the shopping was quite enjoyable too. We had so much fun wandering around Hoi An, and it’s definitely somewhere we all want to visit again.
We held our own ANZAC Day service at the resort on April 25th, meeting by the pool at 6.30am to sing the New Zealand national anthem and have Bart, Mr McFarlane and Miss Allan give speeches about the wars and New Zealand’s contribution. It became a bit emotional for some while holding our minute of silence in front of our flag and seeing Farley saluting during the Last Post. It was a great ceremony for us away from home, so thankyou Farley for organising it so well.
After our ANZAC ceremony we headed to My Lai, a memorial to the horrific war atrocities by an American platoon over 1 day in 1968 on 504 innocent villagers. We drove into My Lai with “Good Night, Saigon” playing over the speakers – a sombre arrival. Outside the ‘House of Evidence’ stands a monument to the victims of the massacre, where everyone paid their respects and placed incense in front of the statue. We were given a tour around the evidence building, which was full of documents, photos (from an American war photographer) and objects from the village show the true story of that day. Looking around at the results of this massacre was very difficult for us see first-hand; it was very sobering seeing what war could be like and what it results in.
Two days later we had flown down to the capital city Saigon (A.K.A Ho Chi Minh City) where our first stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels, an underground network of tunnels constructed by Vietnamese fighters during the war. We had the opportunity to go through a few of these small tunnels, as well as have a go at shooting American war guns on the gun range. Examples of b***y traps and footwear constructed by the Viet Minh showed their intuition and creativity, and walking through the forest above the tunnels while hearing the booming gun shots from the range gave us a taster as to what it could have been like for during the war.
Our first night in Saigon had us walk to the Opera House where we watched the Vietnamese equivalent of Cirque Solei, the AO Show, which demonstrated incredible strength and dance with bamboo. The next day featured French-influenced architecture of the Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral before we went to the War Remnants Museum. Here we saw close up all sorts of planes, tanks and artillery. The hardest part about being here was seeing the devastating effects of Na**lm, Agent Orange and the brutality a gun could have. It’s hard to believe this country became victim to extensive bloodshed, burning of body and town, and ongoing psychological and physical trauma for past and present Vietnamese. It was sickening to see the brutality of modern warfare, and definitely opened up our eyes to what some people have had to live with as a result of war.
It was suddenly our last day in Vietnam, so we spent the day on the Mekong Delta to experience the unique river lifestyle. Before we got there we had to travel through a sea of scooters and past rice fields. We arrived a bit too late to see a fully flourishing floating trading market, but we still got to taste local coconuts, bananas and other fruits. We hopped off our boat to visit a local family business to see how coconut candy and crispy rice popcorn was made. We stocked up on our candy and went for a fun cycle around the village before getting on traditional-style boats and floating through a canal off the Delta. That night we celebrated Reunification Day on the Indochina Cruise on the Saigon River with an amazing on-board dinner and a performance by two Vietnamese girls with teacups and fans. A brilliant display of fireworks was the perfect way to and our adventure in Vietnam, not to mention the flurry of photos we all took in our last hours of our time in such an amazing country.
A massive thankyou goes to Miss Allan, Miss Blick, Miss Buchan, Miss Fitzgerald and Mr Jones for looking after us and making sure we didn’t get into too much trouble. This trip would not have happened without the time and effort Farley put into organising everything, so thankyou so much for giving us this opportunity to experience Vietnam, we all appreciate your hard work. Another massive thankyou goes to our lovely tour guide JJ. He is such a kind, hardworking man who became a part of our family immediately, and we’ll all miss his greeting of “I Feel Good” he gave us every morning. Without him we could not have been given as much insight to Vietnamese life, and I think his nickname for Mr McFarlane (“McFarley”) will stick for a while.
If you’re given the opportunity to be a part of this trip, definitely make sure you take it. It’s been the most amazing experience of my life, and it’s certainly something I’ll never forget. Vietnam is such a wonderful country; the diverse and unique culture is like no other. It’s now so easy appreciate more of what we have here in New Zealand seeing how other parts of the world live; and who knows, going on this trip may change your life in some way. Thankyou for having us Vietnam, the many, many memories we have will remain with us forever.
By Rachel Pilley
