saigon vs. ho chi minh

we're in vietnam, and i'm just not sure what to call this city. the two names seem fairly interchangeable.

we left cambodia a couple of days ago, avoiding any landmines that may have been nearby. it's pretty scary to think about all of the thousands of unexploded mines there are in that country (and laos, too). much of my time in southeast asia has been spent realizing the scope of america's involvement in countries over here. it's too much to fathom.

now that we're in vietnam, the intensity is just magnified. yesterday jasmine and i went to the war museum. interesting that here they call it "the american war" instead of the vietnam war. which makes perfect sense when you think about it, but clearly i've never thought about it in that way before. helps to put things in perspective. one of the many things i was interested in at the museum was the overwhelming protest from countries all over the world to the u.s. being here. i just can't help but think about how many voices are being ignored right now about our current engagement. (now i've probably landed on a watch-list... another scary thing.)

today we went to the cu chi tunnels, the labyrinth below-ground that was used by the viet cong during the war. whole lives were lived underground in super tiny rooms. i just can't imagine. so reading over the last few paragraphs, i realize how intense i sound. it's not that we're just doing serious stuff; we're also having fun. it's just not as compelling to write about, i guess.

before leaving cambodia, we went to the beach in the south. it was a really nice and relaxing place, but the weather didn't really cooperate. the bus trips we've taken have been without incident, so that's really a more important thing than it sounds.

when we arrived in vietnam, we went to what we thought was going to be a museum with some weird sculptures but it turned out to be a very bizarre and surreal amusement park. it was so different than what we were expecting. morgan and jasmine went on a ride, but my stupid motion sickness prevented me from joining the fun. i got a good photo though, so i'll try to post that later once morgan has uploaded it from his camera. (btw, there were some crazy sculptures at the park--larger than life animals and smaller than life pagodas, made all of dinner plates tied together like fish scales. tricky to describe or photograph, but pretty amazing.)

another photo i'll try to post next time is from the cyclo trip that jasmine and i took. it's a very weird feeling to be biked around the city with cars and motos speeding by. i don't recommend it for day-to-day travel, but it was a trip! so, a couple of photos to come. and i'll try not to sound so depressing in my upcoming posts...

safe in cambodia

we've been safe in cambodia during the cyclone and its aftermath in burma and the earthquake in china; thanks for your concern! neither country's government is letting anyone in for relief efforts, but we're keeping an eye on the possibility of going to burma to volunteer. or perhaps the burma/thai border, though that may be a lot of medical help needed and, as you may know, i'm a little squeamish. things to consider...

while these natural disasters were occurring, we were spending some time in siem reap, cambodia. the temples of angkor wat are phenomenal. there are so many that we could only see a fraction, but i really enjoyed walking around the ruins we did visit. i think i was able to get a few great photos while we were there, and i hope to show them to you when i get them all developed in a year. :)

after seeing the temples, we spent a few days volunteering at a day center for street kids. we taught english classes and art workshops to kids ages 4-14 or so. they were so loving and smart and just great children. it gave me a new appreciation for how hard teachers have to work. i was exhausted after day 1. morgan and jasmine are amazing at it; i will strive to keep up with them while we're in korea teaching at sullivan school. (for those who don't know: morgan and jasmine taught english to kindergarteners in seoul, south korea, for the past year. we've been invited back to work on the summer program in august.)

yesterday we arrived in the capital, phnom penh, with a one-night stop in battambang. our plans to travel on the only train in cambodia were thwarted by 2 things- the train runs only on sundays and when it does run, it's apparently not fit for human passengers at this point in its life. bummer. but now we're here and have plans to see the killing fields on friday. i think that will be very intense and extremely important to see.

and to end with a photo:

morgan and me swimming in a cave