Vietnam 2001

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Vietnam 2001

• Krista Tainter
• Colette Skundberg
• Amy Lund

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Our trip began in Ho Chi Minh City. We flew from
there to Da Nang, and drove from Da Nang to Hue.
We also drove from Hue to Quang Tri, and again
back to Hue. From Hue we drove back to Da Nang,
and then south to Quang Ngai. From Quang Ngai we
drove back to Da Nang, and then flew to Hanoi.
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Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
We arrived in Vietnam after some very long
flights (from LA to Hong Kong was 15 hours). Our
plane landed in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known
as Saigon. It is the largest city in Vietnam,
home to around 7 million people. One of the
first things we noticed about the city was how
busy and crazy the streets were! They were full
of cars, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, and people
pushing carts, carrying baskets, or just walking.
Right A parking lot in downtown Ho Chi Minh
City. It is packed with motorbikes. These were
a very common sight throughout the country.
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THE SCENERY
One of the best things about Vietnam was the
beautiful scenery. Everything was so green and
lush and vibrant. These are views we had on our
way from Da Nang to Hue, driving along Highway
One. There are no real driving rules, even on
the highway. No one drives very fast, since the
road is still filled with motorbikes, bicycles,
and people walking. It took us 4 hours to travel
about 70 miles!
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MORE SCENERY
Right View of the South China Sea from a
mountain pass along Highway One.
Left An old man fishing in the South China Sea
right from the beach. He had a pole made of
bamboo and a hand-woven basket to hold the fish
in.
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Farming
Farming in Vietnam is much the same as it has
been for thousands of years. The main crop is
rice, and people plow the rice paddies using
either a cow or water buffalo and a hand-held
plow. If people are lucky, they can grow three
crops of rice per year.
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H O U S I N G
Vietnam is a very poor country. The people who
live in the cities are usually better off than
those in the country, but not by much. This is
an example of a typical house we saw while
traveling through the countryside. It is in the
middle of a rice paddy, and is made of tin,
cardboard, woven mats, and bamboo. Up to three
generations of one family could live there.
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Many things were a lot different in Vietnam.
Bathrooms were one of them. In our hotels, the
bathrooms were just like at home. But in other
places, this is what a typical one looked like.
You put your feet on either side of the hole, and
when you are finished, you take a scoop of water
and pour it down to flush. Most of the
bathrooms had some form of toilet paper, but it
was a lot different than ours. This bathroom was
nicer than some of the ones we sawthere werent
any lizards or bugs in it!
BATHROOMS
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ROAD CONSTRUCTION Roads are built mostly by hand
in Vietnam. We saw very few machines to help
with the hard work. While roads are being worked
on, instead of plastic orange cones, stones are
placed across it so people dont walk or drive on
it.
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Pigs are an important part of Vietnamese life.
They are raised by families to be sold at market.
Pork is eaten more often than chicken or
beef. This man is bringing his live pig to market
on the back of his motorcycle. It is being
carried in a woven basket. This was a common
sight along the highway. Sometimes, pigs in
baskets would be stacked one on top of the other
and loaded into the back of a truck.
Pig in a Blanket
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RELIGION
There are three main religions in Vietnam
Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. The
majority of people are Buddhist. At the Buddhist
temple we visited in Ho Chi Minh City, incense
coils can be purchased for 5,000 VND (about
0.33). People light the coils and they are hung
from the ceiling. They believe that as the
incense burns, their prayers are carried to the
gods. Most Vietnamese also believe in honoring
the memory of their ancestors, and build special
memorials to them. These can be seen throughout
the country, even in the middle of the rice
paddies! Families burn incense and leave
presents for their members who have passed away.
Above Incense coils hanging from the ceiling at
a Buddhist Temple in Ho Chi Minh City. Below
Ancestral grave sites along the highway.
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LE LOI HIGH SCHOOL
While we were in Quang Tri town, we had the
opportunity to visit Le Loi High School and meet
the principal. Education in Vietnam is highly
valued, but it is not free. Everyone must pay to
go to school, even elementary students! The
government does not have enough money to provide
a free education to everyone. This is a typical
Vietnamese classroom. There are usually 45-50
students in a room, with three students sitting
at each desk. The walls are very bare, except
for a picture of Ho Chi Minh.
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PROJECT RENEW
Project Renew is a world-wide organization that
works to remove old landmines. We were lucky
enough to attend a seminar they were holding to
teach town leaders how to spot landmines in their
area, and what to do next.
Top left Krista and Ms. Lund outside Project
Renews offices. Far left Bob, the head of
Project Renew in Vietnam, holding some landmines
designed to attract children. Left Krista and
Jan Scruggs, the head of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Foundation (VVMF), holding an unexploded
bomb.
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Groundbreaking Ceremony for Library 3
We attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the
third library in the Library of Vietnam Project.
It is being built in Dakrong District, in Quang
Tri Province, slightly northeast of Hue. Most of
the village was there, including students in
their school uniforms (photo at left).
The library is being funded by the VVMF, so
members of that group were also present to take
part in the ceremony. The ceremony consisted of
two students singing, speeches, and the actual
groundbreaking (even though they didnt really
dig in the ground). Krista was able
to pass out calendars
with the photo she took
on them to some members of
the local peoples committee.
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QUANG TRI LIBRARY One of the main purposes of our
trip was to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at
the second library opened by the Library Project
of Vietnam. It is in Quang Tri town in Quang Tri
Province. The project eventually hopes to open a
library in each of Vietnams 63 different
provinces (or states). The ceremony included
speeches, a local schools band, and the ribbon
cutting.
Above The new library at Quang Tri. Left
Members of the Peoples Committee and
representatives from the VVMF and Global Service
Projects, Inc., cut the ribbon to officially open
the library.
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We were all wearing our ao dais, the traditional
dresses of Vietnamese women, for the library
opening ceremony. Afterwards, we had our picture
taken with Jan Scruggs and the head of the local
peoples committee. Mr. Scruggs also signed a
copy of his book for Krista.
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Left People who lived near the new library used
the cement parking lot to dry vegetables. After
they are dried, they will be pickled and eaten
like relish. Below After the ceremony, lunch was
served. One of the most interesting things
served was an entire cooked chicken. The black
circle is around its head! No one at our table
ate it.
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THE CITADEL AT HUE
We spent a few days with Hue as our home-base.
We often drove by The Citadel, which was the site
of a famous siege during the Vietnam War. There
is a museum there today.
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Shopping in Da Nang.
They sold everything at this market from canned
goods (below) to dried beef (right) to more shoes
than you could ever imagine (below right).
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The Silk-Making Process
These are 24-day-old silk worms on beds of
leaves. Each bowl of leaves is about 3 feet in
diameter. It will be another week or so before
they begin to encase themselves in a cocoon.
After they encase themselves in cocoons, they are
stored on racks until they are about to emerge as
butterflies.
When that happens, they are then removed from the
racks and placed into boiling water. The water
softens them, allowing the cocoon to be slowly
spun into silk thread.
The threads are spun onto large wheels.
The threads are then taken from the wheels to a
loom, where they are woven into silk cloth.
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Silk Embroidery
If the silk is not woven into cloth, the thread
is used for embroidery. It can take a person up
to 9 months to finish one project, but most take
around 4-6 weeks. The shop we visited had women
embroidering pictures to hang on the wall, but
they also embroidered on bags, tablecloths and
napkins.
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The My Lai Massacre Memorial
My Lai was a small village near Quang Ngai town,
about 40 miles south of Da Nang. In 1968, during
the Vietnam War, US military personnel attacked
and killed 170 elderly, women and children. They
were led by Lieutenant William Calley, who
ordered his troops to leave no survivors. Four
people did survive the attack, but the village
had been completely destroyed.
The memorial is full of statues, carved from
photos taken during the massacre. Left A woman
shot while trying to protect her baby. Right The
main statue at the memorial, it contains elements
from many different photos.
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Above Left A marker has been placed on the
foundation of the homes of the village. The
marker lists the members of the family who were
killed in the massacre and their age.
Left This is a reconstructed bomb shelter. The
original was destroyed in the massacre by a hand
grenade, but it was rebuilt in 1992.
Above This is the trench where the villagers
were lined up and shot. Later, people from
another village came and buried the bodies
somewhere else.
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VILLAGE OF HOPE ORPHANAGE Da Nang
Its A Wonderful Life Christmas Party
On December 8, 2001, we threw a Christmas Party
at Village of Hope Orphanage in Da Nang. The
orphanage is home to around 200 orphans, ranging
in age from babies to college students. The
theme was Its A Wonderful Life. Santa was
there, along with his helpers, to deliver
presents to each of the children.
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Each child received a t-shirt, pencil, erasers,
coloring book, bubble gum, and a rubber ball that
lights up when it is bounced. Santa and his
helpers also visited each dorm room to spend time
with the children.
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Hanoi The Capital of Vietnam
Hanoi is the governmental center of Vietnam.
This is the Presidential Residence, even though
no one really lives there. It is mainly used for
ceremonies. It was built by the French during
their occupation of Vietnam (1887-1940 and
1946-1954). Many buildings in Vietnam reflect a
French style of architecture and are painted in
traditional French colors.
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Hoa Lo Prison was called the Hanoi Hilton by
American prisoners of war. It was also used by
the French to imprison the Vietnamese Communists
during the occupation of their country. The top
photo is a carved sculpture showing the
Vietnamese prisoners. The near right photo is of
a sign that describes (in a very biased way) how
the American POWs were treated when they were
imprisoned here. The far right picture is of Ms.
Lund in one of the individual cells. The rooms
were tiny, unheated, unfurnished, and the floor
slanted backwards to make them uncomfortable.
Hoa Lo Prison
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HO CHI MINH
Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho as he is known, was
the president of Vietnam from 1954 until his
death in 1969. He was one of the founders of
Vietnams Communist Party, and led North Vietnam
during the war with the United States. His
mausoleum (tomb) is located in Hanoi, and his
embalmed body is usually on display. This is a
very sacred place for most Vietnamese. People
are not even allowed to walk on the sidewalk in
front of the building!
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Overall, our trip to Vietnam was a wonderful
experience. The people we met were all so
friendly. Many of them were very poor, but they
were willing to share with us what little they
had. We saw many beautiful things, and learned a
lot about the history of Vietnam, as well. It is
something we will never forget.
One day while we were driving along Highway One,
we saw this man walking with his water buffalo.
We stopped and asked him if we could have our
picture taken with him and his water buffalo. He
didnt speak English, but understood what we
wanted, and was more than happy to let us take
the picture. This attitude was typical of all
the people we met.