The American War

After all, that's what they call it here. However their thoughts on the war are much different than our thoughts on the war. We hear stories of terror and bloodshed and of all the soldiers lost fighting against the NVA, and the subject is hardly ever talked about here. I had doubts when we first arrived at the airport of how we'd be received...Smith and I being some of the most American looking Americans I know, but I've found the Vietnamese to be some of the greatest people we've met so far. The majority of the country is under the age of 35, and the war is just a history lesson to them, something that is taught, not experienced. Please believe me when I say you know nothing about this country. We've been here 4 days and are just beginning to grasp the culture and lifestyle of these fascinating people.

Yesterday morning Smith and I got up early and hopped in a van headed for Ha Long bay. It's a three hour ride to the coast and some of the most amazing islands I've ever seen. A kid from Singapore asked where I was from, and if Northeastern had any relation to Northwestern (no matter how far I go people get that wrong) I tell him he speaks great English, and he tells me English is their first language in Singapore. I feel like an idiot, but I learned something. Did you know that the money in Australia is waterproof? (makes sense living on a big island i guess)We boarded a 3 story Chinese Junk and headed out into what looked like ominous islands from Pirates of the Carribean. Pretty awesome, then we head into a huge cave, then kayaked for a bit.

We went for a swim, and Smith got me to jump off the top of the boat, about 3 stories. Jumping isn't my thing, but that's his job...making me do things. We have a great dinner then Karaoke begins. Our tour guide Tom (who was born 3 days before Smith, making them both Rats in the Vietnamese zodiac, and is reason enough for multiple shots of rice wine) starts us off with a beautiful rendition of The Rolling Stone's "Paint it Black." He basically screamed in broken English as loud as he could into a microphone with reverb that couldn't be turned off. Smith and I followed with some Green Day, YMCA, Backstreet Boys, and then I did Born in the USA.

After Stan the French guy sang Britney Spears, Smith stole some beers, and we headed to the top deck for some bonding. Little did we know that the entire crew was up there getting wasted off of a jug of rice wine and eating strips of dried squid with chili sauce. We were well received, and over the course of an hour drank enough rice wine to kill a small animal.

We were woken up by a cute Vietnamese girl who was probably wondering why our windows were open and we were butt naked, but we smiled and told her not to worry. I wore a white sheet up to breakfast, and got a few funny looks from the crew. Smith made it up a half hour later, then proceeded to sunburn his entire front by falling asleep in the sun for 2 hours.

We're back in Ha Noi now getting ready for the weekly BBQ at the Hostel, and we leave tomorrow morning for 5 days of intensive exploration on our greatly upgraded hogs. We've gotten ourselves a tour guide, and we're headed up to the Northeast part of the country near the China border. This is the part of Vietnam where dogs and cats become their bread and butter, and even the rice runs out on occasion. This is the last you'll hear from us for a few days, but I'm sure we'll make it home alive...

Keep on keepin' on,
Zoz (closest they can get to Josh in Vietnam)