Semester at Sea - Fall 2010 Itinerary

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – August 27
Cadiz, Spain – September 4-8
Casablanca, Morocco – September 10-14
Takoradi, Ghana – September 22-25
Cape Town, South Africa – October 3-8
Port Louis, Mauritius – October 14-15
Chennai, India – October 22-27
Singapore – October 31-November 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam – November 3-8
Hong Kong / Shanghai, China – November 11-16
Yokohama / Kobe, Japan – November 19-23
Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA – December 3-6
San Diego, California, USA – December 13

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

NAM!!!!

Well it took about 26 and a half hours and three flights, but I made it back to the MV Explorer meeting up with my ship on its last night and my only night in Vietnam, I got here around 11:00 PM or the middle of the day for Boston on Saturday… Its good to be back though and continue this amazing opportunity that I am doing now not only for me, but my mom too.

So with the very little time I had in the country I utilized as much of the time here as I could. I first pulled an all-nighter due to the fact that in my mind it was the middle of the afternoon, while everyone was sleeping then around 7 AM, I headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels with SAS where we learned about the underground tunnel system used by the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. It was actually really cool to see how the Vietnamese would not only hide, but fight the Americans from these tiny places that would include small holes in the ground to tunnels miles long and no bigger that 4 feet tall, yes we had to crawl a lot. FUN FACT: Vents were put every half mile to ensure that no one would pass out, although if you weren’t near a vent it gets extremely claustrophobic fast. My favorite part though was when I got to shoot an AK-47 at the Vietnamese gun range. That had to be the most fun I had during the visit, but the entire site that we were on was amazing to see. Right when you walk into the start of the trail you see a giant crater from a bomb that went off and then right next to it a trap door that is hidden with bamboo spears in the ground to kill its enemies. I even got to go inside one of the underground passages that are not made for Americans or tall people, the size of the hole was no bigger than an air conditioning vent (I’ll try and put pictures up when I get to China) and got to sit in one of the tanks that they have on site. The trip was so far the best one I have been on because it did a great job integrating the important history while engaging us with fun interacting things to do and explore.
After the tour, I headed off to the marketplaces to take advantage of the low costs thanks to the exchange rate… I spent less than $200 American and bought the following:

a North Face winter jacket $36

DVD Sets $60 all together
CSI seasons 1-10
Mad Men season 1-4
Family Guy season 1-7
Two and a Half Men season 1-7

Nike Shocks $70 for two pairs

So in my opinion it was a successful day, minus the torrential downpours I got stuck in. But hey it’s a small price to pay, right now we are having some big swells in the ocean as we head for Hong Kong, I am bungee jumping my first day then its off to the Great Wall to hike it down to Beijing and then seeing Shanghai on my last day in China. Probably trying to find some good deals like Vietnam.

Well That’s Hit from the MV

-Ed





1 comment:

  1. I miss you and can't wait for you to visit! And I am pretty jealous about the Nikes you snagged :)Love you kid

    ReplyDelete