SEMESTER AT SEA - VIETNAM & CAMBODIA

Email #6 - April 4, 2002

This is the seventh report on my experiences teaching in Semester at Sea, on a semester-long voyage around the world. I am emailing by satellite from the ship. This report discusses the Vietnam War, my impressions of Vietnam, dancing goddesses at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, a real waterworld in Cambodia, rush hour in Saigon, and disabilities in Saigon, Vietnam.

THE VIETNAM WAR

Vietnam is a country, but to Americans, Vietnam means the Vietnam War. This is especially true for my generation, since 58,000 of my peers died in that war. How did the U.S. get involved in Vietnam? In the CORE course about each country we visited, we learned that Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) had been a French colony from 1885 until it was occupied by the Japanese in World War II. After that war the French regained control of the southern part of Vietnam but not the northern part. In the civil war which followed, the French were defeated. In the Geneva accords of 1954, the country was divided into North Vietnam (led by Ho Chi Minh) and South Vietnam (whose independence from North Vietnam was guaranteed by the U.S.). The U.S. supported South Vietnam because of the Domino Theory during the Cold War -- it was felt that if communism was not contained it would spread from one country to the next like a falling row of dominos.

The South Vietnamese dictator Diem promised reforms but in fact imposed more controls. In 1960 the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) fought against Diem, and in 1961 President Kennedy sent in military advisors, making the statement "We will pay any price, bear any burden." After Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson reaffirmed that commitment, and congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964 giving the U.S. military a blank check. By 1968 more than half a million U.S. troops were in Vietnam. As the casualties mounted and people saw reports of the war on their television sets and in news magazines, more and more Americans wondered why we were there and protested against the war.

President Nixon had campaigned on the claim that he had a "secret plan" to end the war, but then escalated the war by bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail (supply line for the Viet Cong) in Laos and Cambodia, resulting in doubling the number of U.S. casualties. The U.S. pulled out of Vietnam in 1975, and North Vietnam quickly took over the South and reunited the country under a communist regime.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF VIETNAM

We arrived in Saigon (now called Ho Chi Minh city by the government but still called Saigon by most locals) on March 30. My wife, son, and I went on a city tour which took U.S. past the U.S. consulate, a new building on the site of the U.S. embassy where the last helicopter airlifted Americans and South Vietnamese leaders in 1975. We also passed the Museum of War Remnants which had U.S. military equipment and photos of war atrocities (such as the My Lai massacre in which U.S. troops killed everyone in a village suspected of harboring the Viet Cong). We toured the Reunification Palace which was the former seat of the South Vietnamese government and saw the war rooms where military campaigns were planned. At the Museum of Vietnamese History we saw stone tools dating back 10,000 years and artifacts of various dynasties, then watched a water puppet show. The puppeteers were behind a bamboo curtain and used long poles underwater to move puppets of dragons, other animals, and people.

We got off the tour bus at the Rex Hotel, where U.S. servicemen used to hang out, and walked around downtown Saigon. The city was more developed economically than I expected, and very commercialized. Like China, Vietnam has introduced free market reforms, so now anyone can start a business by simply registering it with the government. Although the U.S. did not prevail militarily in 1975, it is increasingly prevailing economically and culturally. In 1995 the U.S. established normal trade relations, and now there are American products everywhere. Near the ship booths were set up selling souvenirs as well as DVDs of American movies.

Although the Vietnam War has painful memories for Americans, the Vietnamese have put the war behind them. They are welcoming to Americans, who are the third largest number of visitors after the French and Japanese. With all the commercialization, you would not know that you were in a communist country.

DANCING GODDESSES AT ANGKOR WAT

The next morning my son and I flew to Siem Reap in Cambodia as part of a fieldtrip to Angkor Wat. In the 4th century the Khmers came from India and ruled Cambodia and parts of Laos and Thailand for a thousand years. Although they intermarried with local peoples, they retained their Hindu religion. In their classical period during the 9th - 13th centuries, they created some of the greatest monuments in Asia. Many temples were built at Angkor which is from a Sanskrit word meaning capital. Angkor is few miles from Siem Reap, and was the capital of the Khmer empire until the capital was moved to Phnom Phen to be farther away from invasions by armies from Thailand.

Our group, which was led by an art historian, stopped first at the Ta Prohm temple, which had many panels in which stories of Hindu gods and goddesses were carved in stone. We then had a buffet dinner at the Bayon 2 restaurant where we saw Cambodian classical dances accompanied by Cambodian musical instruments. I read my email at one of the many internet cafes and then we stayed at the Angkor Hotel, one of several luxury hotels recently built for tourists.

The next morning we got up at 4:30 to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, the most spectacular temple, considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The word Wat means a Buddhist monastery. Although the temple was built as a Hindu temple, it later became a Buddhist temple and still has a monastery on the grounds. The outer part of the temple has a covered walkway and the inner part has three levels with five towers on top. We watched the sky lighten with pink colors, but didn't see the sun at first -- it was hidden behind one of the towers. When we walked over to the left of the courtyard in front, we could see the bright red sun and the five towers which were also reflected in a pond.

After breakfast at the hotel, we went to see other temples in the area. At Angkor Thom the local tour guide with our group showed me panels on the first level which depicted scenes of daily life. On the second level were panels of Hindu gods and goddesses. At Bayon, there were elephants giving tourists rides through an ancient gate to the Terrace of the Elephants, which had carvings of elephants along the side. Behind the terrace, I climbed up to the third level of a temple to see inside the towers, and began suffering from heat exhaustion due to exercising in the 98 degree heat. I drank some water and after lunch we went back to the hotel where I took a cold shower to cool off.

Half of the group went out exploring after lunch, while the other half of us stayed out of the heat until 4 PM. Then we went back to Anchor Wat to explore the temple complex in more detail. Around the temple on the first level were dozens of carvings of a dancing Hindu goddess. On the second level there were several Hindu shrines. I decided not to climb the steep steps to the third level to avoid becoming overheated again. Fortunately some clouds had come so the temperature had dropped below 90 degrees. We watched the sunset as we walked back to the bus.

After dinner I went to another internet cafe. Since I was still weak, instead of walking I returned to the hotel on the back of a motorbike, the most common form of transportation in Cambodia.

REAL WATERWORLD IN CAMBODIA

The next morning we rode the bus south of Siem Reap to Tonle Sap Lake, a huge lake in the middle of Cambodia. In the dry season the lake is 3,000 square kilometers, but in the rainy season it is 10,000 square kilometers.

On the way out of town we rode along a river and passed houses built on stilts. In the rainy season the river is much higher. Some houses were made of cement blocks but others were thatched. Underneath the houses there often was a motorbike or bicycle and there usually was a hammock.

A road crew was rebuilding the road. They were carrying rocks and gravel by hand in baskets to spread on the roadway. More than half of the crew were young women. Cambodia is not as developed economically as Vietnam, but there is not as much unemployment as in India.

When we reached where the edge of the lake would be at high water level, the paved road stopped and the rest of the road was of dirt with many potholes. During the rainy season that dirt road is under water. Along the dirt road was a fishing village made of thatched houses on stilts. The village is moved back when the water rises. There were a few pumps for wells, and people cooked over wood fires. But many of the houses had TV antennas and generators!

At the end of the village we boarded small boats which each carried 8 chairs, a canopy, and a two-stroke engine attached to a 10-foot pole with a propeller that could be raised or lowered. We rode on the boats along a narrow shallow channel out to the lake. Along the way we passed a boat carrying large jugs of water, and other boats carrying food and supplies. Still other boats carried small fish. We passed men fishing in the channel by casting and pulling in nets.

Out in the lake there was a floating village. There were houseboats anchored to wooden poles driven into the lakebed. A few houseboats looked like middle class wooden houses, but the majority had thatched huts. There were a couple of wooden buildings that were restaurants with tables and chairs, and another was a police station. The village has 5000 people and moves farther out and back in as the water level changes.

Small boats went from house to house carrying fresh vegetables. Among the houses were stacks of firewood on long poles driven into the lakebed. There also were fish farms surrounded by thatch and nets, where large fish are grown. We stopped at one fish farm where they were also selling souvenirs. I bought a couple of beautiful skirts with elephants for my wife and my daughter.

This was a real waterworld that was beautiful and serene, unlike the violent metallic world in the horrible movie Waterworld. This trip to the lake was one of the highlights of the entire voyage on Semester at Sea.

RUSH HOUR IN SAIGON

After lunch back at the hotel we went to the Siem Reap airport. Although we were in the shade it was 98 degrees in the airport and I was feeling very uncomfortable. I felt better in the air conditioning on the airplane and on the bus from the Saigon airport to the ship. During our bus ride we were caught in rush hour traffic. But this was unlike traffic in the U.S. Instead of many cars and a few other vehicles, there were a few cars, a few trucks, and thousands of motor bikes.

There are 6 million people in Saigon and 3 million motorbikes! Cars are too expensive for many people to own, but small motorbikes are affordable. They serve as the family car, and it is common for three or four family members to cling together on a small motorbike. People also carry goods on their bikes -- one man had two ten-foot pipes, one on each side! Other motorbikes have small wagons in front for carrying all kinds of merchandise.

There also are some bicycles, for those who can't afford a motorbike or those too young to get a license at age 17. Traffic sometimes stops for the cars, trucks, and tour buses, but the motorbikes keep on moving, flowing between and around the larger vehicles. When our bus turned a corner, it did so in the middle of oncoming traffic, and the motorbikes swerved and went around the bus. There are few stoplights. When motorbikes turn a corner, they weave in between the oncoming traffic.

Crossing a street is a challenge! We were advised not to run, because then the motorbikes won't know where you are going to be. If you walk slowly they will swerve around you! It was fascinating to watch the flow of traffic and the ingenious ways in which people transported things!

DISABILITIES IN SAIGON

That night I had a beer at the cafe set up under a canopy near the ship, where I met some Vietnamese students who had come to meet American students and practice their English. But alcohol is dehydrating and I didn't realize that I was still dehydrated from the day before. I hadn't realized how long it takes to recover from being overheated.

That night I had trouble sleeping. My mouth was dry and I had a headache and a stomach ache. I tried drinking water, but I still felt awful. At 4 AM I went downstairs and got a First Aid kit and mixed up a liter of oral hydration salts and forced myself to drink it even though it tasted horrible. At 7 the medical clinic was open so I talked to the nurse, to see if she thought it would be okay for me to go on two fieldtrips that day instead of staying in my air-conditioned cabin all day. She said that I was still dehydrated but not in danger, and could go on the fieldtrips if I kept pushing liquids.

I was reluctant to miss the fieldtrips since I had agreed to be the trip leader on both. Being trip leader involves collecting tickets, passing around a sign-up sheet, counting the number of people on the bus and making sure that the same number get back on after each stop, working with the tour guide to make sure things go smoothly, dealing with any problems, and carrying the first aid kit. It also means representing the group in meeting officials at the sites visited.

The first trip was to the Nguyen Dinh Chien School for the blind. This school has 168 students. Half live in Saigon and are brought to the school each day by their parents on motorbikes, and the other half are from the provinces and board at the school. Those in primary school attend classes at the school, while the other kids attend a local high school. Forty-four of the students have limited vision, and use a magnifying glass to read. The other 124 are totally blind, and are taught to read in Braille, first in Vietnamese and later (starting in sixth grade) in English. The school had computers which printed in Braille, and computers which would dictate text through earphones for students to type. A couple of computers had keyboards with Braille on the keys!

The principal and one of the teachers told us about the school and answered questions. In addition to classroom curricula, they also teach music (which the students love) and some vocational skills. The latter include handicrafts like making brooms and brushes, or giving massages. It is difficult to find jobs for their graduates. Then we visited the classrooms where we had a chance to meet and interact with the kids. Since they can't see you, you get their attention by holding their hand while you talk to them. The kids were very cute and very affectionate. It was also clear from observing their interactions that the teachers care about the kids. I was very impressed with the school and all of us were very much touched emotionally.

After a snack, several of the older students gave musical performances. A guy played a flute beautifully, a girl played a Chinese zither beautifully, two guys played guitars who were still learning, and a girl played a single string instrument that I had never seen before, with the string attached to a small pole which could be moved back and forth to make the sound waver. We then spent more time interacting with the younger kids on the playground. It was hard getting everyone to leave.

After lunch back at the ship, I led another fieldtrip which had two stops. The first was at a school for the deaf in district 8, a neighborhood where people lived in shanty houses on stilts along the edges of canals. There we met the director and interacted with older students who knew some English. We communicated with them by writing on paper. They are taught Vietnamese sign language as well as lip reading. It was cool interacting with the students. But it was more difficult to communicate with them than with the blind students, which reminded me of Helen Keller's comment that being deaf was worse than being blind because of the way it limits communication.

We were caught in rush hour traffic on our way to the second stop, which shortened our visit there. It was the Phy My Orphanage, which has 350 kids. It was a nice facility. The director said that all of the kids were mentally challenged, and many had physical disabilities as well. Some were on crutches and others had artificial limbs. Some appeared to have Down's syndrome. Other kids with disabilities have parents, and come there for the day and are picked up by their parents on motorbikes. Some of the college students with me had brought bubble soap, and the kids loved blowing bubbles. The college students enjoyed interacting with the kids, but I had a harder time relating to these kids, especially to the ones who seemed more mentally challenged.

When I got back to the ship I saw my wife for the first time in four days. While my son and I were in Cambodia and back in Saigon, she had spent a day at the Mekong Delta and three days at the Cat Tien National Park. At the Mekong Delta she had seen fishing villages on stilts and a floating market. She had gone hiking in the national park.

My wife and I were invited to go out to dinner that evening by the adult passenger on the ship who had turned 93 recently. He knew of a good restaurant downtown, but when we got there it was full, and they recommended another restaurant called the Vietnam House. The food there was excellent! Semester at Sea had arranged to have a shuttle bus between the ship and downtown, which the city had requested to avoid having clusters of taxis by the ship. On the way from the shuttle bus to the restaurant and back we passed several people who had deformed limbs who were asking for money. I gave each of them money. I had heard reports that many birth defects among Vietnamese were caused by Agent Orange which U.S. troops dropped during the war to defoliate the jungles so the Viet Cong couldn't hide. Many U.S. veterans had problems which they attributed to Agent Orange but which the U.S. government initially denied.

In Cambodia, many people have lost limbs from landmines left by both sides during the war, and Cambodia still has more landmines than anywhere else in the world. We were warned to stay on paths even though they think they have cleared the area around Angkor Wat. I chose not to go on the fieldtrip to the killing fields in Phnom Phen. There are mass graves there and a memorial containing skulls in glass cases, from some of the two million Cambodians killed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79 until they were invaded by Vietnam.

In spite of the painful legacies of the Vietnam War, I liked Cambodia and Vietnam -- the people, the villages, the temples, and even the rush hour traffic.