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| Leaving Danang Airport |
Wednesday May 21th , 2025
We started the day bright and early with breakfast at the hotel around 6 am. Students enjoyed eggs, toast, hashbrowns, fruit, along with some Vietnamese cuisine. We then loaded the bus at 6:30 and headed for the airport. Checking our bags and security went smoothly. Once inside we had about an hour to kill. Many of the students found coffee and caffeine. Our flight left Da Nang around 9:30 am and was about an hour flight. On the flight, students read, slept, and wrote in their journals which we have all been doing daily to write down what we have been doing so we can remember what we did later.
Once we arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City, we got our luggage and got onto our new bus. We then went to lunch straight from the airport at the Cyclo Resto which was a Vietnamese Gastronomy Culture Restaurant. We had shrimp fried spring rolls, cucumber soup, green beans and carrots with pork, rice, fish, and lemon grass chicken, and finished it off with egg coffee. Along the wall in the restaurant the wall was signed by many people that have ate there. Students were able to participate in this and wrote their names and where they were from on the wall. Most students enjoyed this meal and experience leaving their table full.
After lunch we headed to the War Remnants Museum. There were three levels to the museum which had several exhibits from the Vietnam War. Some of these exhibits included effects from Agent Orange on Vietnamese citizens, different massacres from the U.S. and much more. Many of us noticed quickly, that History is always written by the winners. We saw lots of exhibits highlighting how the Americans fought in the war along with all of the harsh things that they did. We also noticed that a lot of the time, the whole story wasn’t shared. For example, when it came to many of the different battles, it only showed the bad the American’s did, rather than what both sides did. We also found it interesting how it didn’t show much of what other countries, such as the French did, and only the American’s. At the Museum, they only showed U.S. equipment such as planes, tanks, ammunition, and unforms. We also found it interesting that there was nothing about how Vietnam and the United States are now respected by each other. Seeing the war from this type of perspective was very eye-opening for students as it wasn’t our perspective.
Once we finished at the museum, we headed to Ben Tanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City. Here we were able to spend two hours shopping and bargaining for deals. At the market you could find items like pottery, jewelry, rice hats, knock off brands, and many other Vietnamese items. Many of the students bought rice hats, bags to bring purchased items home, gifts for family and loved ones, and items for themselves. Any item that one had in mind to buy, they could find here at the market. Tony gave us tips for the market that included that we could find everything we wanted and that at every price that they started with for an item we could bargain down the price for one fifth of what they asked for. We all had a lot of fun bargaining for the best possible price (well best price for us anyway :)).
We were able to get showered and cleaned up for dinner. Which was at Hoi An Kitchen. For dinner we enjoyed a soup with yellow noodles, chicken, quell eggs, and veggies, alongside was a carrot salad, and a salad with a rice cracker. Many students enjoyed the slight change in food with having the noodles. We are now headed back to the hotel to get a great night of rest in our new hotel, Happy Life Grand Hotel, before another busy and sun filled day tomorrow.
Cam on, Erin Jacobson & Emma Mulhern
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