Vietnam

Vietnam was a fascinating country with an interesting French colonial legacy intermixed with a distinctly Vietnamese culture. The food was an example of this.  One delicious meal that I had was a type of Vietnamese sandwich made on a French baguette with French paté but covered in local vegetables, spices and sauces. Other dishes feature noodles and fried rice. Fashion is also a big deal. The streets are lined with designer shops such as Chanel, Gucci and Dulce and Gabbana. However, a Vietnamese refugee from our voyage who had visited the country a few years earlier said that the development has been unbelievably quick. The economic growth has been exponential and this is mainly due to the government’s changing policies. Although Vietnam is still a communist country they allow free trade, which has helped to diminish poverty. We were in Ho Chi Minh City, which is named for the famous communist leader of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh led the independence movement in Vietnam against France. After the French left, the country was split into North and South Vietnam so Ho Cho Minh worked for reunification and he was the father of modern Vietnam. However, Ho Chi Minh used guerilla warfare and very harsh measures on American prisoners, torturing soldiers for information and out of spite. The Vietnam War is a complex issue and I was able to see a perspective on the war while I was in Vietnam that was very different from the story taught in American schools. I visited the war museum in the capital and it was very biased in favor of Vietnam and showed images of atrocities committed by American soldiers while in Vietnam. The museum also dealt with the aftermath of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical that was sprayed onto the foliage in Vietnam by the U.S. military because it destroyed the plants, revealing the positions of Vietnamese soldiers. Unfortunately, Agent Orange had a devastating effect on both the soldiers who administered it and the local people who inadvertently took it in through the air, drinking water and crops grown in contaminated soil. It caused a widespread outbreak of cancer, burns and other health problems. It also meant that the next generation of Vietnamese children were severely affected because women who ingested the chemicals could pass them on through birth defects to their children. Despite this grim past Vietnam has been recovering and seems to be much readier to move on from the war than America. Economic growth and development continue and hopefully Vietnam has a bright future ahead.

Singapore

Singapore was an entirely different experience from India. We only stopped here briefly but there was a fascinating mix of cultures from across Asia. We visited a Buddhist temple in Chinatown and wandered around the streets of Little India. The government in Singapore is very powerful and autocratic. The government has a tight control over the country especially in terms of social behavior. It is illegal to spit out gum. It is illegal to jay walk. It is illegal not to wear a seatbelt in a taxi. These and many other laws are strictly enforced. The streets in Singapore were spotless and the people and cars were quiet. Singapore has almost no natural resources; its only resource is its people. The level of education in Singapore is extremely high and there is a lot of social pressure to succeed and to behave well. The multi-culturalism in Singapore creates a huge diversity not only of people but also of food. The food was my favorite part of the country. Even the hawker centers where street vendors are organized into tidy rows are clean, hygienic and delicious. 

Pictures from India

Cows are revered in India and can be found wandering the streets or trash piles such as these.

The Taj Mahal built by Sha Jahan for his late wife.

A Hindu priest performing a ceremony on the banks of the Ganges River.

 Members of a specific caste in India in charge of washing clothes for wealthier families beat dirt out of clothing in the Ganges.

I was able to practice yoga with a group of young monks at sunrise in Varanasi.

A temple carved out of rock dedicated to Hindu gods.

Many Hindus go to the Ganges to bathe themselves in the water because they believe that it purifies them of their sin.

India

            I started my trip to India in Chennai, where my first stop was an Indian department store. In India women are expected to dress much more conservatively than in America. Many women still wear traditional saris or shalwar kamiz. I wanted to be respectful of their culture so I bought a few Indian clothes, which were also perfect for the hot weather. In Tamil Nadu, the state that Chennai is in, there is an incredible amount of poverty so the government has come up with a plan to stop child labor and encourage more kids to go to school. All students who attend school were given two full meals, which helped kids who were not getting enough to eat at home, and the parents of the child were guaranteed a certain number of paid work days a year. Each family was also provided with an allotment of rice per student that attended school. Next I headed to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. We visited Fatepur Sikri, an imperial city that had been abandoned only sixteen years after construction. We also walked around a fort in Agra that was built by ancient Indian rulers and remained in use through British colonialization. The British colonialism in India left a profound mark on the country through architecture (in fact the capital buildings in Delhi are old British colonial buildings), a love of cricket, an abundance of tea, the organization of the Indian school system, and ethnic and religious divisions. While India was a British colony the British played up religious differences and ignited previously non-existent conflicts between Hindus and Muslims so that they could not unite to overpower British colonial forces. This ultimately led to the separation of India from Pakistan and Bangladesh. These kinds of problems are still relevant in India today as religious and ethnic differences still cause friction between groups of Indians. We also visited the famous Taj Mahal, which was completely breathtaking. The Taj Mahal was built by an Indian Emporer, Sha Jahan, in the 16^th century for his wife who died in childbirth. We next went to the holy city of Varanassi. Varanassi is on the banks of the Ganges river and is considered the holiest city in India. Thousands of pilgrims travel to the river to wash themselves clean in the water. We went to a religious ceremony one evening performed by Hindu priests on the banks of the river and also visited the river at sunrise when pilgrims come to bathe in the water and young monks and priests come out to do their morning yoga and prayers. Health care in India has similar aspects to American health care. You must hold insurance that you pay for or get through work in order to be treated. The hospitals are not very clean. In one hospital there was trash on the floor, lots of people sleeping among the trash. The technology was lower quality and levels of hygiene were considerably lower. We also went to Mamallapuram, the site of many ancient temples. The temples are carved out of rock with elaborate engravings and decorations. The stonework was incredible and I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of temples.

Mauritius Pictures

The Volcanoes on the main island leave behind rock formations such as these on the beaches.

Kiri and I looking at all the fish and coral underwater.

There were lots of different beautiful types of coral.

 We also saw hundreds of types of fish while we were snorkeling.

Mauritius

Mauritius is a small island in the Indian Ocean where the MV Explorer docked for a day. I spent the day snorkeling on an island called Ille des Deux Cocos. I saw hundreds of types of fish and there were amazing igneous rock formations on the beaches from the volcanoes on the island. Mauritius was only a brief stop for us so it was difficult to get to know the country but it was a beautiful island that is a favorite tourist destination for South Africans and many Europeans. The biodiversity was astounding and the island had several volcanoes covered in thick forest.

My Safari in South Africa

Kariega Game Reserve

While I was in South Africa, I went to the Kariega Game Reserve on a safari for several days. The ranger who was with me on my safari drives was named Matt and he told us all about the animals and how safaris are an important way of educating people about the species in Africa and of preserving the endangered species that are native to South Africa. We saw rhinos, hippos, elephants, lions and several other types of animals. Unfortunately there is also a problem with poaching. Poachers sometimes come into game reserves to slay animals for their horns or tusks which can be very valuable on the black market. This is a tragedy and the rangers in the park have watches and patrols to try to block poaching. Elephants and rhinos  are most at risk. There are so many beautiful species in South Africa, it's a shame that they are in danger from poachers.

As requested, pictures of Festus from Winneba, Ghana.

 You guys asked to see what Festus looked like so here are some pictures. He taught me the popular Ghanaian dance, High Life.