Vietnam

As I walked down the ancient, cobblestoned road in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh, I approached one of the brightest buildings in the street. It stood out from every single building; dull, dim and monochromatic. But this one stood out like the stars in the night sky. The lights gave a dramatic shadow to the building, making it more captivating to me. The beauty of the building compensated for the humidity of the city. My eyes were locked onto the building with  awe and revelation, but also dumbfounded by its allure. I’ve never seen a building this ravishing before, with the Vietnamese flag standing loud and proud at the top of the building. After some research, I figured out that this was a government building, where there are multiple ceremonies celebrated inside. The red and yellow from the Vietnamese flag stood out from the beige colors of the building. According to a poem written by Nguyen Hu Tien, the yellow color was for the Vietnamese race, the red background for blood shed by the Vietnamese soldiers, and the five-pointed star represented the workers, peasants, intellectuals, soldiers, and traders- which were all part of Vietnam’s fascinating, pulsating  history.

Government Building

Once I stepped off the bus onto the grounds of where millions of Vietnamese soldiers lost their lives tragically, I instantly felt a feeling of remorse and sorrow, knowing that these soldiers lost their lives for a great cause. The Cu Chi tunnels were famously known as the grounds where the Americans finally got defeated. The city got its name from the famous communist leader Ho Chi Minh, whose grave is in a city called Hanoi. Vietnamese people all wanted independence from French colonial rule, so they recruited Ho Chi Minh to fight for their independence, which eventually happened, but sparked the first Indo-Chinese war. I had the opportunity to go down the long, dim and narrow tunnels. The cold, carefully, molded and crafted clay had a distinctive smell of old grass that hasn’t been freshly cut. This tunnel is a claustrophobic’s nightmare with barely any space to breathe...Ancient, crumpled and shriveled up leaves covered the floor like a blanket.

On the way to the Cu Chi Tunnels

On this day, I am heading out for a different adventure full of mother nature and peace. To get to this heaven, I had to ride on a cable car to the top of the mountain. This cable car is the longest cable car in the world; taking 20 minutes to reach to the top. As I started my ascent, the city got smaller and smaller to the point that it looked like ants. Then, the trees covered the mountain like a green, cozy and warm blanket. As we were slowly increasing in altitude, a cloud engulfed our surroundings. It was also slowly getting colder and colder by the minute. The cloud was as white as a sheep, and as soft as cotton candy. The mountain stretched upwards to touch the sky. Once I reached the top, the temperature dropped to 7 degrees celsius. The sudden chill make my teeth shudder. I was not properly prepared for this type of weather.

View from the cable car

Next I travelled to a small town called Hoi An, which is a diverse town with fusions of cultures and traditions. The thing that caught my eye however were the bright, colorful lanterns displayed in every shop, every corner and everywhere. The vivid hues of green, orange and pink made this town feel unreal. Hoi An is the city of lanterns, where the magical town is cut through by canals, where the main stream is flowing through the central part of the city. The canal was dotted with small boats, with more colorful lanterns on them. My eyes lit up with excitement when I saw them, knowing how much fun it would be to go and light a lantern myself. Each and every lantern is different from another, displaying unique patterns and colors, making it a surreal experience.  This city is also one of the oldest cities in Vietnam, with its buildings and landmarks dating back to over 700 years ago. 

Cafe in Hoi An