It has been 1 week in Vietnam! We spent the last 2 days at the Mekong DeltaWe have been reading and talking about the region since our first class, but actually being here was a different story. We did get a fun tourist experience, but the contrast between the cities is what really stuck with me. The first five days in Saigon were a masterclass in controlled chaos. One thing about Saigon is the nightlife; you can go out anywhere and be treated like royalty and pay low prices. After going out, you don’t have to worry about an expensive Uber because Grab offers rides from under $5. It feels sustainable for the workers since the wages and cost of living are already so low, which creates this hyper-efficient world of convenience.
I spent a lot of time hanging out with the UEF students after hours, which was fun and helped us know the nightlife and culture of Vietnam and Saigon better. It was interesting to hear their perspectives because a lot of them are looking to study abroad outside of Vietnam. This sentiment is even furthered by the odd fact that a lot of them don’t want to date or marry a Vietnamese man or woman; they want to date foreigners. Even though the city is flashy and fun, they seem to be looking for a way out.
The last two days in the Mekong Delta were a complete shift. We stayed at the Cu Chi Tunnels resort, where I got a photo posed in front of a golden Ho Chi Minh statue. I’m including it simply because it looks funny and overly official compared to the rest of the trip. But once we got to the water, the mood changed. I noticed that there are a lot less options for people to eat out in the Delta. We tried to grab food one night and found that we were given a lot less options compared to when we wanted to order food to our hotel in the city. It’s a mix of the infrastructure not being there and the fact that the region just shuts down early for the market.
Thinking about the socioeconomic aspect, the floating market on the Cai Rang river felt like a place struggling to keep up with the times. Our tour guide told us that in the past, there were up to 10 markets, and now there are only 3. Those 3 have shrunk since people are now able to deliver goods via car, motorbike, or truck rather than boat. I noticed mostly older people working the boats, and it felt like they were trapped. There was trash and debris in the river, which made me think about the sustainability of this lifestyle. While the city has a good mixture of older buildings and rebuilds for new cafes, the river life feels like it is being left behind as the rest of the country moves toward a different kind of future.
