My first trip back to Vietnam. Wow! What an amazing trip it was, the only bad part was that three week was too short to actually absorb all of what Vietnam has to offer.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed every moment of it except getting there were quite a pain in the butt, literally. When you have ADHD (joking about this one) and sitting on an airplane for 15 hours can be quite torturing.
After the stop at Seoul, Korea then straight shot to Saigon, I landed in Vietnam. The first thing I feel was the heat, at 101 degree and humid makes impossible to not notice and sweat just sitting in one spot. So sweating can be ruled out as an indication of how hard you do your Crossfit or any workout for that matter. Arrived at midnight in Saigon and took the taxi through the street of city can be quite an eye opening. Taxi dodging through traffic that mostly motor scooters, like a school of fish swimming through a narrow opening. Horn pushing is a necessity to traverse through these narrow openings, if this were done in the State, road rages, tickets, accidents could be a common theme.
I guess waking up in the morning at 5 Am in Vietnam is common theme, lights are out, noises are out and people are hustling to open their shops. I mean literally everybody has a shop or seem to have something to sell. Entrepreneur spirit at work I guess. They also waking up to exercise; Tai Chi,Running and other weird stuffs are a daily event in Saigon. I checked out the park and looked for a place to do my Crossfit WOD like that of back home in Kent, WA. There were some unique equipments that one can only stare at and smile. With all the people staring at me, puzzling over the fact that I was carrying a camera and I don’t look like a typical Vietnamese, I managed to get my Crossfit WOD in.
2x..10 pullups, 10 dips, 10 situps, 10 situps, sweating and dehydration.. Got to me..
The second week I traveled down to the Mekong town Rach Gia to see my relatives and later sandy beach Ha Tien to enjoy the ocean. Then flew to Hue to tour imperial palace and tomb. All in all, I feel the love for the country, the beauty, the people the smiles, but there were also the poverty, the struggles to put a meal on the table daily. So one would assume, they'll have no time to exercise or take care of their body and health. Was I dead wrong when I witnessed the mass of people doing their morning exercise routines as early as 4 AM. This really hit me hard in a sense that these people work hard, struggling and hustling for their daily meal, but yet can find time to take care of their physical and body need. This really make me feel privileged to have witnesed the culture and blessed to be an American and aspired me to do more when I am back. So look out & Get out the way! I will end this by saying, Vietnam could be one of the 1000 places to visit before you die.
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