VIETNAM HISTORY TRIP REPORT.
The History Department took 35 students to Vietnam on the 18th – 20th May 2002. The trip was intended to enhance their understanding of the Vietnam War, a topic studied during year 9.
We left school at 5:00am on Saturday 18th May and checked into the airport. Our flight left early at 7:45am and we arrived in Vietnam just after 9am. Our tour-guide Hai, from Saigon Travel met us at the airport and we set off for a full day’s itinerary.
The temperature was 37 degrees and the students welcomed the air-conditioned bus. Many of the girls felt it necessary to change up to five times a day. Our first visit was to the Vinh Nghiem Temple, where some students released some birds as a traditional symbol of good luck. In the temple itself, there was a wedding ceremony at one end and a funeral service at the other. Students spent some time watching both.
After a brief visit to the Post Office and Notre Damn cathedral, buildings built by the French and which were very colonial in appearance, we went to the War Crimes Museum. This museum was the first place where the students could learn more specifically about the Vietnam War. The museum has horrific evidence left behind after the war. Staff had to emphasise that most of the evidence was particularly biased against the Americans. However, as the students’ own knowledge of the war had been clouded by Hollywood movies, which emphasised the Americans as heroes, it was good to look at the alternative perspective. Students were shocked at some of the evidence they saw, including deformed foetuses in jars, a consequence of Agent Orange and Napalm bombings. This definitely brought home the horrors of war.
For lunch in the Tam Nam Restaurant, the students were served traditional Vietnamese cuisine, which involved over nine different dishes. It was extremely tasty and many of the students felt uncomfortably full afterwards. The staff realised that the students were beginning to tire and decided to only visit two places in the afternoon, postponing the market visit until the next day. The first afternoon visit was to the lacquer ware workshop where students watched the preparing and making of lacquer trinkets. Most of them commented on how old fashioned and time-consuming the whole process was and how some of the artists were so talented. Many students bought a souvenir from the shop afterwards.
The final visit of the day was to the Reunification Hall, the Old American Embassy. Students were impressed by the opulence of some of the rooms and liked the escape helicopter on the roof and the underground bomb shelter rooms.
By this time the heat and the early start was beginning to take its’ toll, so we decided to check into the Rex Hotel. Students were given the option of having a supervised swim or a quiet lie down in their air-conditioned rooms. In the evening we went to the Cordon Bleu French Restaurant, which again was fantastic and finally made our way back to the Hotel by 9:30pm. The students were given half an hour to sort themselves out and when we checked on them at 10pm, many were already in bed.
On the Sunday, we had yet another early start. We left the Hotel just after 7am and set off for the Chu Chi Tunnels about 1 hour 40 minutes away. This, in everybody’s opinion was the highlight of the Tour. Students watched an introductory film about the tunnels and saw a model, which was a reconstruction of the tunnel network. They were then given a demonstration of the different kinds of booby traps used by the Vietcong, before finally exploring the tunnels for themselves. Everyone was shocked at how small and narrow the tunnels were, despite being made larger for tourists. The students could not believe that the Vietcong had to live in these tunnels for weeks at a time.
After lunch in the Indochine Restaurant (a quality restaurant recently visited by Hilary Clinton and other foreign dignitaries) we went to the History Museum, which gave the students’ a wider perspective of Vietnam’s History. They also had the chance to see a traditional water puppet show. Our final visit was to the Central Market where the students had 45 minutes to shop and try out their bartering skills.
In the evening we had a meal in the Hotel’s Restaurant which had a cultural performance while we ate. After the evening meal the staff held an ‘awards ceremony’ for the students and gave out prizes that we had bought in the market. The students again were shattered and went to bed just after 10:30pm.
Finally, on the Monday we checked out of the Hotel at 6:30am and flew back to Hong Kong where the students were met by their parents, and the staff went home to finally relax. The trip had gone without incident and had been carefully organised by Deepak Thapar of Century Travel. I would recommend his use for any school trip and I know that he is already being used by Shatin’s History Department.
The History department believed that the trip was an extremely worthwhile event that we would like to see it become an annual event. Unfortunately, next year’s school calendar does not allow us to use a public holiday and we would request one day off so that the trip can go ahead once again.
Miss Judith Owen