Postcard from Waikiki, Honolulu

4/22/2008

Question: If you had only one day to spend in Hawaii, what would you choose to do?

Answer: Why, of course, you would want to visit a Psychiatric Hospital!

Yes, friends, we only had 12 hours ashore in Honolulu, while the ship refueled and took on provisions, so Jim took 8 students to tour Hawaii State Hospital. This was a different experience for the kids, as HSH is a forensic hospital where one has to commit a crime and be declared insane or unfit by the courts to get in.

HPPA laws nonwithstanding, we encountered the highest security / confidentiality practices here – not only could we not take pictures of the patients, but also couldn’t take pictures of most of the buildings or the chickens in the yard! (The administration is embarrassed that they can’t seem to keep the feral chickens out, so didn’t want us to photograph them.)

This hospital was cited in the textbook for Jim’s class as being one of the worst hospitals in the US back in the 80s, so we were interested in the facilities. Happy to say, most of the hospital has been rebuilt as a result of the public black eye it received back then. If you’ve got to be crazy somewhere, I’d recommend this place!

HSH has over 600 staff for 200 patients, and a patient to nurse ratio or 5:1. One of the social worker we spoke with told us the patients say HSH stands for “Home Sweet Home!” We spent much of our time out in the Aloha Garden, where patients maintain vegetable and flower gardens, practice ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and cooking classes with the produce that they grow. We held hands and the social worker sang a Hawaiian Aloha chant to increase our harmony… what a nice morning!

After lunch, we took a city bus to Waikiki Beach, and then a taxi to Diamond Head crater. This is a huge crater formed when a volcano exploded many moons ago, and is the highest point of the island. It is a tourist attraction to climb to the summit, so the path was cement and had hand-rails and steps… hardly a challenge for mountain climbers like Jim and me! We were all breathing hard by the time we got to the top, but the view, as always, was worth it!

After descending and grabbing a cab back to the beach, we walked around Waikiki like proper tourists, admired the clear blue water and the bikini-clad, did some shopping, and had dinner at a revolving restaurant that overlooks the city – lovely!

Arriving back at the ship, we were surprised at the long line of students having their bags searched – the kids spent their one day at Wal-Mart and Costco, stocking up on chips, salsa, peanut butter and sugary cereal. With only 3 weeks left of the cruise, they brought enough junk food on board to last another 6 months! One of the boys said, “It feels so good to be back in the US, it makes me want to go to Wal-Mart and buy a gun – just because I can!” He turned around to see the look on my face, and hastily added, “only kidding Mom!”

On Our Way to Honolulu, Hawaii

4/15/2008

Most all of us made it back to the ship on time, and we are now on a 9 day journey to Honolulu. (There are rumours that we have lost several students throughout the voyage due to alcohol poisoning – another one had to be hospitalized in Kobe - once they recover they are not invited to return to the ship.) We also had a student who lost his passport, so could not get back on the ship. He left his knapsack, with wallet, passport and expensive camera in a restaurant, and by the time he noticed its absence, the restaurant was closed. He went the next morning to the American Embassy in Osaka to report the loss – the knapsack and all its contents had already been turned in. The official assured him that this was the norm in Japan – crime is just not an issue. He will catch up with us in Honolulu.

We crossed the International Date Line on Tuesday April 15^th, so the following day was also Tuesday, April 15^th – sort of like the movie Groundhog Day, it was so nice, we did twice! Remembering that this is Tax Day in the US, we might want to consider always doing it twice to give those last minute procrastinators one more chance to pay their respects to Uncle Sam!

We have been one day ahead of you for quite some time, so now I think we’re back on the same schedule. We’ll continue to reset the clocks and lose an hour of sleep every day until we reach Hawaii.

Whoever named this the Pacific (peaceful) Ocean had a good sense of humor – it’s been rocking and rolling on board since we set off. At dinner, the food sloshed all over, the cabinets opened and all the cups fell out, and some of the diners ended up on the floor!

4/18

Today was a free day – no classes – so Jim held an all-day meditation retreat on board for his daily meditation group. We started at 09:00, and alternatingly sat, walked, and chanted until 17:00, including a silent lunch and hot tea breaks in the Vipassina Buddhist tradition. We had about 10 students, many staying for the whole experience, and a few coming by for just part of the day to see what it was all about. A quiet time was had by all.

4/19

Today was Crew Appreciation day, so I will tell you a Customer Service story. We have almost 200 crew members on board – room stewards, waiters, busboys, cooks, spa attendants, sailors and officers. They are hired in the Philippines on an 8 month contract, which means they will complete at least two back-to-back semester tours before getting time off to go home.

Mezraim Josephs is a waiter from Jamaica. He works in the Dining Hall, attending to the needs of 700 teenagers (think school cafeteria to a power of 10 – yuck!). He started learning our names on the very first day of the voyage, and greets everyone with a smile in his lilting Bahamian accent – “Good morning to you Mr. Jim, greetings Lady Karen!” He meets us at the buffet and insists on carrying our trays for us – “here is a nice table for you, right by the window the way you like!” or “Ms. Nancy is eating alone this morning, would you like to join her?”

He learned what we like, “two coffee with cream, am I right?”, and then went above and beyond, “I heated up the cream so your coffee will be nice and hot”. He sings to us, sometimes songs that we know, and sometimes songs that he makes up for the occasion. He is always gracious, upbeat and totally attentive to the needs of every person with whom he comes into contact.

Now, Mezraim is no longer young, a bit grey at the temples, and has overcome physical problems – he walks with a slight limp and wears one built-up shoe. His wife, grown children and grandchildren are home in Jamaica where he cannot see them for eight months. He has had his share of trouble; one son on drugs, grandbabies to raise, yet he smiles. Yet he sings.

One morning I asked the meaning of his name Mezraim. He said it was from the Bible, but he really didn’t know where. Me being me, I logged onto the computer right after breakfast, and Googled “Mezraim”, expecting the biblical reference to come up and point me in the right direction. Imagine my surprise when practically the whole first page of citations were for “Mezraim on Semester at Sea”. I opened each link to read the blogs of current and former voyagers, extolling the virtues of Mezraim Josephs – how he helps the kids who were homesick, how he reminds them of father, uncle, friend, how he takes such good care them, warms their hearts and makes sure they are doing all right.

I did find the biblical reference after a while – Mezraim was the son of Ham, grandson of Noah in Genesis. He is credited with bringing chemistry to Egypt. I brought this info back to Mezraim the next morning, along with the news that he was famous in the blogs of the students. This brought a tear to his eye – he had no idea that he was so highly regarded, but he was happy to know that the students understood how much he cared.

So, who makes your day? Who makes you smile? Who sees the extraordinary in the ordinary? Appreciate them. Thank you Mezraim!

A Trip to Wani and Old Friends

On Sunday, we took the train (clean, quiet, on time) from Kobe to Kyoto, then another train up into the mountains to visit Jim’s long-time friend Carl Becker and his wife Akiko. Carl teaches and heads up research projects for Kyoto University, and has lived in Japan for 35 years. Akiko teaches American History – Civil War and Reconstruction – at a university north of Tokyo, living in an apartment near Tokyo during the week, and commuting 6 hours home by plane and train every other weekend. They are a “commuting couple” – a common occurrence in Japan.

Carl and Akiko live near Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. Even though their home is considered rural by Japanese standards, the homes are densely packed in their town of Wani, with houses built vertically, and not much yard between houses. This is true throughout Japan, where land is at a premium. Looking at their lovely lake view, Carl laughed and told us that he leaves home each morning before six and doesn’t return home until after 8pm, so he doesn’t get to see the view very often. The Japanese work long hours and take very little vacation time – Carl said many Japanese work their whole careers without ever taking more than a long weekend off.

Carl and Akiko took us into town to dine at a totally automated Sushi restaurant, which was a blast! Here’s how it worked: Akiko entered the number of our party in the reservation computer, and received a receipt with a number and the approximate wait time. When our number was called, we walked ourselves over to the numbered table which was designated for us. On the table were cups and a hot water spigot, where we were welcome to make ourselves cups of green tea. Dishes of all different sorts of sushi, soups and desserts paraded past our booth on a conveyor belt – when we saw something we wanted, we just lifted the plate off the conveyor, and it was ours. If you wanted something that you didn’t see, you could punch it into the computer and it would come down the conveyor on a special red plate. Each plate had a bar code on the bottom, and when the plate was empty, we sent it down a chute in the table that recorded the price of what we had eaten, and kept a running tally of our bill so far. For every 5
plates, we got a turn at the computerized slot machine on our computer display, for a chance to win a gum-ball prize (this is very popular with children). We didn’t win anything. When we were done eating, Carl pushed the Total on the computer screen, and a human (the first one we encountered!) brought over our bill and asked if everything was satisfactory and thanked us for coming. Totally cool!

The Japanese consider customer service to be of the utmost importance. At the restaurant, it would be much easier to have our bill print out at the table and have the transaction completed with a card swipe, but the Japanese feel that the personal touch, and thanking the customer is essential for doing business. We noticed the same at the supermarket we visited in town (like a Super-Walmart, with clothes, food and garden supplies under one roof) – they have automated everything but the checkout, which still has a pretty lady to thank you for your business. (The toilets at the supermarket were totally cool too, with warmed seat, refreshing spray and a button to push to make continuous flushing noises in case you are shy of peeing in public places!)

We stayed up late, with Jim and Carl talking old times. As is customary here, we brought presents from the ship for our hosts, and in return, Akiko gave me a silk kimono jacket – lovely! Japanese houses don’t have central heat (it was quite cold up in the mountains) but rather use space heaters so that only the room occupied is heated, and all heat is shut off at night. They are very fuel and energy conscious, and have adopted the Kyoto Accords (which America has not) which include unplugging the TV and computer when not in use to save the “stand-by” energy.

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast of pecan pancakes with ginger syrup, then walked around the neighborhood, enjoying the cherry blossoms, tulips and daffodils, and looking at the huge new housing developments under construction nearby. Then we drove into town to visit the Sanzen-In Buddhist temple, which had the most spectacular garden we have seen. It was like walking in a dream. It was also nice to tour a Buddhist temple with Buddhists, who could tell me the meaning of what I was seeing. The Japanese follow Shin Buddhism, or Pure Land Buddhism, which maintains that anyone can improve their lives by reflection of one’s limitations. This branch of Buddhism also holds that after death, one can be transported to a Pure Land (Indian Buddhism does not address what comes after death).

Akiko had to fly back to Tokyo in the afternoon, so our hosts left us in town with hugs and promises to visit again soon. Jim and I shared another wonderful noodle lunch, walked around town some more, then took a bus back to Kyoto Station for our trip home to Kobe. Even up in the mountains, the bus schedule was English-friendly, and, with Jim’s expert navigational skills, we had no trouble finding our way or negotiating the automated ticket machines.

Back in Kobe, we stopped to visit the oldest Shinto Shrine in Japan, and were lucky to encounter a parade of dragons and colorful characters on its way to the shrine. The dragon gave me a cloth with some Japanese characters on it – I’ll bring it home and see if David can translate it for me!

A Day in Kyoto

4/12/2008

Today we took an SAS bus tour to Kyoto, which is about 90 minutes from Kobe. We were warned that our visit coincided with the last big weekend of cherry blossom season, and also the last weekend before the start of the new school term, and to expect mammoth crowds. It was a beautiful spring day, and the crowds were out in full force.

Our tour guide, Junko-san, carried a flag so we could see where she was in the crowds, but she was so little that we lost sight of her frequently. Our first stop was the Kiyomizu Temple, a Buddhist temple up on a hill with a breathtaking view of the city and extensive grounds and gardens.

Of note at this temple was a shrine for lost babies, with many small Buddha statues without faces, decorated with red aprons. Mothers come here to look for the face of their dead
children and pray for their happiness. (Prior to WWII, village-mandated abortion was one of the primary birth control methods in Japan, necessary to keep the population from becoming too large.)

There were many charms for sale, promising good luck for specific events – happy marriage, healthy baby, good results on exams. You can purchase a paper fortune at a booth – if you like the fortune, you bring it home with you; if you do not like the fortune, you hang it on a tree for the winds to carry away…

Back on the bus (at exactly 11 o’clock – we were terribly punctual all day!) we ventured next to Heian Shinto Shrine. Here the style of praying was a bit different – after placing money at the shrine, the supplicant bows twice with hands in prayer position, then claps twice to get the
attention of the gods, then bows again.

We went for lunch at Maruyama Park, an open space where we ate our box lunches with hundreds of others with the same idea. The park had food to sell, and we finished our lunch with some green tea ice cream – yum!

Our next stop was Nijo Castle, built in 1603 as the residence of the Tokugawa Shogun. The
castle consisted of outer rooms constructed for lords waiting to see the shogun, and inner chambers where the shogun and his maidservants slept. We had to take off our shoes to tour the castle, and noted that the wooden floors surrounding the outer chambers were constructed to make a squeaking sound at the slightest footfall. The floors are called “nightingale floors” as the sound of a person walking sounds like a bird call, to alert the people within of any intruders. The castle was surrounded by a moat, and had beautiful gardens with rockery and water features all around it.

Our last experience of the day was Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavilion, which was constructed in the 1390s as a retirement villa for the shogun. The building is entirely covered in gold leaf, and is a sight to behold across the water. We were not permitted to go inside this building, but were informed that George W. did so during his visit to Japan. The pavilion is surrounded by beautiful gardens, and here we observed several women dressed in traditional kimonos, having their pictures taken in the gardens.

Nowadays, women only wear the kimono, which is very tight and severely restricts movement, for weddings and special occasions like tea ceremonies. The kimono is impossible to put on by oneself, so there are shops that one can go to with people who will help you don the kimono properly.

The exchange rate here is about 100 yen = 1 US dollar, so it was pretty easy to mentally convert the prices. The Japanese do not bargain – the price is the price. Although we were aware that things were expensive here, due to the weakness of the dollar, they were not as bad as we anticipated, and we were able to purchase souvenirs. My son David asked for Japanese candy as a souvenir – many sweets here are made of rice paste and do not travel well – I hope we got a kind that he likes!

Postcard from Kobe, Japan

4/11/2008

Today we arrived at the Port of Kobe, and went through the most extensive immigration procedure yet! We all had to walk through a temperature screening machine (to assure that we did not bring any flu from Hong Kong), then be electronically fingerprinted and have our pictures taken. It was almost noon before the ship was cleared; mostly it was standing and waiting.

Our journey today was with Jim and his students to the Kohu Psychiatric Hospital in Kobe. The bus ride through Kobe revealed a city much like American cities in terms of traffic and types of
automobiles (the Japanese drive SUVs and mini-vans like Americans, not the tiny cars we’ve
encountered elsewhere). A nice difference were the elevated walkways for bicycles and pedestrians which keep people away from the traffic and encourage walking and biking – an idea we should adopt!

We received our first insight into Japanese culture on our way to the hospital – our interpreter called on her cell phone to inform the hospital that we were on our way and would arrive in about ten minutes. She was told that we were not expected for another 30 minutes, so informed us that the driver would drive us around for half an hour as it would be impolite to arrive early.

It is the height of the cherry blossom season in Kobe, so we had no complaints about taking a tour of the beautiful trees. When we arrived (right on time) we were given a tour of the facility by a young resident, Dr. Iijima, who wore a white mask over her mouth and nose (we observed many people wearing masks around the city, and were told that it is because they have hay fever and wish to keep the pollen out of their bodies). The facility was bright and spacious, with flowers and artwork throughout, and each unit had areas for arts and crafts, computing, music (with a piano and several guitars in each room), and karaoke! There was a large gymnasium,
gardens with fountains, and a generally pleasing setting.

After our tour (which lasted exactly one hour) we adjourned to a lecture hall, where Dr. Nakamoto, a psychiatrist, had prepared a powerpoint presentation for us. We were amazed to learn how different the Japanese mental health care system is, not only from the US system, but from every other country we have visited so far. The average length of stay in a mental health facility in Japan is 330 days (contrasted to 7–10 days in US), with many patients remaining in hospital for 10 years or more. And here’s the kicker (Eliese and Dawn are you reading?) – the
patient to nurse ratio in the acute units is 2 patients per nurse!!!!

The Japanese government provides universal healthcare, that covers about 70% - 90% of healthcare costs for those that are employed (the unemployed receive full coverage until they can pay). Dr. Nakamoto said the government is trying to encourage the psychiatric facilities to follow the world model by reducing stays, and was starting to close wards within each hospital to achieve that goal, but the doctors here are reluctant to let patients out unless they are either cured or have a community program to support them. He said they have been trying to change their model, but progress has been slow. A real eye-opening experience for us…

After our return to the ship, we attended a reception where the officials of Kobe presented the ship’s captain and crew with tokens of esteem for choosing their port. The highlight of the ceremony was a drumming demonstration by a group of students using fat sticks and big drums of different sizes – a powerful performance!

Postcard from Shanghai

From Karen 4/7/2008

Well, I shared with many my nightmares about flying back to join the ship, and the ship not being there for me. Luckily, this did not happen, and Jim was there to greet me in Hong Kong. Not so for the kids here in Shanghai!

Most of the students (almost 700 of them) flew north from Hong Kong to visit Beijing and the Great Wall of China (they said it was… great!) and planned to rejoin the ship in Shanghai. The ship was due to dock at 4am Monday morning, and we were told that we would be awakened at 5am to go through the Customs drill. Well, the fog had other plans for us…

Sunday night was pea soup fog (actually more like cream of potato soup), and the port of Shanghai was closed to all traffic. We sat out at sea most all day Monday, waiting for the okay to dock. This was the first day of the whole voyage where there were no plans for us – we slept in and called it our “snow day”, and they showed “The Little Mermaid” and “Little Miss Sunshine” on the room TVs over and over for those who could think of nothing else to do!

We finally got the okay to proceed in the late afternoon, and started chugging toward the harbor in still somewhat foggy weather. (Our ship navigates totally automatically, and we could have docked in the fog, but we risked running over all the smaller vessels that don’t have our navigational equipment.) We navigated up the river and actually docked about 7:30 in the evening, much to the relief of the hundreds of students sitting at the port on their backpacks!

So, that left us only one day to see Shanghai.

4/8/2008

We set out early this morning in our raingear (it drizzled on and off throughout the day), and found an ATM with western characters so that we could get some money (1 US dollar = 6.9 yuan). We had pared down our original plans and decided to visit one area of the city only. We took a cab (with an automated English voice recording that greeted us with “welcome to Take Me taxi”) to the Yuyuan Gardens. The cab driver stopped at a busy city intersection, with not one green thing to be seen, and motioned that we had arrived. We got out and looked around, but nothing looked vaguely garden-like, nor were there any signs, so we started walking down the old cobblestone / pedestrian only street.

We were immediately accosted by street sellers offering us Rolex watches, Prada shoes, and Louis Vuitton bags (I didn’t understand the first dozen who asked us, but figured out what they were offering after a while). These goods were not actually to be seen, but the sellers had brochures with pictures of what they would look like if we just followed them… luckily my taste does not run to Prada (now if they were offering Birkenstocks….)

We passed shops offering every imaginable kind of stuff, and lots of yummy smelling food (my favorite had a sign that read, “Dumpling stuffed with the ovary and digestive glands of a crad”), but no gardens. We came upon the Temple of the City God, which was on our list of things to see, so we stopped in there first. The City God of Shanghai is Qin Yu Bo, who ran the city in the 14^th century and was made a god after his death. Sacrifices of incense are made to him to safeguard the city and its inhabitants. As with other Asian temples, there are also a variety of other gods available to venerate with incense, and many shrines all within the temple walls, which took up a city block.

After leaving the temple we came upon a man selling postcards of the Yuyuan Gardens, and after several failed communication attempts, Jim got him to point us in the direction of the Gardens. They were well worth the search; built in 1559, they were very different from the gardens in Hong Kong. The gardens consisted of rockery, water features, bridges, small buildings, and the occasional well placed tree. Wherever we turned, there was another path to follow, and another perspective to see. Beautiful. Peaceful.

When hunger beckoned, we went in search of yummy food, and feasted on dumplings, tofu, green and red peppers and (my favorite) noodles. I don’t think we had any “ovaries of crad”, but there’s no way of really knowing, is there?

We spent the remainder of the afternoon meandering in and out of little shops, bargaining for souvenirs and enjoying the ambiance. We bumped into many of the students, who were snatching up the last “bargains” of our voyage. We don’t think there will be many bargains in Japan or Honolulu…

Postcard from Hong Kong

From Karen 4/3/2008

My first impression of Hong Kong was of the huge airport I flew into to return to the Explorer after my trip home. It is quiet, orderly and very clean, and a young woman told me to remove my hat (I promised Jim I would wear my orange cap so he could spot me in the crowd). Jim had no trouble spotting me even without my cap, and he was a sight for tired eyes after nineteen hours in the air and a three hour delay in Chicago.

From the airport we boarded an express train to Kowloon, where the Explorer was docked. Pristinely clean and quiet, the train’s electronic voice reminded us where we were going, in both English and Chinese. Upon arrival in Kowloon, a taxi took us to a huge, modern mall, full of high-end designer shops and tony jewelry stores. Where was the ship? We entered the mall and headed down a brightly lit corridor, part of a stream of young Chinese out for the evening. Here on the second floor was the gangway to the Explorer! Definitely the classiest berth we have had in any country so far! Our cabin faced out into the harbor, neon lit by all the tall buildings of Hong Kong – like a $500. hotel suite! It was good to be home.

Friday 4/4

Today is our only sight-seeing day in Hong Kong, and I wanted to see as much as we could, jet lag or no. We took the Star Ferry from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island in the morning. The streets were clearly marked, and Jim had no trouble navigating us around the city. We stopped first at the Anglican St. John’s Cathedral, airy and open and very clean-feeling, like the city it inhabits.

From there it was just a short walk to the Botanical and Zoological gardens, where we strolled through lovely paths with neatly kept flowers, labeled trees, and herbs. There was a greenhouse full of orchids (Eliese, you would love these!).

In the zoo, there was a large aviary with many tropical birds, an area for monkeys and lemurs (the monkeys did not look happy in their small cages), and another for reptiles. In the center was a lovely fountain, and old men practicing Tai Chi. It was a lovely way to spend the morning.

At noon we took the Peak Tram, a funicular railway, up to the top of Victoria Peak, the highest point of the city. The guidebook had warned us that Hong Kong is covered in mist (not sure if this is fog or smog) on most days, but it was relatively clear at midday and we were able to see the sights from all directions. We ate lunch at one of the many tourist restaurants on the peak (including one called Bubba Gump Shrimp!), and walked the wooded paths around the summit. This was a place for tourists, and we met a nice couple from Kent, England, as well as some of our students from the ship.

After taking the tram back down to the city, we took a cab to the Man Mo temple, one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong, built in 1847. Man Mo represents both the civil and martial powers. The temple was filled with incense, as the faithful lit 3 sticks to place in front of those deities they wished to honor or request prayers. There was also a furnace where people bought paper money to donate to the gods by burning the money in the furnace.

The temple was in the old part of town, near famous Hollywood Road, where we walked through old fashioned markets and antique shops. We are always on the lookout for plates to add to our collection, and Jim spotted an antique plate depicting the Eight Immortals. The shopkeeper spoke good English, and knew the worth of what she had, so there was no negotiating with her, but we ended up with a very nice plate, and spent a long time looking at her collection of Chairman Mao memorabilia.

While in the old part of town, we stopped for a snack of sticky bean dumplings and tofu in sweet cinnamon sauce, which hit the spot. I’m getting pretty good at chopsticks!

Our last act in Hong Kong, as in every port, was to spend the rest of the local money we had. A US dollar is equivalent to 7.5 Hong Kong dollars. After the ferry ride home, we had 32 HKG left, and Jim was determined to find a souvenir for exactly that price. Of course he did – 32 HKG is the exact price of a shot glass for his collection – mission accomplished! We got back on board with an hour to spare, before the Explorer sailed out of the neon lit harbor and back out to sea.

Journey to Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

3/29/2008 From Jim:

On Saturday, I led a Semester-at-Sea trip with 12 students to Cat Tien National Park, northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. After a six-hour bus ride, we arrived at the Dong Nai River, where we took a ferry to the park.

That afternoon, we were taken for a hike through a "minority village." Vietnam is home to various "minority peoples" whose native tongue is other than Vietnamese. Although these people have given up their traditional way of life, they still live at a basic level – farming with rudimentary technology and raising cows, chickens, and goats. We walked by a Catholic Church that served the community and played with the children who wanted their pictures taken.

In the evening, we saw wild deer and small rodents in the forest. The jungle-like environment produces extremely exotic sounds made by birds, insects, and who-knows-what else. The Cat Tien National Park is the home of the extremely rare white rhinoceros. Very few people have seen one, and experts estimate that only five animals remain alive.

Sunday morning, we hiked 6 km through the seasonal wetlands to a lake famous for its crocodiles. It was very hot (how hot? HOT). The crocodiles only come out in the evening. We hiked through astonishing terrain filled with exotic trees, birds, and insects. Most memorable were the huge trees – some trees were over 700 years old.

We also encountered leeches, which our guide assured us were not poisonous. Leeches create a small hole that bleeds due to the anti-coagulant the leech injects in the wound to aid them in sucking your blood. The indigenous peoples used to drive wild buffalo into the leech filled water. So many leeches would attach themselves to the buffalo that it would bleed to death. The people then feasted on the buffalo and blood-filled leeches. When we arrived at the lake, we followed our guide's advice regarding staying clear of the water's edge.

We spent the night in small cabins under mosquito nets and were surprised at the wonderful food they served in the park eating facilities. Each day we feasted on Vietnamese cuisine, drinking plenty of bottled water to reduce dehydration.

The next day we hiked through dense bamboo thickets to rapids along the banks of the Dong Nai River. Swimming was not advised – and a student who soaked his feet in the water acquired three leeches for his trouble.

I got a chance to talk with some Vietnamese who told us about their lives during the 1980s and 1990s (hard times for many). Our guide's uncle had served in the army of South Vietnam (ARVN or Army of the Republic of Vietnam), with whom I was an advisor in 1970-1971. He had been a medical doctor but after "reunification" (the defeat of South Vietnam), he had been sent to a "re-education camp" where the labor was intense and the food inadequate. Many were starved or were worked to death. After two years, he escaped and sought aid from relatives in Central Vietnam, where he joined others in escaping by boat to the Philippines. Eventually, he made his way to Australia and a few years ago was allowed to return to visit his relatives in Vietnam – telling them the story of his survival.

I really like hiking – as did the students who signed up for this trip. Although parts of the trip were like an endurance test (and the heat was a bit overwhelming at times), this trip was my best experience in Vietnam. We were exposed to an environment that went beyond the imagination of most people.