PapaMarshall

WC074 – 3/6/2023 – Off to Vietnam

Before we start…

Someone today asked how to get to the next post, or the prior post, or any post in this blog.

  • Near the bottom of the post (right above the “Comments” section) you will see, on the left and right, a reference to the prior post and a reference to the subsequent post. Select either one as necessary.
  • Also, to save a bunch of skipping around, you can select “TRAVEL” – which will bring up all posts with a tag of travel (including all posts for this topic), or “WORLD CRUISE 22-23” which will bring up all posts for this cruise. From there you can scroll to select the post you desire.
  • Finally, at the top of the page is a “dash” that will take you to the main menu. From there you can navigate to “Blogs” and the “World Cruise 2022-23” blog.
  • If that doesn’t work, or if you have further questions (or suggestions) please let me know.

Noon Report:

  • Location: S 02° 04.80′, E 109° 04.10′
  • Speed: 18 knots
  • Course: 299º
  • Weather: Cloudy
  • Temperature: 27º C, 81º F
  • Wind: W 15 knots, 17 mph
  • Seas: 2 meters, 6.5 feet

During his noon announcement today our Captain warned us that “we would feel a bit of a bump at about 8:30 this evening when we cross over the equator”.

Other than that it’s just another sea day.

For me, it felt good to get back on the deck this morning. For Cheryl, she still isn’t 100% so she stayed in bed until I got back. Then we went for waffles at Mamsen’s. We both needed a reward.

Our next event was a 9:30 lecture on “History of Southeast Asia.” You may sense a theme here. Not yet? How about the 11:00 lecture “Dong Bao (Same Pouch) Essence of Vietnamese Nationalism.”

Cheryl’s Factoids:

  • We are having lots of lectures now about Southeast Asia.
  • Traders and merchants from India and China spread Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism and finally Islam and these various religions have been drivers of political kingdoms in SE Asia.
  • These ancient Empires would expand until they ran into the next kingdom and then they would fight to take over (The ruined temple of Angor Wat is still the world’s largest religious complex).
  • After the Empire period, what is now Vietnam also fought off invasions from China, 3 invasions from the Mongols, another takeover from China which took over 100 years to repel, then against the French colonist rule (which is when Ho Chi Minh turned to communism to unite people in fighting the French, and against the Japanese takeover during WWII, then the French again).
  • Finally the Indochina Communist Party fought the “American War” to get all foreign rule out of their country.
  • When Constantinople fell, the West’s connection to the Silk Road was closed. So Western powers tried to find other ways to SE Asia. Vasco de Gama finally found a way around the Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
  • Initially the western traders and religions were welcomed but then they started claiming land.
  • By 1800 all of SE Asians countries except Thailand were “western” colonies – until the Japanese invaded in WWII.
  • Following WWII Nationalist forces in Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh asserted control of the northern part of the country. This created a complex set of issues as other countries tried to balance the goal of self-determination for the Vietnamese people against fears of the spread of Communism.
  • At the 1954 Geneva Peace Convention an imaginary line was placed to divide Communist-leaning North Vietnam from West-leaning South Vietnam.
  • In 1965 the first American troops arrived in the country, first as military advisors and then as combat troops engaging in a war that lasted until the Paris Peace Accord of 1973.
  • After all these years of war the economy of SE Asia was in shambles which didn’t help when the Communist party took all the people with good paying jobs to farms and put the untrained, uneducated farmers in charge of the businesses.
  • It wasn’t until the Communist party became more liberalized in 1980 that their economy turned around and Vietnam is now are a major exporter of goods, capital is flooding in, and living standards are rising.

After lunch we worked on catching up the blog posts until 2:00 when we attended another of Bruce’s Music Appreciation sessions. This one: “Classics Go Animated”. He played several famous Disney melodies that had been arranged in the style of classical composers (Mozart, Handel, Bartok, Chopin, etc.). It was very interesting to hear.

At 4:30 we watched the Port Talk for Ho Ci Minh City on our stateroom TV.

6:00 found us in the Restaurant for dinner with new friends: Gail and Tom. We had a great time getting to know this fun couple from San Louis Obispo, California.

Dinner was done in time to head upstairs for BBB (Bruce’s Brain Busters – Team Trivia) although it was pretty much a case of entering the lions’ den armed with at wet noodle. Our score – 10/27 was kind-of the opposite from the other’s nite’s winning effort.

Following that debacle we headed back to our stateroom and used our cabin TV to watch the 9:00 lecture: “Bruce Lee – Asia’s First Cinematic Superstar” given by Russell Lee. (Bruce Lee played “Kato” in Hollywood’s “Green Lantern” series – Chinese viewers were enthralled and he became a superstar in China). Very interesting and (as you’d expect) very entertaining.

Then it was time to write up today’s post and save it so Cheryl can edit it in the morning.

That done, I’ll head for bed. But before I go, here’s a photo of the amazing turquoise sea we’re crossing.

Enjoy, R

Cheryl’s Factoids:

  • We are having lots of lectures now about Southeast Asia. Traders and merchants from India and China spread Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism and finally Islam and these various religions have been drivers of political kingdoms in SE Asia. These ancient Empires would expand until they ran into the next kingdom and then they would fight to take over (The ruined temple of Angor Wat is still the world’s largest religious complex).
  • After the Empire period, what is now Vietnam also fought off invasions from China, 3 invasions from the Mongols, another takeover from China which took over 100 years to repel, then against the French colonist rule (which is when Ho Chi Minh turned to communism to unite people in fighting the French, and against the Japanese takeover during WWII, then the French again). Finally the Indochina Communist Party fought the “American War” to get all foreign rule out of their country.
  • When Constantinople fell, the West’s connection to the Silk Road was closed. So Western powers tried to find other ways to SE Asia. Vasco de Gama finally found a way around the Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Initially the western traders and religions were welcomed but then they started claiming land. By 1800 all of SE Asians countries except Thailand were “western” colonies – until the Japanese invaded in WWII. Afterwards the 1954 Geneva Peace Convention an imaginary line was placed to divide North Vietnam from South Vietnam. In 1965 the first American troops arrived in the country – that lasted until the Paris Peace Accord of 1973. After all these years of war the economy of SE Asia was in shambles which didn’t help when the Communist party took all the people with good paying jobs to farms and put the untrained, uneducated farmers in charge of the businesses. It wasn’t until the Communist party became more liberalized in 1980 that their economy turned around and they now are a major exporter of coffee, capitalism is flooding in and living standards are rising.