Welcome to Vietnam!

It’s just past 8:00am here in Vietnam and the MV Explorer is now docked in port after snaking its way through the Nha Be River on the last leg of our passage to Ho Chi Minh City. A number of Voyagers awoke before the sun was even up to watch as we made our way through the beautiful Vietnamese landscape.



There is an incredibly deep and vibrant history here. Ho Chi Minh city, formerly known as Saigon, is today the largest city in Vietnam. It was originally established as a small fishing village named Prey Nokor and was inhabited by the Khmer people before the Vietnamese began to settle in the area. In the 1600’s, the Vietnamese annexed the territory from Cambodia. However, it was conquered by the French in 1859. They formally renamed the city Saigon and made it the capital of their colony, Cochinchina.


The French influences on the city can still be seen today and it is often referred to as “The Pearl of the Far East” or “The Paris in the Orient.” Saigon once again became a capital city following the split between the north and the south, serving as the capital of South Vietnam from 1954-1975. Following reunification though, the capital moved to Hanoi, located about 1,000 miles north of Saigon, and the city was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City. However, even to this day, the city is still commonly referred to as Saigon, even on signs located in Hanoi.


What was once a swampland is now home to roughly 9 million inhabitants and has become arguably Vietnam’s most important city. While it only accounts for 0.6% of the country’s land area, Ho Chi Minh City boasts 7.5% of the population, over 20% of the nation’s GDP, and close to 30% of industrial output. The standard of living is also steadily rising, with per capita income rising from $730 USD in 2006 to $2100 USD in 2007. Ho Chi Minh City is also home to over 70 colleges and universities, which together have a student population of roughly 380,000.

Semester at Sea voyagers will also be making their way to several other destinations in Vietnam as well as Cambodia. I will be posting some stories on the trips in the coming days so stay tuned!

Halfway There

The MV Explorer has been quite a busy place lately, and things are only going to pick up from here. We departed Thailand last night and we will arrive in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, early Sunday morning. It’s a virtual whirlwind through Asia that will also include Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, and Yokohama.

Voyagers are taking full advantage of every stop though. Thailand provided all of us with a plethora of opportunities for exploration and travel. The most popular destinations included Bangkok, Phuket, Chang Mai, and Pattaya. From visiting orphanages, to riding elephants, to petting tigers, to learning about Thai history and Buddhism, and visiting incredible temples and palaces, Semester at Sea students really did it all.

We recently passed the halfway mark of our journey together, and for many students, the voyage is really starting to take form. We have reached a point where real comparisons of a number of countries and cultures can be made and the intrinsic unique value of the Semester at Sea mission becomes more and more evident. Charlie House, a student in international affairs at Marshall University, said that, “before I left, my friends told me that things would change...in Bangkok they did.”

The human contact that Voyagers are having, the poverty they are witnessing in certain places, and the cultures they are experiencing, in addition to an academic program that is truly global, is having a marked impact on Voyagers’ respective views of the world. Greg, a student at the University of Maryland, works in an ER back home, and in Bangkok, he joined UVa med students that are on board for a few ports on a visit to a major hospital. He described his experience to the community. “I was looking around, seeing patients and doctors interacting in the atmosphere…it was so different there – the language and the faces – but it was the same also…the same human experiences I see at home. Things are different, cultures clash, but I see so much of the same, everyone wants the same things in life no matter where they are. Things are remarkably similar in their different ways.”

The education students are receiving also hits closer to home though, and many Voyagers are finding out that they are learning more about themselves through this journey. SAS trips are taking many outside of their comfort zones and into unfamiliar territory. As Emily Cohen, a Babson University student, said, “It’s good to push yourself to places you don’t know.