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Published: July 19th 2008
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Ho Chi Minh City
This is the area the backpacker set hang out at. The "Go 2 Bar" on the left is where I spent the evening when I turned 29. Hey everybody.
Its been awhile so let me try to remember where I left off last. I think I was still in Phon Penh, Cambodia and getting ready to leave for Vietnam.
Alright, so I got my ticket for Saigon, A.K.A. Ho Chi Minh City, and my visa into Vietnam through my guesthouse in Phom Penh. The bus picked me up in the morning outside my place and a six hour trip later I was dumped off in Saigon. It was roughly four in the afternoon on July 15th at this point. There's a couple block section off a street, Pham Ngu Lao, that parallels a park in Saigon filled guesthouses that is pretty much the backpacker hangout. The bus dropped us off right on that street. Now I knew what section of Pham Ngu Lao that I wanted to stay at but didn't know where exactly it was. A taxi driver told me it was a really long walk and he'd drive me. It was a metered taxi so I figured it was relatively safe and I got in. I wasn't feeling in the mood to walk around the streets with my backpack for an indefinite amount of
time after that long bus trip. I'm pretty good pretty good at knowing my orientation as I'm in a car or walking and could tell this guy was just taking me in a very large circle for ten minutes. He ended up dropping me off on the other street on the other side of the same block that I was dropped off at. Thanks jerk. When I began walking everyguesthouse has someone trying to get you to go to there's. This lady was following me trying to get me to go to hers. She then starts asking me why I spent money for a taxi to go around the block like that was my intention. Thanks lady, dig the knife deeper.
The night got better from there. I walked around parts of the city then went to a really cool bar that had a lot of travellers at it. While there I found out it was the 15th which meant it'd be my birthday in a few hours. Good to know. I talked to a really interesting guy from Bombay and his wife for about an hour when I got there. He told me to call if I'm ever
in Bombay and I could stay at one(?!) of his houses. Later in the night I was sharing mojitos with a hilarious guy and girl from England. When I let it slip that it was my birthday in a couple minutes they became determined to make sure I enjoyed my first few minutes through giving me more drinks. The funniest part of the night was this little kid I nicknamed "Short Round", probably about four years old, that was going around the bar trying to sell postcards to people. He would just randomly get down in a squating position then jump up giggling. I did it once with him as he was doing it and he kept wanting me to jump with him for the rest of the night. He then later started dancing like Michael Jackson. I'm not kidding. It was gut-wrenchingly hysterical.
The next day I spent walking around and trying to figure out where to go after Saigon. I want to get to Laos (Luang Prang) as soon as possible since I'd like to spend a few days there and Chiang Mai, Thailand before I go home. To do this I have to go north, and
relatively fast. I decided at night I'd take a bus to Hoi An, an old port city near Danang, about halfway up through Vietnam.
The next morning I was walking around trying to get a bus ticket for that day but none were available. I'd have to leave the next day which was ok since I hadn't really seen too much of the city. The attendent told me it would be about a 11-12 hour trip when I got my ticket. The rest of the day I spent at the Vietnam War Relics Museum, fearing my sister Missy's wrath if I didn't. I went to bed early that night since I'd was leaving at 7:15 the next morning.
The coach bus spent about two hours in Saigon picking everybody up to go then fighting its way out of the city. The roads were aweful for the first five, six hours of the trip too. We rarely went over 40 miles/hr. These buses too are built for the SE Asian body frame (I'm a giant here) so I have to sit crooked on them so as to not spill over into my neighbor's seat. This position puts all the
Hoi An at night
Its fuzzy, I know. pressure of my back into one point on the seat and is discomforting for me over time. Well, twelve hours go by and we're at a city. I look at a sign outside a hotel and see we're in Nha Trang, a beach city that was site of the Ms. Universe pagent a couple days ago. My Lonely Planet guidebook was in my hand so I open up the Vietnam map and find I'm only HALFWAY to Hoi An.
The bus staff told me, two Irish girls and a Scottish guy to get off and switch to a bus across the street. We did and thank god they told us to. It was a "sleeper" so we got to lay out on beds throughout a coach that looks like its packed with small bunk beds in place of seats. It's much more comfortable and easier to sleep.
At 7 AM we made it to Hoi An. I walked to an incredible guesthouse with huge rooms and with a dark, wooden walls and floor shaped in a classical Chinese architecture. It was beautiful and a place you'd remember staying at for the rest of your life. However, it was $20 a night so I went to the budget place across the street for $10. The rest of this afternoon I spent exploring this amazing city and writing some long over due postcards (they're coming Susan!). Tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading on a coach to Hanoi where we'll arrive at 6 AM. I want to get into Laos as quickly as possible so I'll only likely spend a day before getting on yet another coach and spending yet another day sitting uncomfortably. Unfortunately there's just too much to see so I can't waste anymore days meandering around cities.
Six weeks just isn't enough. If only I had more time...
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Dana
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Happy B-Day!
I can't wait to see pictures when we get back to school. Happy B-Day; you are getting old:-)