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Published: January 24th 2008
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After arriving safely on an old Tiger Airways plane (it still had ash trays!), I quickly made my way through customs, exchanged some U.S. and Australian currency into Vietnamese Dong and ventured outside to figure out how I was going to get into the heart of the city. It was at this point when I became aware of something that I had forgotten from my last trip to South East Asia - the amount of people who approach you to offer you a taxi. At this point I didn't even know where I intended to stay, so I explained to the first man who approached me that I was going to sit down and figure it out. After walking away, he followed me and explained that he was the 'Airport Taxi Supervisor' and that he would organise a ride into the city. I once again declined his offer, figured out where I wanted to go and got up to walk to a bus. I hadn't even risen to a standing position when I was approached by another man. He offered me a ride (after some excellent haggling) which was in line with the price indicated in the Lonely Planet guide, so
I accepted. Upon seeing me enter another taxi, the first man approached me in a rather animated fashion, appearing to be distraught and deeply hurt that I hadn't accepted his services because he offered his services first. All this did was prove to me that he certainly was not the Airport Taxi Supervisor.
Once inside the taxi, I spent the entire time watching in disbelief at the ordered chaos that is the streets of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). At any one time we were surrounded by hundreds of motorbikes, cars, vans and buses - all of which were incessantly honking their horns. All of these vehicles appeared to drive on any part of the road or footpath that was unoccupied. This meant that we were often driving into oncoming traffic. I soon realised that there would not be any serenity in this city.
After I alighted onto the footpath, I was confronted with the prospect of crossing the road - no easy feat when considering the monumental flow of traffic and the seeming absence of road rules (there seems to be one main rule: yield to a larger a vehicle). I had done this a year before in Cambodia, but it was nothing like what I was faced with here. After 10 minutes of repeated crossings I was rather frazzled, yet every local was as calm as could be - I had a lot to learn.
A lady approached me by dancing in front of me, singing that she had a room for $10 U.S. Dollars. I had a look and it was surprisingly quiet, as it was a few stories high and set back from the street. I took it, as I knew I would get some sleep in the quiet abode.
After dropping off my bags, I made my way to the War Remnants Museum. This journey was well worth it, as I got to see the war from the Vietnamese perspective. The images I saw of Agent Orange victims, torture victims and the stories I read were horrific and I completely lost my appetite. At certain times I thought I was going to be sick and felt an incredible sadness. I could not comprehend how a human being could inflict this trauma upon another.
After leaving the museum, I found a seat in a park where I gathered my thoughts and processed all that I had seen. This was the most peaceful part of the city that I found and I soon realised that this is where many locals would come to exercise. These exercises consist of a brisk walk, or simply stretching all of the joints in a rotating or flicking fashion. I heard about this from a past colleague of mine (John Hingston) and reflected upon his story of how after witnessing this for a few days he decided to join in with them. They all laughed together and had a wonderful time. Maybe I will also do this before I leave the country?
When I got back to the street of the hostel, I had some tea. Unfortunately there was an obnoxious Australian there who was making a huge fuss to the polite and demure waitresses about the fact that his beer was warm, stating such things as, "Do I have to go to Norway to get a cold beer?" - I was infuriated by his inconsiderate and rude manner. He certainly was not a good advertisement for the people of our country. The food was beautiful and the staff lovely, but he just whinged about everything he had experienced in Vietnam.
After dinner I booked an open Sinh Cafe bus ticket from HCMC to Hue, stopping at various cities along the way. This is a wonderful arrangement, as you can take a month to get to the final city, stopping for as many days as you please in the cities you visit along the way. To top it off, it's only $35 U.S. Dollars a ticket!
Dalat awaits...
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