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Published: October 22nd 2005
We arrived in Saigon to find a city similar to Pnom Penh. The streets were packed with motorcycles and we were constantly harrassed by people carrying baskets full of random things they wanted to sell us. The majority of people in Saigon rely on motorcycles for transportation, and at some stop lights you can see about 100 of them in a pack reving their engines. When you want to cross the road, there usually isnt a designated time when it is safe to go. The key here is to walk slowley through all the traffic. The drivers will honk like crazy to let you know they are coming and then dodge around you. If you run, they will misjudge your speed and most likley hit you. At times, we had to cross streets about 100 meters wide that were completley packed with bikes. I wouldnt be surprised if about 100 motorbikes passed me on my way across the road.
We found some great ways to keep our budget to a minimum in Saigon. Many street corners have sandwhich stands where they make you a french baguette full of pate, pork, and vegetables for only 25 cents! After a couple sandwhiches,
Picture from the motorcycle
Thats a lot of chicken. Typical site on the streets of Vietnam.we head to the Bia Hoi shops. Bia Hoi is draught beer that many Vietnemese brew in their homes. It costs 8,000 Dong for 2 litres- that makes out to be about 12 cents a pint in Canadian dollars! Since it costs us about $2 a day for "free beer" and sandwhiches, and only $2 more for a hotel with a tv, we can survive on a daily budge of only $5!
One day we decided to go to the day market - what a blast that was. Most of the stands sell cheap t-shirts ($1-$2 for a beer shirt) and have pretty young vietnemese girls standing at them. If you walk by and make eye contact they will grab your arm and pull you into their booth. If you try to leave after showing the slightest bit of interest, they will grab on to your arm with both hands and never let go! I tried to leave one stand with two girls dragging from my arms and shouting for me to come back! Eventually you find a shirt that you like, but then the bargaining starts! The vietnemese are very fun to bargain with, mostly because they are
always smiling. If you suggest a price that they think is too low, they will swat you across the chest and laugh.
That evening I had my brand new camera stolen. I was in a crowd and it dissapeared out of my pocket. Having to replace a $500 camera was one thing, but losing all of my pictures from Angkor Wat was quite upsetting. I ended up finding a store similar to Future Shop in Saigon, and there i spent 6 million Dong on a camera.....I felt so rich.
The next day we went to see the tunnels that the Vietnemese built during the War. They were located just outside of Saigon, and the North Vietnemese (fighting the US) used them to hide, travel, live, and transport guns. The tunnels were deep enough to avoid bombing, and stretched along Km's of intricate paths. We were able to go through a couple tunnels that were 10m deep and and 30-50m long. The tunnels were so small that we had to squat with our butts on the ground and shuffel along like a duck. I couldnt imagine a Vietnemese soldier travelling through these tunnels in the pitch dark while carrying
Typical street in Saigon
Crossing this intersection was hell. a heavy gun.
At the tunnels, we were also able to see many traps that the Vietnemese created to hurt American soldiers. Most were holes in the ground with trap doors and sharpened bamboo spikes covered in snake venom. Many traps had contraptions developed to trap the legs of a soldier with barbs or hooks so they would have to tear their leg open to get out. Others were designed to neuter!
At the tunnels, there was also a shooting range- my favourite. This time I rented a heavy machine gun. After probaly demolishing something in the far distance and spraying used shells everywhere, I wiped the evil grin off of my face and moved on...
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