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Published: November 10th 2012
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Our morning started by waking up at 4:30am, but this was not a huge deal because jetlag had set in the night before, so we went to bed relatively early. The Lamphu Tree Hotel receptionist had organized a taxi ride to pick us up at 5am to make our 7:50am flight. As we walked down the flight of stairs at about 4:50am, as promised our ride was waiting for us. The ride cost 500 baht (~$16-17 US), and we were told by the receptionist that it would take about 50 minutes to get to the Don Muang (DMK) airport. Well, apparently we had Thailand's very own version of Mario Andretti at the wheel. He was bobbing and weeving thru traffic, spending half his time playing "pacman" (you know... where you drive on the dotted line). This gave him the best vantage point for plotting his next move. Needless to say, he got us there in half the time. Which turned out to be a godsend.
We walked into the airport which was extremely busy even this early in the morning. Our airline for this flight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), was AirAsia, a discount airline. So we sauntered over
to their checkin lines. As always we picked the wrong line to wait in. We watched as a group of 6-8 elderly Japanese tourists were checking in 2 groups in front of us. None of them seemed to have their stuff in order, passports and itineraries were flying every which way. And just as they finally got everything organized, the entire AirAsia booking system went kaput. Lines starting piling up, people were anxious about missing flights, and with good reason because the system was down for pretty close to an hour. But thanks to Thai Mario Andretti, we had time to spare. We spent about an hour and half in line, and it took us 20 seconds to get thru security.
The flight was only about an hour. It felt like nothing compared to our 19 hours in planes two days prior. When we got off the plane and made it to customs, we had to go thru the "Landing Visa" process. Sara can describe this in more detail, but as I understand it. Months before our trip, she sent some Visa application to the Vietnamese goverment, and they sent her back some scanned copy of an official document.
But of course the process does not end there. Upon arrival, you have to go to the "Landing Visa" desk, give them the document and your passport, and then they dismiss you. Then you play the waiting game until they call your name. The problem is, there are tons of people in the same situation, so the lines backing up, people are talking, and you are trying to listen for your horribly mispronounced name in a thick vietnamese accent. Luckily we got the "Landing Visa" desk before the masses, so this process only took about 30 minutes for us. But I could see it taking quite a bit longer. Getting thru customs after this, was a breeze.
The hotel we are staying at in Saigon, is Saigon Europe Hotel, and they offered a complimentary pickup from the airport. We were worried that with the delayed flight, and the time spent with the Landing Visa process, that our ride would have left already. When we made it out of the baggage terminal, we stepped outside to spot our driver. It was an absolute ZOO out there, thousands of people, hundreds of name placards. I have no idea how I spotted
our 5'4" driver, but I did. we threw our things in his van, and we were off. What happened after that, i really cannot describe because I've never seen anyting like it. I thought Bangkok's streets were chaotic with cars, tuktuks, motorcycles, etc. When we got on the streets in Saigon, the streets were crawling motorbikes, scooters, bikes, cyclos (pedicabs), and cars. I've never seen so many motorbikes and scooters, hundreds and hundreds of them driving in these swarms. Always inches from disaster, but somehow everything works. Our driver honked the horn at least 20 times a minute, mostly not in a threatening way, but in more of a... "hey buddy, i'm right behind you... i don't want to hit you... so move over" type of thing. The cars definitely have the most clout, but the scooters have strength in numbers. There is this parasitic relationship between the scooters and the cars. The scooters could not make thru busy intersections on their own, so as the cars jut thru the intersection, the scooters use them as a moving screen (basketball term) for protection. Its fluid chaos.
We got to our hotel (Saigon Europe), and went up to our room.
For 700,000 Dong (~$35 US), yes I said dong, its a pretty good deal. The rooms are small-ish, with a double bed. But you get a mini fridge, a A/C unit (a must), a decent TV, and a personal computer. I believe breakfast is included in the price as well.
We pretty much just threw our bags in the room and took off. As we were heading down the stairs, Sara realized that she couldn't find her ATM card. After retracing her steps, she thinks she left in the ATM machine in Bangkok. I volunteered to fly back to get it, but she said she'd cancel the card instead.
Anyways, back to the crazy streets. I always thought crossing the street was easy, i've always considered myself a pro. 😊 Here, it is nerve-racking as hell , and dangerous to boot. There are two schools of thought when it comes to crossing the street here. Either you:
1) Close your eyes, cross your fingers, and run like the wind.
OR
2) Walk very slowly, don't make any sudden moves, and let the scooters part like the Red Sea around you.
The problem is, they
are flying by you at 40 mph, so its easier said than done. Our strategy right now is just to wait at the intersection until a local gets to our crosswalk. Then we just walk really close to them, so as not to get clobbered.
After getting the hang of crossing intersections, we made our way to the War Remnants museum. This is a must see. Its a museum pretty much devoted to their perspective on the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. The first thing you notice in the front lawn of the museum are all these US Military tanks and planes, and even a helicopter. I couldn't believe how many they had. I am assuming these were all captured, but I could be wrong. You get into the museum, and the mood is very somber. It is a touch propaganda-ish, with all the anti-U.S. posters, stories of other countries "scolding" the U.S. for their involvement, and pictures of protest marches and such. But i must say, some of the pictures were extremely powerful and awful at the same time. There was no censorship here. I don't want get into the gory detail, but very graphic photos. Especially
the wing devoted to showing the effects of "agent orange" on the people of Vietnam.
I don't want to end on such a downer, so... hey i just found out I'm a millionaire in Vietnam. Its really not that impressive. All you need is $50US, with the exchange rate of 20,000 to 1. But its still cool to say.
Ok, thats enough writing for today. I think the last time i wrote something this long, that was not a technical document, was probably when I wrote a book report in 5th grade.
-Nicko
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dianamom
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Did you find your card