Blogs from Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 279

Hey, First of all, thanks to those who are able to write back. I appreciate the emails and just realize that email is very slow here and I can't respond to every email but I appreciate them just the same. In Saigon until tomorrow when we take a boat up the Mekong Delta (yes, that Mekong Delta) into Cambodia. I have been here 2 days and this is really a great great city. In Hanoi, the excitement was ice cream on scooters and the streets dead by 10:00pm. Saigon is much much different. It's wild and doesn't sleep. When it does, they sleep on the street in cots. I think people don't want to go home because Vietnamese television is usually no better than Public Access. Most of the programming just shows Asians singing songs together ... read more

When we were in Saigon we went to The War Remnants Museum, The Notre Dame Cathedral, and The Post Office. We also went with a few people to visit The Cu Chi Tunnels. On our way there we saw a Vietnamese music video being made. The tunnels were very small and very hot! We all got the chance to fire a gun while we were at the tunnels, so we did. I was a little nervous about firing a gun, but once I had done it, I wanted to do it some more. It was too expensive though. Our hotel was right in front of a really nice restaurant/bar. A group of us went there one night, and they were meant to close at midnight. They ended up keeping it open until about 3am, and gave ... read more

Since arriving, my days have been rather uneventful. Eat, sleep, repeat. I don't think I've ever been this affected by jetlag before. Maybe it's my anti-malarial drugs that are making me delirious. Heck, don't blame the meds; I'm delirious nonetheles. Sometimes I tend to forget things, i.e. it didn't cross my mind that Vietnam was colonized by the French until I started eating french bread and pastries for every breakfast. Vietnamese-french pastries might just be the next best thing than straight from the source. Normally I don't like doing the tourist thing, so it was a bit disappointing when I found out we were going to a backpacker's cafe to sign up for bus trips. M's house was not near the central tourist district, so it was a great place to interact with all the locals. ... read more

Paa fredagen moette jeg Huy, som var veldig hyggelig. Vi gikk foerst til markedet. Det er som det er sagt - hvis de ikke har det der saa trenger du det ikke!! Deretter spiste vi sticky rice med kylling paa en liten gatekafe - nammenam. Man sitter paa slike bittesmaa stoler ved et bittelite bord, og foeler seg som man er paa et barneselskap, men godt er det - og billig. Senere moette vi opp med noen venner av han og hadde middag. Spiste hot pot med biff. Her skal det nevnes at man spiser ikke bare kjoettet paa den kua. Vi spiste brusk og involler, og bittelitegrann kjoett. Til slutt havnet vi paa karaoke - suprise, suprise!! Satt der og trallet avgaarde, og ja... jeg sang!! I gaar var jeg paa national Institute of Massage ... read more

I came to Vietnam expecting it to be a communist country, replete with propaganda-laden billboards, signs the government was watching your every move, a populace fearful of badmouthing the authorities for fear of the ultimate consequence. Instead the neon signs tempted passers-by with advertisements for Coca Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Except for a handful of uniformed soldiers scurrying about from time to time, they was little sign that government was even present, let alone on the lookout for traitors to the Republic. As far as the eye could see, capitalism reigned supreme: coffee shops, fast food restaurants and photocopy outlets dotted the bustling streets of Saigon. So where was the great Communist victory? Yes, there were photos, paintings, busts, and statues of Ho Chi Minh, their savior in every government building. Yes, there were expansive, ... read more