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Published: October 19th 2009
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Dear Family & Friends,
Last month I spent a week in Vietnam and Cambodia; two incredible, developing countries with violent histories. This is Part 1 which focuses on the time I spent in Southern Vietnam, namely Ho Chi Minh (formerly known as Saigon) and the Mekong River Delta region.
My buddy Geoff and I planned this trip by not planning anything at all. That's a lie, we did make one non-financially bound reservation at a hostel in our final city, Siem Reap, Cambodia. The 'show up and figure it out' strategy worked out surprisingly well and gave us the freedom to alter our plans later on when we decided to spend more time in Cambodia.
Welcome to Ho Chi Minh
We showed up in Ho Chi Minh City ready to find a place to stay and start exploring the city. Trying to get a taxi provided an example of what I like to call; Vietnamese hyper-capitalism. We walked up to the taxi area outside of the airport and started talking to one of the taxi drivers. He escorted us to his car, which was basically a standard Toyota Corolla (I got nostalgic) with no meter or labels
to indicate it was a legitimate taxi. We got in and started to discuss the price. Then the driver told us to talk to his manager, which seemed more like a taxi pimp, about how much the fare would be. The taxi pimp said it was 600,000VND, $33USD, to get to the part of town we wanted to go to. The travel book we've been referring to clearly stated that a taxi should be 60,000 to 90,000VND, $3 to $4USD, so I said no thank you and started to push open the door to get out and find a real taxi. The taxi pimp happened to be standing outside of my door and he pushed back slightly as I continued to open it and get out, as if to suggest you should just stay in the car and accept your fate of getting ripped off. The taxi driver we ended up using charged us 100,000VND, but also made us pay his road toll so he wasn't a saint either. Hustling is one of the oldest professions in the world, so no hard feelings. The oldest profession in the world enters the story later on.
Interesting Fact: Vietnamese (& Cambodia)
prefer to receive US dollars and give change in Dong. This is due to a lack of confidence in the ailing currency which has started to cause some Vietnamese to hoard US dollars and create a black market of currency exchange. A few days ago I stumbled upon an article which chronicles the phenomenon. It's a short read, worth your time if you have any interest in economics: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE59C02X20091013
Long Eventful Night
The taxi issues were easy enough to deal with and didn't dampen our spirits one bit. After all, we just landed in Vietnam and there are 7 days of trekking ahead of us, nothing could keep us down. After having dinner at a spicy clam / oyster BBQ stall, we went out to have a drink and bumped into my friend Kate from KL. I knew she was there visiting her sister in Ho Chi Minh that same weekend, but we hadn't made any set plans and my phone doesn't work outside of Malaysia so we had no way of connecting. Needless to say, it was a surprise to see her walking down the street. After a brief street reunion, we continued on to a few
different pubs and eventually a place called Apocalypse which served as the turning point for the night. Up until Apocalypse closed, the night had been a shining success. I lost track of Geoff and as the crowd spilled out into the streets, there was no sign of him. I gave up and jumped into a taxi. Normally this situation wouldn't present much of a hurdle; we would meet back at the hostel and everything would be fine. Two situational facts prevented an easy solution: 1. Geoff had been deemed the banker of the trip and therefore we used his cash, cards, etc and the only thing I brought out was a camera and Malaysian RM that I had yet to convert. 2. I didn't know the name or address of our hostel.
(dramatic pause)
Traveling effectively is an art that I continue to learn, and hope to one day master. Oh well, let's not forget, the journey is half the fun. This journey consisted of me trying to explain to the taxi driver why I didn't have any cash, know the name or address of my hostel, or deserve to be kicked out of his taxi and left
hotel
this is one of the few shots I have of the hotel that locked us out on our first night in Ho Chi Minh. notice the a/c unit up above, I highly recommend only sleeping in rooms that have them if you are traveling through the heat of SE Asia.on a street corner. The one piece of information I did have was the name of the area the hostel was located in. We circled a couple times, but I didn't see the place. Then, all of a sudden, I saw Geoff sitting at a table outside of a pub. I shouted his name and told the taxi driver, that's the guy with the money! He was pretty excited too. Now he could get paid and dump the stray. Reuniting with my travel buddy was great and all, but then he told me that the hostel had locked us out was not answering his repeated knocks. We went back once more and banged on the metal security door. Nothing. The door is basically a mini-garage door, so you can imagine how loud it is when you give it a strong rap. We were baffled and worn out from the long night, but we figured we had about 3 hours to kill until they opened back up so we began to walk around the city.
The walk was quickly spoiled by 3 prostitutes on a motor bike that started harassing us. At first, it was humorous, and the fact that
crossing the street...
is similar to the hit 80's arcade game frogger. I was laughing probably just egged them on. One of them started getting touchy with me and I noticed that her hand was close to my pocket. I told her to back off and that the game was over and she did. Looking back, that should have been a signal to me that she got what she wanted and therefore moved on. Otherwise why would she have stopped after the relentless pursuit that led up to this point? 30 seconds later I realized that my cash was gone. I turned to see her searching for something to the side of the street in a dark corner, where she must have kicked my cash after getting it out of my pocket and letting it drop to the ground. I started to run just as she found the money, but it was too late. She jumped on the scooter, and sped off with her two friends.
After fuming for a good hour, I got over it and realized how lucky I was that she only got cash and not any cards or identification. Not to mention the fact they didn't physically rob us or have any weapons. I like to think
grill
we had some kind of spicy clam or oyster. when it's good, you don't ask questions, you simply enjoy it. of it as my economic stimulus contribution to the Vietnamese economy. But with GDP growth rates over 8% the last 3 years, they don't need much help. The moral of the story; you don't have to be interested in a prostitute's services in order for her to drain your pockets dry.
We ended at noodle restaurant and had pho noodles for breakfast. I don't think Geoff and I said one word to each other once the food was on the table. Check out the photos and videos for more on what happened during our 3-hour jaunt through the streets.
Sleep Deprived
The next day, or should I say the same day, we rambled on and went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels served as a hideout for the Vietcong through decades of fighting in the region. The whole thing was an excellent setup, very informative, but you couldn't help but feel the sobering realities of what took place in that same location 40 years ago; especially being an American. The tunnels were small and stuffy. Not the place you'd want to spend more than a few minutes at at time, but the Vietcong stayed underground for
days, sometimes weeks, on end during the bombings.
Interesting Fact: The Vietnam War is referred to as the American War by the Vietnamese. It makes sense, I just had no idea prior to visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels.
On our way back to the city, we stopped at the War Remembrance Museum. The photography we saw is difficult to describe. It was an uncensored portfolio documenting the atrocities of the war. This includes the use of Agent Orange (dioxin) which can case birth defects. For more information, see the following summary of the museum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Remnants_Museum_(Ho_Chi_Minh_City)
The rest of our time in Ho Chi Minh was mainly spent recovering from the 'eventful' first night. However, we did manage to find a $1 per drink watering hole and the infamous Crazy Buffalo. (if at any point I stop making sense, like right now when I mention a crazy buffalo, look through the photos and you'll figure it out.)
Mekong Delta
After a whirlwind 48-hours in Ho Chi Minh, we took a 2-day tour of the Mekong River Delta which is located Southwest of the city. I expected this area would be quite rural with rice fields
and fog covered valleys. However, we were following a common route for backpackers to take on their way from Ho Chi Minh into Cambodia. Our tour consisted of about 6 other people. We all hit it off and actually stayed at the same hostel in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh. The delta was a bit commercialized at times since our tour stopped where other tours stopped, but none the less an interesting area to experience. Plus, traveling by boat has got to be one of the best forms of transportation; laid back, no bumps, and plenty to see. The boat ride to Cambodia was even better, but you'll hear more about that in part 2. We visited a coconut candy factory and an art factory (the show room must have been 50 meters long) that produced paintings using egg shells. I posted a photo of my favorite egg shell painting, a fisherman at dawn, to show an example of their work. We stopped for lunch and I accomplished the one goal I had for the entire trip; ride a bike along the banks of the Mekong. It was only thirty minutes, but it gave me a chance to
unexpected encounter
Geoff and I bumped into Kate, a friend from KL, who was visiting her sister Alice in Ho Chi Minh. We both knew that we'd be there the same weekend, but there wasn't a set plan to meet up so it was a pleasant surprise that turned into an eventful first night. break away from the group and get a glimpse of river life. In comparison to HCM, everyone was a bit more welcoming on the delta. We wrapped up our day and arrived at our hotel for the night, a floating hotel. It was the first time I ever slept with a mosquito net, or on a floating hotel for that matter. Our dinner was served outside on the upper deck of the boat and we all sat around for a couple of hours discussing the myriad of card games from our home countries. The next day we left bright and early, excited to start our journey into Cambodia.
Part II will continue right where I left off. I took loads of photos in Cambodia, too many for a single entry. And yes, Cambodia is that beautiful.
I am excited to report that my brother Andrew will be visiting me in February and my parents will be here in May. It will no doubt be a treat to show them around and watch them eat strange food. Or should I say, watch their faces after eating strange food. My brother and I have tentative plans to stay in Bali,
jovial
who has two thumbs and is super excited to be here? this guy; an outgoing architect that provided insights on life in the city. Indonesia for a few days. Visitors are always welcome... I still have a laundry list of areas I want to visit; Laos, Thailand, Brunei, Hanoi, and the Philippines, to name a few.
Warm Regards,
Adam
This is an artistic representation of the blog entry on wordle...
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1245318/vietnam_cambodia_blog
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Mom
non-member comment
Enjoyed the blog!
You write well. The amazing race was in Ho Chi Minh City and onto Pnon Phenh sp? recently and the hustle and bustle of the city was the same. Can't wait to come and see it for myself! Mom