Still in Saigon

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Day five and still in rich, vibrant, noisy polluted Saigon !!!!!

Thanks for all the comments everyone, its good to know i am being "watched"

After 5 nights in my hotel for a cost of 70 canadian dollars total i have rented a "small room and bathroom in heart of Saigon. This move should cut my costs in half and give me the luxory of taking day trips out and about the country side and still keep a home base in Saigon.
I looked at several rooms before deciding on one. Most were unfurnished , HOT and no AC, no private bathroom and expensive compared to the one i have rented. 2,500,000 Vietnamese dong gets me one month. (15,000 dong to the dollar) I find it easier to drop the last 3 zeros and do my calculations that way. So that translates to roughly 150 canadian for a room in saigon.

Saw my first two motorbike accidents yesterday, both right in front of me. One I assisted at and lifted the bike off the lady who was more shocked than hurt although she had a pretty nasty crazed knee. The other was more serious, ambulance had to come and take the biker to hospital. I am still totally amazed that there arent hundreds more accidents. If you have ever seen the tour de France and the swarm of bikes and how tight they are packed, then just translate that to the motorbikes and the streets of Saigon, every street , every where. Venturing into the street as a pedestrian takes a very brave soul and what ever you do, DONT RUN......walk slowly facing traffic and take mini steps and watch for a small break and take one step at a time. The plus side of all this scrumming is that the speeds are relatively slow. 30km hour max.

My stomach seems to be taking a liking to Vietnamese food. I didnt think it would adjust so quickly but it has, and the coffee shops, WOW, we could take a page or two out of thier book for how to serve coffee a thousand different ways for a buck a pop.

Damn those chopsticks !!!!!

No matter how hard i try i cant seem to grab anything without feeling totally handicapped or spasmodic. Good thing they also supply spoons or i might be starving by now. Forks and knives are non existant.

Fortunately they serve their food with the spices as side dishes that you can add yourself if you are so inclined. I tread lightly and slowly dipping my pinky in first to see how my palette reacts. So far so good 😊

The rain clouds and thunder storms seem to occur like clock work at about 7 pm and last for an hour, cool things down then move on. Streets are dry again within 30 minutes.

For a communist state, Vietnam puts the west to shame for true capitalism and small business entreprenuerism. Literally thousands of tiny shops all specializing in one thing line the streets and their ingenuity and creativity with simple tools are truely fascinating. Self reliance is very much encouraged and asians seem to pocess great skills in the art of survival and offering a service or trade in demand. It might take longer to get done than the west but it gets done with minimal cost and tooling.

Well everyone, its off for another walk down the raceway and to many smiles, "herro", and waves from the locals. I feel very much welcomed here and everyone wants to practice thier english with me.

Stay tuned

I truly am enjoying the journey !!!!!!

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Comments

[Kim]

How Interesting!
William, Truly enjoying your blog. Makes me want to go. Take care my friend.

[viv]

happy travelling
Just wanted to say thanks for sending the links to your travel blog. It makes interesting reading. sounds like you are having some good times. Hope all continues to go well on your trip. Glad to hear you and the food are getting along!