A walk in the park

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Greetings fellow Orthodontists,

Well the banana horse touched down here in Saigon a couple of days ago and right from the off it has been the most bizarre thing I think I have ever experienced. As soon as we cleared customs and immigration and left the terminal BANG! Viet Nam hit us in the face like the back end of a shovel. The heat completely surrounds you and your nostrils are invaded by a wide range of smells that you have never known. Then there are the motorcycles. The streets are covered with them and I mean covered. The ratio of Motorcycles to cars would be quite literally 300:1 if not more. Road rules? What the hell are they? Just do what you like I think seems to be the general idea....Which is cool with us because we don't really want to live beyond our 30's anyway...

Haven't really done too much so far, just really settling in and scoping out the scene. We have been to a couple of markets and generally just walked around. We hopped on a cyclo (I don't know why) but when we got to our destination the dudes tried to rip us off. Sarah arced up and gave them a gobfull, I just stood by and watched because I could. But in the end we sorted it out, it was funny. I think it would have been an appropriate/inappropriate moment to quote Walter Sobchack from The Big Lebowski " I didn't watch my buddies die face down in the muck...." but I thought better of it.

Last night we headed out for a meal, there was lots on offer, turtle, goat, ox hooves and other assorted wonders, I went with the ox hooves, I wanted to feel at home.

After that we found the famed "Blue Gecko" full of Australiana and very young and small Vietnamese women waitresses parading around in skimpy clothes for the pleasure of he fat, loud mouthed, pasty skinned Pommy geezers assembled in the bar. It was quite disgusting and somewhere we won't be going again. There were however some cool things in there, like Matthew Richardson’s footy boots and a picture of Gary Abblett taking a screamer (I guess it wasn't all bad).

Very cheap, very cheap, you buy, you buy! Crazily cheap here, if you were into buying clothes and shite (which we aren't) you would go nuts here. Food is sooo cheap and wonderful here. Last night we had a massive meal with drink and it cost us $12 for the two of us. Crazy.

It's been a smashing time so far. Hopefully that won't change.

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Comments

[chrispo]

the blue gecko
Ahh yes ...the blue gecko - takes me back to my last tour of duty. Are you staying in Pham nu lau st? I know a really good hotel just round the corner from there -- air con and hot and cold running water - a literal haven in a heat struck nation. I look forward to hearing more of your travels.

[chris fitz]

hi
awesome sounds like heaps of fun! you have to post some pictures. how does real vietnamese food compare with the vietnamese restaraunt here?

[Jaso]

Yo Xpo
How are you dude? We are staying in Bui Vien, just around the corner from Pham nu Lau in a Huest house called Phan Lan. It is sweet, wonderful people who run it and it has everything, air con, hot and cold water, shower and toilet. It's sweet.

[Jaso]

Fitzy
Well we are working on the picture thing. We don't have a digital and the things are horribly expensive to buy over here. I have been selling my body or trying to, but it seems Vietnamese girls aren't taken by the the leathery, muscular physique of a red blooded Australian male. THe food here is different, but not as different as you would expect. The main difference is in the vegetables. You just can't get them in Australia, but the food here does seem better.