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Published: August 11th 2007
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Pagoda
Buddhist pagoda in Chinatown here in Saigon. Day four in Saigon. Interesting city but there seems to be little for tourists to do here. The tourist district is quite small. The most popular bar around is some place called Apocalypse Now. Exceptionally overpriced drinks. A can of Tiger or Heineken costs 55,000 Dong or about $3.50. Not difficult to find beer for 11,000 Dong (about 70 cents) and sometimes less in restaurants around town. Vietnamese women are beautiful and easy to meet. They are slower than their other Southeast Asian neighbors however. Reluctant to separate from their friends even in crowded bars. All are interested in the type of work one does back home and whether or not one is here on business. Some ladies took me to a restaurant last night and when the bill came they expected me to pay. I did and after a short motorbike ride home I got no kiss! And I spent about 420,000 Dong on those girls. Lame! Can't remember the last time I spent money like that and didn't have something to show for it at the end of the night. No money guarantees that you won't get honey, but spending it doesn't guarantee that you will. Oh well. No
Sea of Motorbikes
Just a sample of what the motorbike scene is like. Hard to capture from the ground. An aerial view would reveal just how many motorbikes there are here. big deal.
What I've noticed most about this city are the tangle of phone and power lines strung from pole to pole above the road. Must be hundreds of lines tied together. The power has been turned off twice since I arrived on Monday. The power went out before I got out of bed the first time. Woke up hot, sweaty and sticky as the fan had shut off. Learned that the water pressure is tied to the electricity and I couldn't take a shower until the power came back tht night. There must be an electric water pump. The second time the power went out only in my building. This happened in the middle of a shower. I was covered in soap, shaving cream and shampoo. The water will trickle out of the shower head with the power out but at a very low rate. Rinsing the nether regions was quite tricky. Had to cup my hands, slowly fill them with water and splash the soap out. Good fun!
The residents of Saigon love their motorbikes. Rush hour is absolute madness, even in the tourist areas. One takes one's life into their own hands when crossing the
Saigon Wires
Crazy mess of wires strung above the streets here in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. street. Witnessed two accidents involving motorbikes yesterday. The first was fairly serious. A man was crossing a busy street when a motorbike honked, swerved and crashed into him. The pedestrian was spun around and nearly hit by another bike. The driver fell off of his bike and both he and his moto slid several yards. No serious injury to either the pedestrian or driver but it could have been much worse. It was clear that both thought the other was in the wrong and a heated shouting match ensued as the motorbike was picked up off of the pavement and pushed to the side of the road by a good Samaritan. The second accident I saw was late at night and involved a drunk driver. I was on my way back from the bar when a motorbike suddenly fell on its side. There was a loud smack as metal and plastic collided with blacktop. The man was laying on his side with his hands still holding the handlebars of the moto. Can't believe he actually dumped the bike at that speed. Moving very slowly and all he needed to do was stick out his foot. He was alright and my
Who Needs a Sidewalk
When there's a perfectly good street to walk on. Sidewalks here are for parking motorbikes. Often times they're strategically parked to steer foot traffic into or around shops. friend and I got a good laugh out of it. Don't drink and drive!
Food is very good and I eat mainly soup for lunch and dinner. Stringy noodles, thinly sliced beef, pork or chicken, and some vegetables are placed into a bowl that is then filled with very hot water. Everything is cooked as the server carries the bowl to your table. Fast food Vietnam style! Spring rolls are another popular dish. They are served fresh and fried. I prefer the fresh spring rolls. Not as heavy and greasy as their friend counterparts. Good coffee here too. Coffee with milk is referred to as "white coffee" in most cafes. Percolators placed on top of coffee cups like in Cambodia but the percolators here are tiny. Not uncommon to have a thermos full of hot water placed on the table with your cup. After the first volume of water has percolated through you're expected to refill your percolator. Can be a pain in the neck as hot water spills all over the table and the process is very slow. Many times I've finished my meal before the coffee is done percolating. Ordering espresso (or expresso : ) is much
Russian Market
Spray guns for sale at the market. The gravity-feed gun has a cylinder that feeds into the side of the gun. Interesting design. faster. Ready to drink when it arrives at the table!
Hotel where I stay is run by a very nice older couple. Small room but has a large double bed and a hot shower. Windows open onto the noisy street and I cannot close them. Window is really just slots cut into the wall. No bug screen either but the mosquitoes here aren't too bad. The sound is however. My sleep here isn't very good and I take naps to compensate for the bad sleep at night. I've tried earplugs but they aren't much better. Instead of waking up from the noise at night I wake from the pain in my ear canal. I think I have sensitive ear canals. My solution has been to place an earplug in one ear, lay on my side so that my other ear is against the pillow and rotate every time the pain from my earplugs wakes me. The couple who run the hotel have three sons. One drives a moto here in the city, another moved somewhere far away and the third, their thirty-one year-old firstborn, is a victim of Agent Orange. His limbs are deformed and week, bending at unnatural
Cyclo Tour
View from my cyclo. Paid way too much for a short tour of the city by cyclo. Driver explained that the tour was so expensive because he had to pay for the cigarettes and beer he consumed while waiting for me ; ) angles underneath his body. He has very little strength and lifting his head off of the floor requires great effort. He cannot speak or comprehend language and only responds to gestures. He's a very friendly man and every time I smile and wave he lifts his head off of the floor and smiles back. Agent Orange has devastated a generation of Vietnamese afflicted by deformed, functionless and sometimes missing limbs as well as various mental diseases including depression and high levels of anxiety. Despite these afflictions many are able to lead productive lives. A state run shop I visited on a tour the other day was set up specifically for high-functioning Agent Orange victims. They make high-end tea or coffee service trays and bowls and various other pieces made of wood that have intricate mother of pearl inlay. The process is quite involved and each employee performs his or her specialized step. The end result is a beautifully inlaid scene of the Vietnam countryside or of Vietnamese people. Off to book travel.
Ciao
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