Saigon

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October 27th 2005

Published: October 28th 2005

Hello all

I arrived in Saigon as everyone here still calls it and I am at the airport, looking for a cab, this one guy tried to charge me far too much, so I just said no, I will find someone else to take me in. So then the cabbie brings over this old Vietnamese guy, and the old guy says I will take you for 4 dollars. I think cool, then I see the car. This car was, well not sure how old it was, it was a 3 in the tree, the front doors opened the opposite way, the car stalled before we left the airport, I was just laughing, I mean the price was right. So then at every red light, I am not sure if the car stalled, or if the old guy was conserving gas, but he had to keep starting the car the whole way to the hotel. Then to make matters worse, it starts to absolutley POUR buckets of rain. The 'cab' driver puts the windshield wipers on, I mean THE windshield wiper. It was about 8 or 10 inches and cleared only the tiniest bit of windshield, so that, along with the fact everyone drives like a maniac here, had me pretty tense for a few minutes.. haha

Then, later on in the evening I was in this bar, shocking I know, and these 2 guys walk in, looking really bikerish, with long hair and long beards and tattoos.. I wasn't really paying attention to them but then I hear the one guy say to the little Vietnamese guide with them something about ZZ Top, and I think no way.. but I didn't want to pass up the chance if it WAS them, so I stopped by their table on my way out and asked them what they had said about ZZ Top, and the one guy gets really quiet and doesn't say a word, the other guy goes, ya. And I say NO WAY, you guys are in ZZ Top!! I tell them how I saw them once on PG and we chat for a second, then I ask if I can buy them a drink..and they say sure why not, so they are drinking iced coffee and smoking pot, the one guy offers me a toke, but I didn't want any, just had a beer and talked to them about SE Asia and Nepal and India and looked at some of their pictures.. it was great.. then I just left.. Cool eh?? I can't believe it... they were really nice, I would have taken a picture but they were all about not being noticed.. Too bad, but it was very cool.

I hired a cyclo the next day to take me around the city. I wasn't going to but I kept walking blocks out of my way to find a light to cross the street at, not that its all that much safer. Its worse here than in Hanoi. A cyclo is a bicycle with a seat in the front, which I rode in, I was freaked out. The driver would drive on the wrong side of the street and I had traffic coming right at me.. it was crazy. But I went to Reunification Palace, the war remnants museum, Notre Dame Catherdral, the post office, it really is quite a cool building, and to a market. The I met Andy (a Candian guy I had met in Bangkok, who just happened to be in Saigon at the same time as me, cool eh?) at a bar down the street from my Hotel. We had some dinner and drinks and he booked the same trip that I was taking to the Mekong Delta the following day.

The drive out to the Mekong Delta took about 2 hours. The Mekong river is huge, I felt like I was on a lake not a river.. it was crazy. We went around a few of the Islands and then got on a smaller boat to go down a small canal. It was really cool, It felt like there was absolutely nothing around us, but you could see houses on the banks so you know people are all over the place. Then we were shown how they make coconut candies, and honey, and rice wine, and we had tea. About 3 times. Andy and I, these 2 Scotish guys and an Australian woman named Jan, were getting pretty sick of the tea and when we were told to try it with the rice wine, while listening to traditional music, we did.. we needed it, trust me. I also had my picture taken with a huge python around my neck, and Andy and I tried the rice wine that has snakes in it, it looked disgusting, but it tasted just like the other rice wine. We then got on even smaller boats and went down a tiny canal, which was pretty cool too. When we got back to Saigon we went directly to the bar, and switched from beer to Vietnamese rum with lemon. Its so good, but lots of alcohol.. I had to stop after 3 as I had another tour the next morning.

My last day in Saigon I took a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We saw a video on the ways that the Vietnamese fought the evil American enemy. They showed us all the booby traps that they would set up in the jungle to maim and kill the enemy, its really quite disturbing. Some of the entrances to the tunnels are so tiny theres no way I would even fit into them. I met a guy who said someone in his group got stuck in it, they are so so small. The Tunnels are amazing, there are 3 different levels, they covered about 200 miles when they were all intact, but a lot were destroyed in the war. They have cooking quarters, living quarters, a well, everthing they needed to survive. I went though 2 different tunnels, about 30 meters through each one. They are really small, I was stooped over the entire time. They are hot and dark and at one point the guy in front of me had to help me down some steps cause it was pitch black, and I could not feel the step and was unsure how far down the drop was, so he grabbed my foot and put it onto the step for me, I am glad he was so nice cause I was starting to freak out a bit.. haha

When I got back into Saigon I met Andy and Jan for drinks. Andy was with a Cambodian woman (Vy) he had met, a Nigerian guy ( Emmanual) had sat down with me, and I had invited a British guy I met on the tour (James). James was with Liddy from France and Charlie from Australia. We introduced them all to the Vietnamese rum and lemon, which they loved, and we had an absolute blast. I am sorry to leave Vietnam, I am having so much fun here, and meeting so many wonderful people. I will have to make it back to Southeast Asia one day as there is so much more I want to see. Oh and YES, I feel very tall here.. haha

Take care

Tami

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