ho chi minh (saigon)

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so we have been in ho chi minh city for several days now. immediately, after being in cambodia, we noticed how much more like korea it is. neon lights, deliberately created parks in the city with manicured trees and grass, and people doing calisthenics in the park, or playing badminton or hackey sack. we were saying that you know a country is on its way up when its citizens start making an effort to put time aside for "exercise."

it is so odd that a city that slightly resembles korea would seem so homely and inviting for the exact characteristics that make it seem korean. since when did neon lights make me feel relaxed?

we decided to experience the culture of riding a cyclo around the city. a cyclo is half wheelchair, half bicycle. the front half is a big semi-reclined seat with two big wheels, the seat big enough for one passenger. the back is a tall bicycle with the back wheel. our drivers took us to the war remnants museum.

the war remnants museum was pretty interesting, though it was pouring rain on our drive, so by the time we got there, we were soaking wet. the section that interested me most was the exhibit devoted to the war photographers. i thought that being a war photographer must be so difficult. they are out there in combat with everyone else, they carry the responsibility of documenting the truth and the human struggle of it all, they are unarmed, and they are preoccupied (with their work) and thus especially vulnerable. many of the photographs displayed had the caption of "this was the last photograph taken with his camera" and often a short description of some explosion or stray bullet that had killed him moments later.

we rode the cyclos back, and managed to get completely scammed when it was time to pay them. and it really wasnt very exciting. it was actually slow, boring, and inefficient as the rest of the traffic zipped by us and left us in clouds of exhaust. ah well.

the next day we woke up early for a day-long mekong tour around the mekong delta. we were worried it might rain, so we asked if we could get our money back if it was raining, and they just assured us "don't worry about the rain. in vietnam, it rains in the afternoon, not the morning, so it will rain after you finish. sure enough, we woke to rain outside. they told us not to be late, and then when we showed up, the office wasn't even open. we took a bus for two hours to the delta itself, and got on a little boat to tour around to different islands, where, of course, they tried to sell us different touristy knickknacks and candies and such. we saw how coconut candy is made, and i tasted snake liquor, which is very strong liquor with dead snakes and scorpions preserved inside of it. we were given two hours to tour around the island on bicycles, and once greg and i had gotten a few kilometres away, it began to pour. so by the time we got back, we were soaking and speckled with mud, and sat under a thatched roof hut for another hour until our boat took us back to the dock. and then we were told we got to wait ANOTHER hour for the bus to arrive, so we had the opportunity to walk around and see the dearth of things there were to see in that particular area. fortunately, we met a really cool man who was born in hanoi and moved to saigon when the war started, and was generally a really kind gentleman.

tomorrow, off to na trang and the beach!

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