Advertisement
Published: March 3rd 2006
Edit Blog Post
beer place
Bia Hoi is the best thing in the world Yep, I never imagined that it would be possible but beer is cheaper than water, which is amazing because Im no brewmaster* but I think that a vital ingredient in beer is water....beer being cheaper than water is also a sign that we are comming closer to a utopian society** or maybe that communisim is the way to go...so for all the cheap/broke alcoholics out there, read on and you too can enjoy the beaty of vietnam.....
HCMC
Well after our stellar Meekong riverboat cruise we booked the 7:30am mini bus to HCMC (Ho Chi Mein City or Saigon for all you Nam Vets) got up early again, got on the bus... met a german couple and shared a taxi from the bus depot to the backpacker area of town...Decided to see a bit of the town, a couple of Cyclo*** drivers wanted to take us...they wanted 2$ an hour each, I said this was too much and asked them instead to take us to get some cheap beer that I read about...
Bia Hoi
I read that the cheapest drinks in Vietnam was draught beer, so I wanted to see how cheap, they took us to
Cyclo Leigh
Leigh Giving my patented double thumbs up the cyclo this side street where a bunch of old Vietnamiese dudes were drinking heavily...the price for a liter of beer was 4 Dong.....4 dong is about 25 cents.... we ordered 2 litres...the waitress proceeded to go to a big still and syphen out 2 litres into a plastic jug.... now water in Vietnam ranges between 4 to 10 dong for 1.5 liters so I thought that if its cheaper than water it must be horrible, or full of phyermaldahyde..which is probalby was.. but it was pretty good...better than that swill that they serve in Australia at least****...ok enough with the footnotes a...anyways, had a couple drinks with the cyclo drivers and they kept trying to sell me on the tour...they finaly said ok cheap...4 hours...120 dong each...now after a couple drinks and a morning of traveling my brain shut down and I converted the price using Thai Baht inseat of vietnam dong and thought that I was getting a deal at 6$ for 4 hours....I agreed and we went touring around the city
The tour
Saw a big 7 story Pagoda (or temple), went to a market then realized that 120 dong each ends up costing us 16$ rathter
VCJIM
Me going into one of the secret tunel entrances that the 6$ I thought....told them I made a mistake and to take us back..for some reason they were nice about it, .they brought us back and I bought them a beer and some pork to make up for the mix up...
Cu Chi tunnels
The next day we decided to go tour the famous Cu Chi tunnels...during the Vietnam war (or the American War if your Vietnamese)...these are the tunels that the Viet Cong (VC) used to hide/live and fight in....Our guide was excelent, he used to work for the Americans as a translator during the war, when the US/South Vietnam lost he was put in jail for 3 years for being an officer...we first went to where they make rice paper and the forest where they make rubber..what that has to do with the war and tunnels I dont know...but bring touristist anywhere and they will buy crap..we then went to the tunnels..they first got us to watch this sweet north Vietnamese propaganda film that showed all the VC fighting and killing Americans, thus making them "Great American killing Heros" it was awsome.....then we went to the tunnels...not the real tunnels..fat western tourists are actually too
tunnel leigh
Leigh in the Tunnel big to fit in the tunels so they rebuilt an area to accomidate big fat asses...anway it was cool still...we got to see all the wikid booby traps that they used to trap people..then we went to the firing range, same deal as the cambodian one, cept it was on a proper range and they had m-60 machine guns..I decided that 1$ a bullet was too much and we passed..Im waiting for our anniversery to take leigh back to the range...so the tunnels was really cool and the whole thing just made me realize why the US got their ass kicked so bad in that war...these people lived underground for 26 years fighting the french and then the Americans, there is no way that a bunch of drafted teenage americans with drug problems could have done anything...they didnt have a chance..so anwya the tour was sweet
War Museam
We then went to the war museam in HCMC, best museam I ever been too....all kinds of planes, helicopters, tanks and artilarary in the front yard, and great exabitions inside...more awsome propaganda and the best photographs Ive ever seen...all blown up amazing photos taken by western photoraphers during the war..increadable...also
traffik
a pic of the crazy traffic in Saigon there was an exhibit about the effects of agent orange and napalm...and a re-creation of the jail/toruture center used by the US and South Veitnamese... at the museam we ran into these girls that we have seen in every city since Cambodia..I think they are stalking us..after the museam, we walked home and I video taped the girls crossing the road...Crossing the road in vienam is excellent..there are about a million bikes and a couple of cars zipping buy and you just walk out slowly and hope no one hits you..
So that was HCMC for us, we are a little behind schedule, and a lot over budget so we are maximizing our time here by only spending a couple days in each town..we got an open bus ticket that takes up all up and down the country for 22$...next stop is back to the beach at a place called Mui Ne...take it easy everyone
JIM
* Brother Brewmaster was however my offical nickname during my fraternity days at lamda-lamda-lamda
** I cant remeber the other ingrediants but I think they have something to do with BBQ Ribs, Carmen Electra and ACDC
***Cyclos are
tankjim
Me on a tank that hit a mine during the war bike powered carts...see picture
**** They call it bitter beer in Australia cause you are bitter that you have to drink that shit
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0356s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb