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Published: November 13th 2009
So our last blog left us packing our bags and leaving for Saigon... I was really stressing as the typhoon has passed over but had left strong winds... I kept looking out at the trees blowing around and wondering how the hell a plane was going to cope! McKay must have repeated the "they want to crash LESS than you want to crash.. think of the bad publicity" speech to me at least 20 times!!
Nail-biting flight
We'd arranged private transport to the airport in Danang through Mark at Hoi An Motorbike adventures. At the scheduled time, up pulled our car (most of the cheap transport has been via privately owned cars) with a driver and a man in the passenger seat...with a baby on his lap! We thought, well this is special, but loaded up and got in. The baby was adorable and quiet the whole way but the whole thing felt dodgy. As we approached the airport we started turning down all these small roads...small roads turned to alleyways...all of a sudden we were on a residential street and the man and the baby were getting out of the car. Evidently it was the driver's
brother who lived in Danang catching a free ride on our paid transfer...wtf?!?
On the way to the airport I took 2 valium in an effort to try calm myself down as the weather seemed worse and worse as we got closer to the airport... Once at the airport I was dismayed to see that our flight was still departing as scheduled so took another 2 valium and washed them down with a Saigon Beer!
Surprisingly the flight was fine... I must be getting used to these flights... once through the clouds it was beautiful and sunny... Our landing however was a little dodgy but I handled it well... The valium must have been working cause even McKay said it was pretty dodgy.. there was that moment when one wheel hit the ground and quite a gap before the other wheel went down!
We had a private taxi waiting for us and off we went.... we arrived to our hotel called Bich Duyen. This place had great reviews on Trip Advisor and it didnt disappoint... the Manager is slightly eccentric but really nice and will do anything for you... Our only two issues was that we are
on the 6th floor with no elevator (and those steps were killers in the heat) and that there were absolutely NO soap, shampoo, drinking water, or others bits'n'pieces in the room for us (which we have had the whole trip) but for $26 a night it was clean, new bathroom, great free breakfast, great view... Cant really complain!
After settling in we decided to go eat (surprise surprise huh) and went straight across the road to a little restaurant that we had seen on the way in... it was a BBQ Pork restaurant and it was one of the BEST meals in Vietnam... it was dirt cheap and we had plates piled with rice, marinated pork steaks, chicken wings, pork ribs and vegetables... we have been craving it ever since and it will be our first stop when we arrive back in Saigon at the end of our trip!
We then went across the road to a great little local coffee shop.. it has all these little tables and chairs that are in rows all facing out to the street and serves really good local coffee.. we were the only westerners in there and they went out of
their way to move other people from the front row so we could be kerbside...
One thing we have found so far is that in Saigon everyone is sooo nice and alot more people speak English than other parts of the country... while its not something I expect being in Vietnam... it was nice to be able to communicate a little easier when ordering food etc.. we found everywhere else that there was never an English translation to menus so often we wouldnt eat somewhere cause we just didnt know what the hell it was! In Saigon there is an English translation below the Vietnamese writing so its easier to experiment!
Our hotel is located in District 1 of Saigon which is also known as the backpacker area so there were alot of Westerners around... we also found out that we were in town at the same time as the 3rd Annual Asian Indoor Games and that there was a massive festival just around the corner from our hotel (you could see it from our hotel room)... at night it was all lit up with lights, had lots of food/beer stalls and a large concert...
As we
were walking through the streets after dinner McKay was looking at one food stall that had assorted types of snails as she had heard they were great...a Vietnamese man and his friend were sitting there and started telling us how delicious it was and insisted that we eat some of his right off his plate! He instructed us how to put the whole snail shell in your mouth and then suck out the meaty part! It was quite good but a little scary!
We found a little pub on a corner called Go2 which had tables and chairs on the sidewalk.. we settled in here for a few drinks and ended up chatting with some guys from America (Vu and Jimmy)... hilarious guys... they left after about an hour and then after a few more drinks we headed back to our hotel to freshen up...
From the hotel we headed across the road to the Asian Games festivities and walked around for awhile... We decided to try a crab dish... it was small crabs in a tamarind sauce.. they were stirfried... you apparently just eat the whole thing shell and all.. and it was not soft shell crab...
we both struggled to get through one (we got about 15 for less than $2) but got some good photos of us trying to eat them... Once suitably bored with the festivities we decided to head back to Go2 for more drinks....
It's A Small World
We arrived at Go2 and ordered some drinks.. while waiting for our drinks we heard some people say hello... we looked up to find Rose and Kurt standing in front of us.. they were the couple we chatted to on our train to Hoi An and shared a taxi with.. we were meant to try catch up with them for dinner in Hoi An but it never eventuated... they were then heading to Nha Trang... However fate would have it, they were diverted from Nha Trang due to the typhoon which was hitting down in that area and had ended up in Saigon as well... they were sitting with a group of travellers at another table and invited us to join them...
After one drink we all decided to head over to the place across the road called Crazy Buffalo but as soon as we entered and saw
the drinks price list we all agreed it wasnt going to happen and we left as quickly as we had turned up... we saw a little bar next to Go2 advertising cheap beers so went and hung out there for a few beers... While sitting there a 10yo boy turned up on the kerbside and started pouring petrol in his mouth then lighting it and breathing out fire... he would then come around to all the tourists trying to get money.. I had got a photo of him mid-flame and could smell the burning so felt guilty and gave him some small change... Crazy shit!!
About midnight we decided to call it a night and stumbled home hungry and tired.. McKay decided she wanted a Chicken Kebab (Yiros for you South Aussies) and when we went in to the store I decided I was NOT eating there.. but she had the craving (which she would pay for the next day!!)... I stopped at our pork place across from the hotel for takeaway and we went back to the hotel and crashed... we had a tour first thing in the morning (why do we do this to ourselves?!)
Intrepid
Tour of Saigon
The next morning we stumbled downstairs tired and grumpy with 5 minutes to spare before our tour started... our guide was already there but said we were the only two on the tour so he would wait while we had breakfast.... we then set off... thankfully he had a driver and airconditioned car as it was soooo hot... much hotter than the Northern and Central parts of Vietnam...
We visited two Buddhist temples that were pretty cool, then the Reunification Palace (not much of a palace at all), Bin Than market in Cholon (Chinatown), the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Central Post Office (yeah wow!). ...We were told we would visit a wharf as well as have coffee and watch the world go by but that never seemed to transpire... The tour itinerary said we would have a traditional lunch.. and somehow ended up at Pho 24 which is a fast food chain store in Vietnam eating Pho Soup.. it was nice but we needed coffee so ordered some.. the guide didnt seem too happy and then we had to pay for it ourselves.. we thought that was rude considering a coffee stop was meant
to be part of the paid tour!! This happened to become a theme later in the trip re our promised coffee stops.... Maybe not a big deal to some but if you have ever had Vietnamese coffee you would understand why.. we were addicted to the stuff so any tour promising a coffee stop was great in our eyes...
After lunch we walked across the street to Ben Thanh market which is the main market in Vietnam. Our stop there was quite short...it was as if our guide was in some rush...we walked in one side door and then out the front...not so cool... We had visions of exploring the markets with our guide but it never transpired... I did find my favourite coconut candy that I had bought in Hoi An but it was in bulk so bought another 500grams!! It really is addictive!! We then made an unplanned stop to an embroidery place with really pretty embroidered art but we were pretty sure it was one of those commission places that the guide gets paid to take you to...
We then were taken to the War Remnants Museum but halfway there McKay started sweating and getting
stomach cramps.. she was like "I need to go to the toilet NOW" - we told our guide and he stopped at a lacquerware place where McKay couldnt get out of the car quick enough.... I wandered around for a bit looking at the stuff and after a while said I would go see if she was okay.. when I got to the toilet McKay was like 'Can you find me toilet paper please' LOL... I left her in peace after finding some toilet paper then went back out to browse some more...
She eventually came out looking a little happier and whispered to me "we need to get out of here now that toilet wouldnt flush" .... I was almost on the floor in stitches!!!! The guide then seemed to linger in the lacquerware place pointing out 'nice' stuff to us.. we werent sure if it had been a planned stop all along or he felt obligated to try make us stay around for using the toilet...
Once at the War Remnants Musuem we were left to our own devices to look around which I thought was a little strange when we had a paid guide... it
was a lot of propaganda about how bad the Americans were, there were deformed foetus' in jars and massive pictures on the walls of deformed people (apparently effects of Agent Orange) as well as photographs from the war ... all showing mass destruction by the Americans... After about half hour we were all propoganda'd out and decided to leave...
Our tour ended a little earlier than expected at 2.30 (was meant to go until 5pm) and we have to say we were not THAT impressed with the tour as a whole.. we felt rushed, there were things that were in the tour that we never did (like coffee and the fisherman wharf) ... when we went to the markets we didnt see much.. we were lucky to spend 15 minutes in either of them! Would we recommend an Intrepid Urban Adventure day tour... Probably not! It was a lot of money for a tour in Vietnam and we felt that it was just too rushed...
A tip? I don't f*ckn think so!
That night we had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Akbar Ali.. the food was fantastic and really cheap.. After dinner we decided
to get a massage / pedicure so started to walk around looking for one... we found one where a lady was giving out flyers and from the flyer it looked gorgeous... we said we would think about it and continued to look around but ended up back there as we couldnt find any others around the same area... Earlier in the day we had made a pact to spend only 500,000 dong (about $30) each per day (not incl our accommodation costs) so after dinner we had about 150,000 dong each.... beer or massage?!
I decided to go for an hour foot massage and McKay was going to have a pedicure/massage which was meant to last 25 minutes... We entered the room which was out the back of some hotel and it was the dodgiest looking 'massage' place I have ever seen in all my SE Asian travels... the chairs were gross and I was so tempted to walk out but we decided to see it out... The two girls then did 'paper scissors rocks' to see who did what.. I dont think that either wanted to do an HOUR massage cause when my girl came over she kept
saying 'are you sure you want one hour... you could do pedicure?!" while looking at my feet in disgust!! LOL... NO I am pretty sure I want what I ordered! She then put my feet in a bucket of water and proceeded to chat to the girl doing McKays pedicure for the next 15 minutes... I was sitting there pulling faces at McKay and saying out aloud "Any time now" .. we would then go into fits of giggles... she finally started her version of a foot massage... and about 15 minutes later it was all over... WTF... McKay was still getting her toenails painted but hadnt even got her massage... then suddenly hers was over too.... she was like "Ummmm what happened to my massage?" and my girls says "oh she forgot... you sit and wait for nails to dry then she do".. McKay then retaliated with a "no thanks I just want to leave".. by this stage I was hysterically laughing, thanked my girl and walked out... McKay couldnt get her thongs on quick enough!
When I got out the front the boss lady asked for my 100,000 dong and then she says "you have sip you
have sip?" I was like " I have what?!" and she goes "you have sip for girl?" pointing out the back... Oh you are asking me for a tip?!! WTF WTF!!! I just looked at her and said "NO TIP!" and walked off... I couldnt believe the nerve of her ASKING for a tip especially since I got half of a massage and it was shit anyway!! I went outside to wait for McKay and turned around to see my massage girl coming out of the shop glaring at me.. she stood there for ages just staring at me in disgust like I had just insulted her! I know who was insulted and it wasnt HER!!!
When McKay was paying she asked for the 5% discount that was on the flyer we had been given (I couldnt be bothered!) and then she gave the lady a serve about my half massage and her pedicure stuff up... the lady was like "oh you go back in and they give you massage" and classic McKay says to her "No I dont want to, and I am going to tell all my friends NOT to come here" and the lady just stood
there smiling going "Ah ha yes good"... whether she understood we will never know but it still provides us hours of laughs reinacting the scene!!!
Depressed at spending our last dong on shitty massages and pedicures rather than beer we had one beer at Go2 then headed home to bed... the next day we had an early flight to Paradise....
Love to all
Reet and McKay xx
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anonymous
non-member comment
Yay!
Another fantastic blog, honey! I'm so sad it's over! :( Miss you! xoxo