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Published: March 14th 2010
out flight route
Another person was ill on our flight and we thought for a time we might have to land in Anchorage. Love the backtracking!Getting there is half the fun?
51 hours after getting into a snow-covered cab in Anchorage, we emerged from an air-conditioned cab in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City as it has been called since 1975). I've got to say, Korean Air really is amazing. They fed us well and provided ample entertainment. I re-lived the 80's a bit with a rousing few rounds of In-Flight Tetris while Dave sank battleships and fired on subs in between hands of blackjack. We had a yummy lunch of Bibimbap, complete with illustrated directions. I can't rave quite as much about the later evening meal of eel, but it also wasn't a greasy cheeseburger that cost $6.
We arrived at the hotel without issue and headed upstairs to our room. We were accompanied by two young boys, one for each of our bags, which I want to say at this stage of the trip are quite empty and small. The waist belt on Dave's pack got stuck in the elevator door which we discovered by the clanking noise of the buckle knocking against the innerds of the elevator shaft. As a result, we had quite a time getting out of the elevator. It
how to make bibimbap
Gotta love Korean Air was stuck just below the floor and the doors wouldn't open. It was extremely hot and I had a moment of panic. We managed to pry the doors apart and while one boy held the doors open, the rest of us climbed out by crawling under his arms (he was using both to to hold the door open which was trying hard to close) and up onto the floor. They apologized profusely and we laughed. We got the air-conditioning cranked in our room and promptly crashed out.
Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon is a crazy, crazy place. I don't know how many times I said, "this is just incredible" while mesmorized at the flow of traffic. Probably not as many times as Dave said, "it's hot here." And it was, both crazy and hot and crazy hot. There are motorbikes everywhere. It is a city of over 7 million people and I feel like we saw that many motorbikes, scooters, and mopeds. I loved seeing all the people cruising around with their helmets and face masks. Women in full dresses and high heels, families, and people carrying all kinds of things on the back (ladders, giant boxes, scaffolding,
bananas, a desk....). We watched the way locals crossed the streets...you basically hold up for cars and just walk amongst the motorbikes. Only once did I feel like I almost lost a toe. It was almost kind of fun.
After breakfast, we headed to the War Remnants Museum, which was once called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes. As you might imagine, it was a sobering experience. There were people from all nationalities there and several men who likely had been here during the war.
We walked by the Reunification Palace and into the backpacker's zone for lunch. We found a yummy vegetarian restaurant and had stir fried veggies, fresh spring rolls and a couple of sodas for just a few dollars. We then found the Ben Thanh Market and strolled around, looking at all the goods for sale and turning down all the offers to sell us T-shirts, wallets, material, coffee, etc, etc. We sat a food stall and had a second lunch that was even more delicious than the first. The fresh mango shake was heaven to our good fruit deprived palettes.
It was a good first day and we are ready to leave the
big city. Next stop: Hoi An.
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karen Watts
non-member comment
Just like I remember it
i guess I should have told you about all the motor bikes! Saigan was my least favorite place of the country. Hoi An was one of my favorites- see if you can get a local to take you out to one of the fish markets in the water- it is great! And be sure to have there pho- it is really good