Saigon, the uptown way

  Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Saturday, November 10, 2007

Today has been varied. I woke up very early again, just couldn't handle the sensory deprivation of my cheap hotel room.  I've never been deprived of natural light for such an extended period before, and it's very disorientating, not something I'd recommend, although in very small doses, I'm sure it can be very beneficial.

Sensory deprivation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch, taste, thermoception (heat-sense), and 'gravity'. Sensory deprivation has been used in various alternative medicines and in psychological experiments (e.g., see Isolation tank), and for torture or punishment.  Though short periods of sensory deprivation can be relaxing, extended deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression, and antisocial behavior.  Today I am feeling very anti-social!

I met my new American friend, Tommy, at 8am and we went to check out a local market.  It had pretty much anything you could possibly want: any kind of hat or cap you fancied; gloves to keep your hands and arms protected when you're on a motorbike or simply to be beautiful and elegant; jewellery of all colours, stones, and styles; fabrics; t-shirts, pants, any kind of clothing you could imagine.  Household products and ornaments, pictures.  Buddhas, elephant banks.  And food, food galore: sweet candies, and jellies, fruits and vegetables, meats, tea, rices of every colour under the sun.  The market was a riot of colours, smells and flavours.




After the market, I just relaxed in my room until it was time to check out, and boy, was I glad to be out of the scary room.  If anyone ever goes to Saigon, make sure you ask for a room with a window.  Pay extra for it.

I was touched that Tommy saw me off from the hotel, having taken a few moments from his fiancee to put me in a cab.  Five minutes later and I reached the Huong Sen Hotel on Dong Khoi.  Check in was easy, but that's what you'd expect from somewhere fancy.  Here, it's 3 stars, but in the UK would maybe rate 3 1/2 stars.  Now, I've stayed in some fancy hotels over the years and it doesn't phase me, but today, turning up with my overloaded backpack and camera bag, in a very old and scruffy, but much-loved t-shirt, hiking pants and boots, I felt out of place.  I guess I signed up for the wrong kid of trip for this leg of the journey.  Everyone has a suitcase or holdall, they look smart and clean and tidy.  And that's great; I do smart and tidy when I want or need to, but I don't want to do it just now.  What I've been loving for the past week is the freedom to be me at the most essential level, stripped down to the basics and not in the least bothered or interested in anything more than my own comfort and needs.  I may be wrong about this, but moving up a level to fancier hotels is going to put me back in the zone where you get judged on your appearance.  We make such value judgments all the time in real life so I don't much want to be part of this game.  Rant over, thanks for listening.

I have a roomie!  A lovely lady from Quebec called Michelle Dufors.  We're getting on well and have had fun together this afternoon.  We lunched in the hotel's restaurant; the food was a bit bland but acceptable.  After that we had a look at Saigon from the roof terrace.  Next, we took a stroll around uptown Saigon and my, this part of District 1 is so different to where I was staying before.  The traffic is almost normal; you don't take your life in your hands in quite the same way.  The area is all geared to tourists, I think, with global brand shops everywhere.  Also, there's a plethora of stores selling Vietnamese nick-knacks and tat, tailors making beautiful silk garments in less than 24 hours, and international-style restaurants.  I'm glad to say, though, that the only fast food chain to make it here from the US of A is KFC.  Here's hoping it stays that way!  That said, there's also Lotteria which is a Vietnamese version of fast food.  Still not trying it, though.

It's been really muggy here and we were hot and stinky on our return to the hotel.  So it was time for some luxury1  UP we trotted to the 8th floor and spent a delightful hour swimming in our own private pool and relaxing in the jacuzzi with our Saigon beers.  It's a hard life.  Even though the Heavens opened and it rained hard, I didn't mind because I was sitting under a shade that was protecting me and my beer.  Suitably mellow at this point, it was time for serious relation, so off for another foot massage.  Vietnamese-style foot massage seems to be a lot more painful than its Chinese counterpart, but was relaxing and enjoyable nevertheless.  I think that I'll get back into reflexology and acupuncture when I return to England they're good for body, mind, and spirit.

I have to go to a trip meeting soon, discover what exactly s in store for me over the next ten days, and exactly how much I can rebel.  I'm liking the luxury of the hotel, but think that maybe we'll be mollycoddled and protected too much, won't participate in local life.  or maybe it'll be at one remove, I don't know, but if we end i[ eating at hotels all the time, that's not going to suit me; I'd much rather wander into the streets and eat where the locals eat.  Time will tell.