Crashes galore
Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wed 20th - We had booked a bus to take us to Saigon today, leaving at 7am. However, at 6.15am there was a knock on our door and the hostel guy told us the bus was waiting for us and was going to leave without us. Have they no concept of time? We had not paid our bill or finished getting dressed at this point so were not impressed. But we made such a fuss about being given false information that the bus driver took pity on us and came back to get us. After that there were no problems with the border crossings or the journey and we arrived at Saigon in time for dinner. It is fairly well developed in Saigon and has a good atmosphere, so first impressions are good.
Thurs 21st - We walked pretty much the whole way around the city today in the stifling heat. We started off by going to the post office to do the regular parcel home. Then we headed off to Dam Sem Park at the other side of town. It was a nice walk, past lots of little boutique shops, but the park itself was a bit disappointing. The gardens were nice and there was a lake in the middle, but no stalls and fairground ride like the lonely planet had written about. We are wondering if we got the right park, but we went to the same one marked on the map!
Next stop was back to the post office area where we went to the war museum. This was definitely worth a visit. There is a display there at the moment in relation to "World Peace" and has about 150 paintings from school children up to 15 years, showing how they want peace in the world. We were shocked at the quality of the art work from the children, as many of the pieces were excellent. There must be some fantastic art teachers in Saigon! Also in the museum were lots of photographs of people injured in the war, and lots of the American Soldiers responsible for these injuries. The Americans in the Vietnam War were very brutal, and the pictures extremely shocking.
The last stop of the day was the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is a beautiful building in the middle of Saigon. We were not able to go inside though, which was a shame.
On the way back to the hostel we saw two moped crashes! Think I cursed them saying I was surprised there weren't more! The first crash was quite funny! It was 2 guys who worked together transporting huge bags of ice on the backs of their mopeds and one swerved in the lane in front of the other, so knocking them both off their bikes. But the ice bags were not strapped on and fell all over the road! The guys were trying to stack the ice back onto their bikes but they didn't get the balance right and as soon as they let go the bikes toppled over again and the ice once again was sent flying all over the road! It was hilarious to watch! The second crash was just a minor collision between two mopeds at a set of lights - not nearly as interesting!
Tonight we had dinner and then realised how exhausted we were so went back to the hostel to relax.
Fri 22nd - Today we went for a walk along the river front. The river is disgustingly dirty and very brown. We saw some men in there panning for gold. Betas me why they would get in there but I guess if there is any gold in there, they must think it's worth it. Oh and we saw a third crash too! A guy with a rickshaw went to a stall to get a drink and his rickshaw rolled away across a busy crossroads! Cars were dodging and beeping their horns and the owner didn't even realise! They really are crazy, but very funny to watch!
This afternoon we went to Ben Thanh market, but it wasn't very good as Asian markets go. It is basically a market for tourists and no-one is willing to barter with you. We tried really hard to barter for fruit for the train tonight but no, the prices were set, and very expensive, and the stall holders were adamant they wouldn't budge. It was no fun trying to barter and it didn't work anyway, so we gave up trying. Instead we walked back towards the hostel and had a late lunch in case there is no dinner on the train.
