Sibling Rivalry
Trip Start
Feb 05, 2008
1
37
70
Trip End
Ongoing
Ho Chi Minh City,
Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Friday, May 2, 2008
Crossing the street
. Hanoi is Eastern. Saigon is Western. Saigon is cafe culture--they have seats set facing the street, theatre style. Hanoi is no dogs. Hanoi is Bia Ha Noi, Saigon is Bia Saigon. Hanging out in Saigon's biggest bus terminal at 4:30 a.m. wasn't so bad. At about 5:30 the sun came up and I ventured outside to snag a moto to Saigon's version of Khoa San Road, De Tham Street. For once I didn't get screwed. First experience riding on the back of 100cc moto wearing a pack and carrying a shoulder bag.
Saigon is a very walkable city with all major sites situated close to my area. My first day in town I saw Reunification Palace, fittingly the day before Reunification Day, April 30th. Admission, only a buck and you see full-sized replicas of the tanks used by the VC to storm the gates that day in '75. There's a great photo display of the Tet Offensive taken by the VC in 1968. Later it was over to the War Remnants Museum, rumoured to have had its named changed from the American War Crimes Museum in order to boost visitor numbers. Is that true?
After a heavy day, I hit the GO2 Bar, a backpacker (no locals) bar where they charge waaay too much for barely chilled beer--25,000 dong
Crossing the street
. Chatting to a dutch fellow, Roel, sitting next to me, I learned the Olympic torch relay was in town this day! Of coarse I jumped at the opportunity and at around 6 p.m. we took our spot directly opposite the famous Rex Hotel and waited. I was excited, particularly given the protests that have marked the torch's journey so far. The security was seemingly and surprisingly lax and there was no sign of protesters. Perhaps not surprisingly there was a large flag-waving pro-China contingency. We got a spot right in front and managed to see the handing off of the torch. Poor guy. He had a big smile and just wanted to jog a little but the truck containing the paparazzi and the security surrounding made it impossible. His face dropped. And then it was over. What a cool experience and what luck. After, we found a great little local spot with ice cold Saigons for only 10,000 dong. That's more like it. It would become my regular watering hole. The cool thing about this part of Saigon is that although it's highly touristic, the locals that work in the area, live and play in the area. The restos they use are mixed in with the tourist spots.
I met a really cool guy from Manchester, Dave, and we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels together. Like most things Vietnam, the Cu Chi Tunnels were highly touristic and regimented and kinda dumb, but interesting and informative
Crossing the street
. Worth doing at only four bucks for a half day tour. I did a walking tour of the city checking out, the Notre Dame church and some other nice buildings, as well as the Rex Hotel (I believe this is the famous hotel from which the last of the american bigwigs were evacuated from the roof by helicopter in '75.). Heavy rains forced me to duck into a coffee shop for a couple of hours. My love affair of vietnamese ice coffee deepened. Now I was taking it black. The lady running the place forced me to take it without milk. After two I was shaking.
My dutch friend Vanessa pulled into town on the 1st of May as planned. Dave, Vanessa and I enjoyed sidewalk ice coffees, people watching and the fantastic street vibe near our $15 a night hotel before heading out for dinner and beers. It was at the regular watering hole that we ran into Roberto a chilean guy V and I had met in Tadlo, Laos. The street life is soooo good here. Locals and travelers alike hanging out.
The food in Saigon is hit and miss. When it's good, it's great, when it's not, well...
After another day of wandering the city and fending off moto drivers it would be off to the Mekong Delta for three days.
