Memoirs
Trip Start
Mar 03, 2005
1
12
80
Trip End
Apr 08, 2006
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),
Hồ Chí Minh,
Vietnam
Monday, March 28, 2005
Ok, not quite (Although I am reading "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad at the moment, the book which inspired Apocalypse Now)! I am however still trying to convince myself that I am actually here, in the city which first opened my eyes to the world two years ago. I dragged myself out of bed at 5am a little grumpy at the fact I had to come here for a visa run, but I couldn't imagine how great it really would be to return. Things haven't changed all that much. New roads are being built. There is a nice park opposite the backpacker district which wasn't there before. However the millions of motorbikes haven't gone anywhere, and it still rates as the busiest most bustling and alive city I have ever been to. I spent an hour and a half walking a circuit from Pham Ngu Lao (backpacker district), past the Ben Thanh market, French Hotel De Ville, Notre Dame cathedral, the park with the trees painted white at the bottom, and Reunification Palace, where I knew I would find an ice cold coconut to drink from! Even though my mission to find an iTrip for my iPod (a small device which allows you to play music on the iPod through a stereo) was a resounding failure, I still felt great walking around the city. I remembered exactly where everything was, and it really only feels like yesterday that I was last here.
In my previous trips to Vietnam I never had any trouble from the local people, however many people have told me that they found them the rudest people in South East Asia. After just half a day here, I haven't changed my thoughts on the Vietnamese people at all. Everywhere I go I'm met with smiles (a little bigger than those from the Khmer people), and everyone is friendly. Even in the mini Khao San Rd area of Pham Ngu Lao. Maybe it's because I know a smattering of Vietnamese. Although it was very rusty at the border, when I received my change from an ice cream I bought and said to the young lady "goodbye" instead of "thank you"! You live and you learn! As some of you know from my recent dining out experience in Phnom Penh...
One thing that still does my head in are borders. Nothing more than imaginary lines dividing countries right? Well the change in just a few kilometres between Cambodia and Vietnam was really noticeable. One one side of the border, an immigration office that is nothing more than a shed, whilst on the other a building reminiscent of an airport. A bumpy poorly maintained sealed road becomes a four lane freeway. However,the one that I really couldn't figure out was the fertility of the land. Cambodia is currently suffering a huge drought; the rice paddies are dry, the rivers dry, and everything seems to be covered in a layer of dust. Not ten minutes into Vietnam and I could see bright green rice paddies, and water everywhere. Maybe that's because the people are actually allowed to irrigate the land, as opposed to the current situation in Cambodia (despite having the largest lake and river system in South East Asia, there is virtually no irrigation. I don't know all the facts, except that it's due to some law imposed by the government). Yes, believe ot or not, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has got some things right!
That's about it. Easter in Phnom Penh has been a non-event, however the Khmer new year is just round the corner, which I'll get to celebrate with four public holidays! In just my second week at school! That is, if I'm not refused entry with my official looking papers at the border tomorrow morning...
Post script - Tuesday 29th March, 2005
Back in Phnom Penh. A few questions and strange looks from the stern looking officials at the border, but otherwise it was smooth sailing and I now have a three month extendable working visa (supposedly).
All in all, the overnighter in Ho Chi Minh City wasn't an ideal experience for me. Not because things went wrong (apart from being unable to find an iTrip), but because they went far too well. Vietnam is my favourite country in Asia, and if I didn't leave this morning, I wouldn't have left. I am not kidding! I picked a great guesthouse with the friendliest people and if I didn't leave I would have found a job and lived there! Not to mention the fact that Vietnamese food is amazing, the coffee the best in Asia and everything is cheaper than here in Cambodia. The people are very friendly and the women are just the most stunning in the world. I had to get away for my own sanity. Or maybe it's a little late for that!
So the holiday's over for the time being and my first day at work is on friday.
