I got a taxi from my hostel in Hanoi to take me back to the airport. You absolutely would NOT believe the airport in Hanoi. Security!? Ha - WHAT security!? It kind of make me a little uneasy to fly over here! I'm not even kidding you, the 'security guard' was ASLEEP in a chair with a MACHINE GUN sitting acros his lap! I could have walked right through security with two guns and carrying an arm load of cocaine and no one would have even looked twice at me! Anyways, flight was pretty short (less than two hours). The airport here (in Saigon) was a little better, but not much.
I am getting better at this international airport thing. I managed to get a taxi to an area in town that - according to my book - had a lot of really dirt cheap hostels and restaurants and stuff. I had it written down, AND I had my trust Lonely Planet book, so I showed it to the taxi guy and he shook his head yes and drove me there. Drove for probably 20 or 30 minutes through the city - it's pretty cool. Nothing fancy, pretty run-down but not as bad as Hanoi. I really don't like traveling at night because I have a harder time getting my bearings and trying to figure out where things are - plus you just can't see as much! But anyways, he dropped me off on a pretty main road that looked good enough. I looked at some street signs and tried to figure out where I was. I eventually asked someone where this one hostel was that was the cheapest one in the book (literally $2/night). She pointed down a dark alley. Shit. Why do the good ones (aka cheap ones) always have to be in such sketchy places!? Haha... Oh well, off I went, as quickly as I could through the dark to the light at the front of one building. Bars. It was barred shut. REALLY!? I mean it was night time but it wasn't THAT late. There was a doorbell and some lady came and peeked through and then let me in. It was nice enough. I mean it was nicer than what you would expect for $2 I think. Cement walls, no window, a bed on the floor with a blanket, a little chair/table, and the grossest bathroom I've ever seen, haha!
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| Mold all over the walls/ceiling |
Once I 'checked in' and dropped off my stuff, I went out to walk around a little and find some food. The lady assured me should would let me back in if I came back before midnight. Back on the main road I didn't feel so bad - but that dark alley really sucked! I walked around for quite awhile and found a nice little Italian restaurant. Yes, as ironic as it sounds, an American ate at an authentic Italian restaurant in Vietnam. :) While I was eating several little boys - I mean 6 or 7 years old - came up to me at different times selling random little things, including cigarettes. What in the world are little kids doing on the streets selling cigareets late at night!? It was so sad. :( I read some more of my book about Saigon while I ate and then walked back to my hostel for the night.
I didn't really sleep all that bad, but when I woke up, there were ANTS all over my bag that I left on the ground. Shit. At least they weren't on the bed and on me too - just all over my BAG! I had some food in there (snacks) and they must have been able to smell them or something! No harm done. Just brushed them off and called it good. I probably got some foot disease from walking in that bathroom barefoot, but I did manage to take a shower in there. It's so weird how the bathroom is also the shower in Vietnam. I mean there is a shower head next to the toilet and you just turn it on and the whole bathroom gets soaked, towel included if you arent careful. Just weird.
Here is a picture of the "dark alley" I had to walk down last night. It doesn't look so bad in the day light, but I had no idea what was back between those tall buildings at night. The hostel is way back there, way past the second group of people standing in the picture...
So I decided that since the motorbike ride was SO awesome and such a great way to see the city in Hanoi, that I would do it again here in Ho Chi Minh. :) Safe? Probably not so much. Fun? HELL YES.
I walked around the area for awhile - I don't even know what day of the week it is anymore - but it was busy! Lots of motorbikes, that's for sure! It's very obvious that I am a tourist. I mean come on, I have long light hair and skin in a world of short (VERY short), darkVietnamese! There were a couple of guys on motorbikes sitting off the curb talking, so I decided to try and talk to them. One of them spoke pretty good English and was very excited (looking back, maybe a little TOO eager) to take me around the city for the day. We agreed that I would pay him $10 and he would take me anywhere I wanted to go all day long. That's probably WAY too much to pay him, but I didn't care. $10 is fine with me! So off we went. I hopped on the back of his bike (no helmets, of course) and we were off to see the city!! I just LOVE motorbikes over here! And apparnelty so does everyone else, because it's about all they drive! :)
I did some serious shopping at this huge market just across the street from this post office. How convenient, right!? This market had literally everything imaginble to buy - think of it like a Super Wal-Mart on crack. I bought some aweome dishes and decorations and chopsticks and...yea, lots of stuff. And then I just boxed it up and took it here to the post office and sent it home! :)
One of the most disturbing and sad things I think I've ever seen was the 'American War Museum' here in Saigon. I'm not much of a history buff, and I don't know much about the war, but I guarantee you I am going to do some research on it when I get back! Of course there are two sides to the story, and here in Vietnam I am only getting there side, but holy crap we did some TERRIBLE things to the Vietnamese! :( There was a nice old lady - I'm talking like 90 years old - sitting in a chair inside the museum, and she asked me where I was from. I hesitated and couldn't decide if I should say Canada or America, or if it would matter. I told her I was American, and she took my hand in hers and smiled. Nothing else was said. I walked around the museum for quite awhile and read all about the contraptions they had, read all the captions on the terrible pictures. It was just so sad.
Well THAT certainly put a damper on my attitude - for a little bit anyways. It's just hard to believe that two humans (or countries) could do some of those things to one another.
MOVING ON...
After the museum, we rode around Ho Chi Minh some more. I told him I wanted to do more "local" stuff - off the beaten path - and less of the touristy stuff. I mean that's where you REALLY experience the city. We went to some local markets, but they weren't much different that the bigger ones, just less English and more crowded. We drove up and down local streets, which was kind of fun just to see how they live (which is NOT fancy at all). Eventually, it started to cloud up and looked like rain. And yep, sure enough, it started to POUR. Let me tell you, motorbikes aren't NEARLY as fun and cool when it's RAINING cats and dogs!! I guess we were in my new friends' area of where he lives, and we pulled up under some tent - literally - and had dinner. He knew them all and they were all talking, in Vietnamese of course, but they were nice, the food was good, and we waited out the storm.
Motorbikes still suck even AFTER the rain - haha. I just got filthy and wet on the ride back to the area of my hostel. I gave my new friend an extra $10 for being so awesome. Pretty sure I just made his day - or maybe his week, haha!
So anyways, tomorrow I am off to see the Cu-Chi tunnels and Mekong Delta! Should be interesting! :)
-TK
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