No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I just find with each passing day that I am exponentially more busy, both at school and socially. I need to slow down this ride sometime soon or I will just burn out.
I was able to travel to Saigon last month. I now see why both the French and Americans fought so hard to try to take Hanoi. Saigon sucks. It really, really does. After visiting Hanoi, Vietnam moved up to near the top of my favorite country list. Now, after Saigon, it has slipped dramatically.
The Saigon airport is very modern, and the immigration people were quite efficient. I had arranged a visa on-line, and had no trouble picking it up. I then decided to cash some dollars to pay for the cab ride into town. The person exchanging the money “forgot” to give me half of it. Admittedly, the exchange rate is about 20,000 dong per dollar so it was a big stack of cash, but I did count it out and notice that I received 850,000 dong instead of 1,850,000. I’ve traveled enough in Asia to know not to make a scene. Instead I just politely pointed out the error and it was immediately fixed. He seemed so shocked about the mistake – probably because I caught him!
Everything about Saigon is worse than Hanoi and the north – the food, the crowds, the traffic, etc. Crossing a road is not for the faint of heart. You have to search for breaks in the never ending stream of motorcycles and just go for it. One morning I was trying to cross a road and a delivery truck was coming. I started out; he aimed for me. I took another step; he turned more towards me. This continued until he was just feet away and I chickened out first and stopped. As he sped on by, he stuck his head out the window, laughed (as I did also) and sped away. We had battled and both survived to fight another day. It really is amazing that more people aren’t seriously hurt though. I did see two guys on a motorcycle snatch a woman’s purse. She gave chase and they went down the wrong side of the road, crashing into a car, but they still managed to escape. She wasn’t hurt fortunately.
The prostitutes were relentless. One or two of them on a motorcycle would pull up to you on the sidewalk and offer a massage or more. Most of them were actually very attractive, so I’m sure they get takers. I’m also sure they just drive you to an alley and rob you. One night crossing the park, a hooker (who, judging by the arm strength, was probably a guy), grabbed my arm and offered to suck, suck, bang, bang me. I politely refused and walked away. A few hundred feet away (s)he was back, once again grabbing and offering. I gave her my stare of death and in my best teacher voice said “LEAVE ME ALONE NOW.” It worked (as it usually does on my students). I was telling a friend about this and he thinks (s)he was trying to pick my pocket. Fortunately I always keep my wallet in a front pocket with a Velcro seal. It was entertaining to see all of the young teenagers in the park. The guys drive their girlfriends in on their motorcycles, and they park in long rows and make out on the bikes. Just like I imagined “makeout point” in the 1950’s (but with a lot less privacy).
Because I was there a short time and traveling alone, I decided to take some group tours offered by the hotel. The first was to Cao Dai Temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels (pictures below). They were interesting, but the trip involved 9 hours on a small, packed bus for only 2 hours of sightseeing. I did manage to overcome my claustrophobia and go about 25 yards in one of the tunnels, but thought I probably shouldn’t fire the machine gun with my neck still healing. I guess I should have known that a $7 day-long tour wasn’t going to be luxurious. The temple was just way too touristy for me, and it felt wrong to be intruding so much into a real service. That night, however, I walked past the cathedral in Saigon. It was so crowded that the doors were all open and people were sitting outside on chairs. It was such a peaceful interlude in the chaotic city, and the music was so beautiful, that it was one of the high points of my trip.
The next day I headed out to the Mekong Delta. Another long bus ride, but with more time at the attractions. We took a small boat out to a “village” (read tourist trap with stalls and no houses), followed by a canoe ride through the mangroves. It was like a low budget Disney ride – tourists walking down the plank to the waiting rows of natives in canoes. We had two paddlers – one in front and one in back. The one behind me kept moaning and sighing to let me know how hard she was paddling. When I didn’t get the hint, she started poking me in the back and saying “tip, tip, tip.” Once again my death stare and teacher voice stopped the annoyance. We ended with lunch and musical entertainment. The traditional music was nice, but hearing Jingle Bells in October on traditional Vietnamese instruments was just too weird for me. I paid the surcharge to take the “speedboat” back to Saigon and avoid another bus ride. The only thing speedy about the boat was how fast they collected our money. The trip was supposed to take 1 ½ hours; 3 ½ hours later we limped into town, tired, sore and wet. Allegedly the water level in the river had magically fallen too much to allow us to go fast.
So, to sum up my trip, I’d have to say that I spent 100 hours with people constantly trying to rip me off, hit me with a motorcycle or feed me disappointing food. I’m glad I’ve seen it, but I probably won’t go back to Saigon again.
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