First thing I want to share with you about Viet Nam: In Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) there are motorbikes EVERYWHERE, and I mean EVERYWHERE. Traffic is insane, and I wish I had a t-shirt that says “I crossed the street in Viet Nam.” The people from Viet Nam that spoke with us before arriving told us that the traffic was a little intimidating and that there were no crosswalks; you just have to cross when you feel ready. This was more or less true. I think “intimidating” may have been an understatement – at least it was at first. After you get used to walking into a street crowded with motorbikes and cars, it’s not too bad... You just have to suck it up and walk slowly and confidently, and the motorbike riders will plan a path around you; however, the same is not, of course, true of cars. I felt like the grandma from the movie Mulan when she took the “lucky cricket” and closed her eyes and walked across a busy street.
This was the first port that I spent more than 2 or 3 days in; I did a wide variety of activities while in Viet Nam. One of the first things I did was get a business suit and a Vietnamese dress made. The process was more difficult that you would expect because there are so many tailors to choose from, and they are all super nice. I had heard that Viet Nam was the place to buy a lot of clothes, so my friends and I went to the market a few times. Every time I went, I went with the assumption that I was going to come back laden with a ton of goods, but no such thing happened until the last day in port. At first, I just didn’t ever see anything that struck me as something I had to have, but then I realized that if I didn’t buy anything in Viet Nam, I would regret not having anything later. Sure enough, I am now extremely happy with everything I ended up getting, and I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t gotten anything. The experiences I had in the markets in all of the countries I’ve been to were completely different than any shopping experience I’ve had in my entire life. There are a lot of little “shops” that all have pretty much the same items in a row, and a few rows over there will be shops with something different. There were different areas for shops selling clothes, food items, shoes, souvenirs, and toys. Something I found out about myself while in the market – I am HORRIBLE at bargaining, and I smile and laugh A LOT when I’m nervous or uncomfortable.
One day I went to the Cu Chi Tunnels on an SAS trip; it was a pretty cool experience. We learned about the Viet Nam war from a new perspective, and we got to crawl around in one of the tunnels that were used in the war. Well, we got to crawl around in a tunnel that had been enlarged for tourists anyways. Near the end of the tour, a few people paid money to shoot an AK-47, and I was not one of them! I’m not sure what else to say about the Cu Chi Tunnels – it seems fairly self-explanatory to me…
Another place on the list of things to do/see in Viet Nam is the Mekong Delta. I ended up going independently with three other people. We found a cab driver and guide that would take us and went on our way. It wasn’t quite what I had expected, but it was still fun. We went in several boats to different areas of the Mekong Delta, we sampled freshly made coconut candy and crispy rice paper, and three of us tried Snake’s Blood Wine. I don’t know if you know that is, but you should Google it or something; it was …interesting. Hmm, what else did we do in Mekong…we rode through a village-like area in horse-drawn carts. We also listened to some women sing Vietnamese music and enjoyed some amazing tea and fruit, and our guide told us about the Coconut Monk. All-in-all, it was a pretty good time, until we got back to the city that is. Right, so we get back to the city, and the guy who had showed us around tried to get us to pay more than what we had agreed on – what a rip off! We ended up telling him that we only had the amount he had told us to pay in the beginning, gave him the money, and walked away; it seemed to work well enough. Once back in Saigon, one member of our party went back to the ship while the other three of us found a place to eat called Blue Café which was fairly nifty. Later on, the other girl and I went to get pedicures and massages. I have to say, the massage felt damn good, and it was the first time someone actually walked on my back.
The last thing about my time in Viet Nam that I wish to share with you all is this: Phό is amazing. I ate it three times. It is probably my new favorite food. Rice noodles and soup…really freaking good. Seriously, if you ever go to a country where they have Phό, get it. The place we got it at was called Phό 24, and these places were all over the place. It’s like McDonalds in the US when it comes to the fact that there are so many of them.
Check back in a day or so to read about India! (I don’t feel like writing anymore at the moment because this one took me forever!)
-KW-
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