On to Vietnam!!

After an amazing few days in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, it really felt like our travel luck was turning around. We spent a while in Phnom Penh planning out the rest of the trip, we figured out the timing of Vietnam and the Thai islands, and scheduled when we would be heading home to our respective North American cities. It was a bit of a shocker to actually buy the flights, but once we booked, we were able to get really excited for the things we had coming up. We planned it all out so that we would be able to take our time and really enjoy the last 6 weeks of our amazing trip.

So we hopped on a bus in Phnom Penh straight for what is officially known as Ho Chi Minh City on paper, but what everyone in the country still refers to as Saigon. We arrived in Saigon in the afternoon on October 20th. We had just over three weeks to make our way to Hanoi, which is about 1800km away. There were so many places we wanted to stop and visit along the way, so we decided to whirlwind through our stay in Saigon. We had spent a lot of time in cities, and we didn't want to have to pass up on any time in the country or the beach.

Saigon was an amazing city. First thing you notice when you arrive are the 5 million motorbikes on the streets. I know this sounds like an exaggeration, but I'm not kidding, there are 5 million motorbikes for the 10 million people in Saigon. It makes for verrrrry hectic traffic, and hellish traffic crossing. There seems to be absolutely no traffic rules, with everybody going in every direction (you can count at least 5 directions in the picture on the right), whenever they want. The picture also shows the giant knot of wires that hovers above you everywhere you go in the city. The best advice for crossing the streets is to not hesitate, walk at a slow and even pace, and the motorists will swerve around you. Its definitely not for the faint of heart, but you have to stay smart, cause one wrong step and you're toast!

We dropped our stuff off at our hostel, and headed out to see what Saigon had to offer. First stop was the Saigon Market. Much like every other market we've been to over the past two months, it was busy, dirty, smelly and chaotic. It took us about 10 minutes to realize that the novelty of the stinky chaotic mess had worn off, so we headed back outside to keep walking around. We stepped outside and were immediately confronted with a billion cyclo drivers offering us an hour long tour around the city. One guy explained that we'd be able to see some cool stuff, and it would only cost us a dollar each! So we each hopped into a carriage and off we went. My cyclo driver was awesome, his English was really good, and he'd been doing the job for over 30 years, since the end of the war. He liked to explain the history of things, and Kev and I found it a really nice relaxing way to see the sights. Aside from the occasional fear-for-your-life traffic crossing, the ride was a success. We briefly saw some of the major sights, which helped us map out our plan for the following day.

Our first night in Saigon was undoubtedly one of the best nights we've had on the trip. First off, sitting outside of "gramma's bar", which looked like a corner store with kiddie tables strewn out into the street in front, with foot-high stools packed with all types of people (best part: home brewed 25 cent beers). I bumped into a friend-of-a-friend from home, which was really cool! I hadn't seen anyone from Toronto in so long, and this was a hilarious place to have a random street bump in, it was really nice to hear about her experiences in Saigon. Sitting at the same random street bar drinking the same 25 cent draught beers we also bumped into a traveller we had met in Sihanoukville, Cambodia a month before. He was a super cool guy, and it was great to get another night with him. We were all sitting around drinking when the table next to us started to fill up with some rowdy Vietnamese guys and gals. They started talking to us, and next thing we knew we were all screaming "YO" (cheers, in Vietnamese) and pounding back cheap beer. The night turned into a great time, they shared some cool local experiences with us, we went to a cool bar and got our dance on, and were introduced to our first authentic "Pho" meal at 4 in the morning. This first meal with the locals was a life-saver. They showed us which veggies and sauces to add and in which proportions. All in all it was an incredible night, and it made us love Saigon even more.




The next day we woke up ready to see some Saigon sights in earnest, no more lazy cyclo-ing by. We hopped on moto-taxis (terrifying), and headed to the War Remnants Museum. The Vietnam War was an absolutely terrifying time in history, and we were looking forward to learning more about what happened during that time. Being Americans, and having fathers that were of draft age around the time of the war, we both felt a connection to what happened here. We didn't know much of the history, so it was eye-opening to see a first hand account. The museum was basically a large photo-exhibit, showing historical truths, demonstrations and support from around the world, and the after-effects of the war. The photographs were beautiful, although some of them were incredibly difficult to see. Neither Kevin nor I had ever really realized just how opposed the world was to American actions in Vietnam. The atrocities that occurred during the war were plentiful, and this museum left no stone unturned in showing people what happened. As painful as it was, it was a real testament to the strength of the Vietnamese people, and at the end we were happy to have seen it. After the museum, we walked around the city some more, checking out some of the stores, where we bought old propaganda posters! We watched the crazy traffic, ate some Pho, and headed back to our hostel exhausted. It had really been a hard day for us, so after some more walking around, we called it a night.

The next morning we packed up our stuff and headed out walking. We saw some really cool alleyways and colourful streets, where we went on a photo-spree. We basically just moseyed around until our bus at 3pm heading for Mui Ne! We'd had more than enough city for a little while, so we were so ready for a week of beach fun :)