Vietnam Post Number Bong

Linh had to work Sunday so I was on my own until dinner. Went to the War Remnants museum, which is made of U.S. military hardware (guns, tanks, etc.) and pictorials in several large rooms. Surprisingly it's not really well done considering they have a very large visitor rate (half million a year). As an American, many of the photos are not new, but to Europeans and other visitors, it may be the first large-scale exposure to photo journalism from Vietnam. It is obviously told from a very pro-North stance, Americans (and to a lesser extent, the French) don't look very good after going through there. Even if it is one-sided, it is a sobering experience to see the impact the armed forces had on the country, and quite surprising to see how warm and friendly (most) locals are, especially to Americans. After that, more wandering around, saw a cathedral and post office, not that interesting. Met Linh and her cousin for Ban Xeo (seafood pancakes) which were really good. Slightly larger than at home, and the greens that they are wrapped in (basil, mint, lettuce) seemed a bit fresher, but not night and day different. Then went to pick up some ice cream, I had vanilla in a coconut shell with a bunch of fruits I couldn't identify. Stomach revolted again, so I had to get home quickly. Traffic was really bad because everyone in the city had to go out and see Christmas displays. They really like lit up streets here for Christmas.

Monday - sat in a bar (same as Saturday) and drank all day, watching the street. Talked to a bartender most of the time and she gave me a ride home on her motorbike. I may have picked up more doing that than going anywhere. Met Linh, her cousin and a friend to watch a football game. That was really bad, there were only 5ish people there and they show the games on crappy little tvs. Soccer gets way more love here. Also, a New Yorker got really mad at a guy from our table and was going to fight him because the game (on tape of some sort) was restarted and they can't forward it. When his tiny pregnant Vietnamese wife showed up, he calmed down.
Went back, said bye to Linh and that was it for HCMC.

Vietnam Post Number Bah

This will have to consolidate a bunch of days.
Saturday - after shooting guns and travelling back to the city, Linh and I went out for Vietnamese bbq. Somewhat similar to Korean style, you cook plates of meat at the table (deer, boar, seafood, beef, etc. is available). It was quite good, although the smoke, even though it was outside, was pretty overwhelming. One in particular that was tasty was beef wrapped around cheese and onion. A friend/co-worker of hers showed up and we stayed for a few beers. At this point, my stomach revolted and I started my tour of HCMC bathrooms. We went to a club mostly for foreigners that has been around a long time. It's very obvious that it's a starting point for prostitution, straight and gay. We had one drink and left. It was then off on a mission to find a place recommended by Linh's friend, but we never found it, and after 4 u-turns we decided to go somewhere else. All this time the 3 of us are on one motorbike. That was fun, it really is the best way to get around, and they are suprisingly sturdy - 400 lbs, not a problem. We ended up at a bar that also had a lot of tourists, but it was more laid back, you can just drink and watch traffic go by. Met some Irish and Belgians there as well. They had been drinking pretty much all day, the empty bottles are kept in cases next to you so they can add up the bill at the end of the night. Little girls go around and sell gum, tissues, etc. at all hours of the night. It's tempting, but apparently that money goes to mafia types. Also noticed pretty open smoking of weed, as long as you don't get crazy, pretty much anything goes...

Vietnam Post Number Hai

Second full day in Vietnam. Linh and I booked a trip to the Cao Dai temple and Cu Chi tunnels. It was a long trip 3.5 hours to get to the temple. Cao Dai is less than a hundred years old, and is sort of a new religion, but more of a blend of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taosim. And Victor Hugo is involved somehow as well as Sun Yat Sen. Strange. We saw about 15 minutes of a ceremony, which started with singing and some music, videos posted later. It was then another 90 minutes to the Cu Chi tunnels, part of an elaborate 200 km tunnel system used by the North Vietnamese to hide and facilate 'killing American soldiers'. They could easily escape and get to rivers or other tunnel systems when necessary. They stayed there during the day, and came out at night to farm, work, and kill. We went through about 50 meters of the tunnel (enlarged for western bodies) and it was claustrophobic and starting to hurt at the end (video coming). I also got to shoot an AK-47, as there is a shooting range attached. Guns are really, really loud.

Vietnam Post Number Mot

Flight was long, but uneventful, not much to say. Terrible movies. Second flight was better since I had three seats to myself. I think it was 7ish hours, making for about 19 hours of flight time, 24 overall. The HCMC airport is pretty nice and getting through immigration was very quick and easy, a bit surprising. Leaving customs I saw a crush of people waiting for family and friends, hundreds pressed up against the fence. Fortunately I had Linh's tennis racket and she picked me out pretty easily. A 20 minute ride and we were at my hotel. Room is very clean and plenty big, a good deal for 20/night. After not sleeping much, I got up and walked out onto the street around 9 am the next day. Not much of a plan in mind, just to go out and see what's around. I learned very quickly that motorbikes are the only way to get around - every person is either riding one, fixing one, or sitting on one along the sidewalks. They are everywhere. A not very pushy bike/taxi guy convinced me that is the best way to get around and I agreed. No price was set ('its up to you') and we headed for reunification palace. The palace was the headquarters for the government of the south during the war (built in 1966). It is one of the places that tanks crashed through the gates in 1975 as the VC took control of HCMC. It has been used sparingly since then and the entire building is like a time warp back to the 60s and 70s, both in architecture and furnishings. The basement has a bomb shelter where they operated that looks fairly close to the structure that Winston Churchill used in WW II. After that, we went for lunch, seafood with noodles and two beers each for us - all for about 5 dollars. He then suggested a massage, and I was skeptical, but he seemed like a good guy and had many handwritten recommendations from all over the world. When I got there they quickly offered me a 'lowlob' for 70 dollars and tried to take off my pants right away...I declined and knew this was getting a little strange. The massage wasn't that great, I don't think they do that as much as offer other services. Afterwards we stopped by my hotel and had some drinks and squid with his fellow cycle/taxi buddies. All were very nice and to my surprise really like Americans (I suppose its related to money, but they seemed sincere). Things were fine until their loan shark mafia boss(?) showed up. It was a woman wearing lots of gold jewelry. She loans them money when things are down, several men at the table owed her 1-2 million dong (70-150 dollars). I asked my driver to take me back and I gave him a very, very generous amount, but he was under the impression I was going to give him the full amount of his debt - which I didn't have even if I wanted to. It was kind of a weird ending, he hugged me and took off. After a nap, met up with Linh and had dinner in an open market area, definitely a little more low-key then earlier in the day. Pictures and videos forthcoming...