Saigon (HCMC)
I'm Saigon now, just arrived today and haven't been able to blog up till now as I think Blogger must be censored in certain parts of Vietnam??? Anyhoo, flew in this morning and it was a bit of a bumpy ride; I was afraid for a second that the wings may come off mid-flight, but I have arrived in VERY hot Saigon all in one piece and with my luggage. Bonus.
Have spent the last few days travelling down the country from Hanoi (which means the city surrounded by river, which have fallen in LOVE with) through Hue (the cultural and religious capital) and Hoi An (which is the tailormade clothes capital) and we've arrived down south. Have a day and half here to explore and then over the border to Cambodia on Sunday. Phew!!!
Things that I have loved so far about Vietnam, because love it I do.
- The people are super friendly. Everything is a laugh and a joke and it actually is. Even when they are ripping you off they do it with a smile
- Bia Hoi. Fresh beer. Yummy and very cheap
- Xe Om's. Motorbikes/scooters which zoom around town with you on the back, like a personal bike taxi. I loooooooooooooooooooooove these. So much fun, very dangerous and totally Asia!
- Much better food than what I have had so far on the trip, notwithstanding Bangkok
Things that I've been shocked with:
- The fiercesome patriotism
- The facination with white skin. There's quite a bit of staring and stroking; one of my tailors (female) was groping my breasts and even kissed my stomach during a fitting!
- The stall toilets. I went 'local' a couple of days ago and it was a hoot. I ended up in the locals market toilet which involves peeing with everyone else watching as there are no walls or doors, just you, your bottom out and lots of staring and laughing Vietnamese ladies. What could I do? I just got down to business and smiled back. A smile goes a long way.
- Cold showers. Enough already! Although the last few places have had hot water. Yipee! The luxuries of life
- Coming back to the hotel last night to find all the staff asleep in the foyer/reception. They live there. There's a toilet/shower in the foyer for them and they bed dowm on the floor every night. Crazy.
There's so much other stuff to say.....but we're heading out the door right now to go round the town on a tour, in the rush hour traffic, in a cyclo which is like a rickshaw to the front. Fun stuff!!! I even have a facemask to wear. It's the done thing here darling.
posted by Yogini @ 9:41 am
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