Our flight to Saigon was only an hour or so, and when we arrived and boarded our bus, we were all thrilled to discover that it was huge! After boarding smaller and smaller buses as we headed south, we finally found relief in Saigon. When we got to the hotel, Pong told us to "open our minds" (his way of saying, be open minded) because some of the rooms in the hotel were quite small and windowless, due to the good location of the hotel. Natasha and I lucked out with a HUGE room with a GIANT window. I don't know how, but it was fantastic. Our first task upon arrival in Saigon was to visit Fanny Ice Cream, which is, I guess, a famous chain with multiple locations. It was pretty epic. They had ice cream sushi (ice cream shaped like sushi - no raw fish involved), as well as ice cream spring rolls, fondue, the works! And everything was gigantic. The ice cream that I got (which happened to serve as our lunch) was called Autumn Leaves. It had green tea, coconut, and chocolate ice creams with almonds and caramel sauce. It was huge and almost unfinishable.
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| Fanny Ice Cream aka "late lunch" |
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| Yummmm |
Then Pong led us around Saigon a bit, to show us around so that we wouldn't get lost when we were wandering on our own. Saigon is completely different from Hanoi. First of all, it is starkly evident that Saigon was not always under a Communist regime. It is much more commercialized than Hanoi, with bright lights, tall buildings, and flashy signs. Hanoi had more of a hutong-like feel, characterized by short, drab buildings. Although people had suggested that crossing the street would be more brutal in Saigon than in Hanoi due to the fact that it's a larger city with more vehicles, I am not convinced that that is the case. First of all, the roads in Saigon have lines. Lots of them. Cross walks, lane dividers, meridians, etc. There are more traffic lights with walk and do-not-walk signs, and once you have gotten used to the principal of crossing the street amid swarms of motorbikes, the number of vehicles is less unnerving. Basically, I never felt like I was going to die in Saigon, unlike in Hanoi.
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| Saigon traffic |
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| Silvan looking normal |
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| Saigon |
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| Uncle Ho |
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| Saigon |
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| Saigon street at sunset |
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| Yummy rice in all colors being sold on the street in Saigon |
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| Our bizarre hotel |
For dinner, I tried a traditional Vietnamese rice pancake. It was stuffed with mushrooms, sprouts, tofu, and spring onion. It came with a pile of lettuce and other greens on the side, as well as a dipping sauce. It was kind of like Chinese lettuce wraps, in that we were supposed to tear off pieces of the pancake, wrap it in some lettuce, and dip it in the sauce. It was kind of bizarre, but yummy, and a nice change from the noodles and rice that had become a staple in my diet. After dinner, Pong took me to the international clinic to have my wound checked out. I had started taking some antibiotics (that are actually for stomach trouble) the day before, hoping that it might kill any bacteria in my wound. The doctor said that I should continue taking them and gave me more medicine, since I only had one more day's worth. Then she had the nurse clean my wound and apply some medicated ointment. Then they gave me several wound-cleaning sets that I could use over the course of the next few days to help along the healing of my wound. Needless to say, I am fine now - all better. It was definitely good to go to the clinic and validate that amputation would not be in my future.
Then, true to form, I went out to meet up with my friends at a local bar called Crazy Buffalo. Of course a little visit to the hospital wasn't going to keep me from saving babies. Crazy Buffalo was across the street from another bar called Go Go Bar (also sometimes called Two Go Bar, although, I, being my nerdy self, would call it Go Squared Bar, if I had my way). Both bars were on the backpacker's street, which meant that they pretty much only catered to foreigners. As we approached the bar, representatives from both bars swarmed us and tried to get us to go to their bar by quoting special prices and deals on drinks and the like. Basically, we were able to negotiate our way into these bars, which was a bizarre experience. For no particular reason, we chose Crazy Buffalo -- I think because they offered free hookah, which appealed to the group. Crazy Buffalo wasn't anything special. Despite the fact that it was five stories, the second floor dance floor was empty, and decidedly unfun, so we ended up sitting on the ground level outside. I think we were all pretty tired, because we decided to leave after only one drink. Plus, the next morning was to be an early one, and none of us was interested in repeating another day of severe sleep deprivation.
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| The group at Crazy Buffalo |
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| Child playing pool at Crazy Buffalo - and he was good! |
The next day, we headed out to the Cu Chi tunnels, the famous tunnels that the Viet Cong ("VC") dug and used during the Vietnam War. For those who might not know, the VC were guerilla fighters who pretended to support the Southern Vietnamese and the Americans by day but who were actually loyal to the Viet Minh ("VM")(the Northern Vietnamese Army), and would therefore attack the Southern Vietnamese Army and the Americans at night. Our tour guide for the day was a Vietnam War Vet named Mr. Hai. He fought for the Southern Vietnamese Army and also served as a translator for the US. He had some very interesting stories to tell us as well as some interesting perspectives. After he worked with the US, he was trained as an officer with the Southern Vietnamese Army, which meant that after the South fell to the North, he was sent to a reeducation camp for three years for some hardcore Communist brainwashing. I can't imagine what it must have been like to fall under Communist rule after years of democracy. The Northerners definitely treat the Southerners poorly, and there must be a lot of hostility towards the North amongst the Southern people, although it is veiled due to the heavy repercussions that arise out of any kind of slander of the Communist regime. The Southerners continue to refer to Ho Chi Minh City as Saigon because the changing of the name symbolizes the city's fall to Communism. In fact, the name of the city was changed because before Ho Chi Minh died (in 1969), he decreed that when the North won the war, they should change the name of the city from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. Uncle Ho - what a stand-up guy. One thing that was particularly of interest, was that Mr. Hai didn't seem to have a solid understanding of why the US got involved in the war in the first place or why it evetually pulled out. I think that Mr. Hai believes that the US got involved purely to help the Southern Vietnamese (as opposed to US involvement in order to halt the spread of Communism, i.e. fear of the domino effect), and although he understands that the US pulled out for political reasons, I'm not sure that he understands that it was mostly a result of the discontentment of US citizens that their soldiers were dying protecting a people and a region in which the US had no direct interests. The South fell only a couple of years after the withdrawal of the US, and it is very clear that Mr. Hai was under the impression (probably the correct impression) that there is no way the North could have won if the US had stuck around. Needless to say, it was a little awkward being an American on that bus ride.
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| Our guide - Mr. Hai |
Once we arrived at the actual tunnels, we had to watch an informational video that was very Communist/propagandist; it referred to the Americans as "angry devil enemies," and it emphasized that heroes amongst the VM were defined by their ability to kill large numbers of Americans. It was so blatant that it was ridiculous, but again, awkward to be an American. Our guide then took us around the grounds above the tunnels. Most had been destroyed by the incessant B-52 bombings in the area, but he showed us the size of the holes in the ground that marked the openings to the tunnels themselves. They were tiny! (pictures to follow).
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He showed us how to climb in and out of the tiny hole,
which was the entrance to the VC tunnels |
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| Where did he go? |
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| There he is! |
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| And he got out in one piece! |
We were also shown the kinds of traps that the VC set to ensnare the Americans and the Southern Vietnamese Army. They were generally composed of a set of trap doors and involved long sharp spikes of various sorts. Additionally, the VC would contaminate the spikes with feces in order to encourage infection in the wounds of American and Southern Vietnamese soldiers. They were super terrifying and the concept is so unimaginable, but on the other hand, the VC were very resourceful and clever. We, then, had the opportunity to crawl through a short section of the actual Cu Chi tunnels, which had been enlarged for tourists. Now, I am not the biggest fan of small spaces. I get freaked out when I have trouble getting a bathroom stall to open! But I thought, well, maybe it won't be so bad. I made sure I was the last person to go in (so that I could back myself out if necessary), and it became clear to me pretty much immediately that there was NO WAY I was going into that tiny airless tunnel! I wasn't the only one who decided against it. I figured elephants, kayaks, and motorbikes were enough new experiences for one trip!
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| Spikey VC traps - Ouch! |
Now, apparently during the war, the VC didn't have a lot of access to food, since the Cu Chi area was constantly under threat of bombings and the vegetation and supplies were scarce. So, they mostly survived by eating boiled tapioca root, which was more or less void of nutrition but at least filled their stomachs and dulled hunger pangs. We got to try some of the boiled tapioca root, and let me tell you, I wouldn't want to survive on that stuff for even one meal! The taste is pretty bland, and it's kind of sticky, which accounts for how it gives a sense of fullness. It is nothing like the delicious tapioca balls in bubble milk tea (yum!).
At some time over the course of this day, Pong introduced another Pong-tour-specific-tradition: the Pong salute. This is basically a reverse military salute. So, take your right hand and hold it up to your face as if in a normal salute. Then, move your hand across your face to the other side (the left side) and reverse your hand (swing it 180 degrees in a clockwise direction - yes, I am referring to that ridiculously uncomfortable position that you now find yourself in), and that is the Pong Salute. Now, imagine holding it while your guide takes tons of pictures. Exactly. And another thing... At the end of every explanation that Pong ever gave...or really any conversation in which he was involved, he always ended with "my name is Pong." An example: "So, the North Vietnamese won the war, but the people in the South aren't super happy about it because before they were a democracy and now they are under Communist rule...blah blah blah...and now the Communists oppress the Southern people but they can't do anything about it for fear of retribution. Okay, so now I will let you sleep. My name is Pong." You get the picture.
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| PONG SALUTE! Is this what you were imagining? |
Once we got back into the city, we went to Pho 2000 for lunch. Now, thanks to SS, I love pho. But I didn't discover this until only a few months before I left DC (where I lived less than a mile from an awesome pho joint!), and I had only managed to have it once in Vietnam, mostly because chicken pho is a little harder to come by than beef pho (which I won't eat). Well, Pho 2000 is famous because when President Clinton visited Vietnam after resuming diplomatic relations with the country for the first time after the Vietnam War, he ate pho at Pho 2000. So, there are pictures of him plastered all along the walls. Additionally, the pho was AMAZING. Oh man. I could eat that stuff all day every day. For those of you who may not be familiar with the gloriousness that is pho, it is basically a chicken (or beef) noodle soup. The broth is pretty clear and the initial flavor is quite light. But my favorite part is that you get all these awesome things to add to it so that you can flavor it exactly to your liking. These toppings include bean sprouts (so amazingly delicious!), hot sauce (an absolute necessity), lime, a dark, sweet sauce that is similar in flavor to plum or hoisin sauce, cilantro, and sometimes even basil. I pretty much add everything so that my soup ends up spicy and rich in flavor. If you've never had it, you need to go get one right now. Actually right this second. I'll even give you permission to stop reading the blog, go grab some soup, and then resume reading.
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Okay, great. Ready? Let's go. I also ordered a red bean drink that was sweet, icey, and delicious. I've pretty much craved red bean 24/7 since returning from China, so that was a nice treat.
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| Self-explanatory |
After lunch, a few of us decided to go to the War Remnants Museum -- basically a museum of the Vietnam War, put together by the Vietnamese Communist government. So, you can probably guess what it was like. First of all, our cab could not find the museum! I mean, it's not like we were trying to find some obscure shop that only two people had ever tried to find before. The museum is more akin to the Holocaust Museum in DC. In short, the cabbie should have known where he was going. When we decided that we were close enough, we hopped out of the cab (which basically cost one US dollar, and then that was split between 5 people!) and walked the rest of the way. The museum itself was nothing short of horrifying. It seems as if the concept of visual sensitivity that we have in the states doesn't exist in Vietnam. As a result, the images were quite harrowing. There were entire rooms dedicated to the after-effects of the use of Agent Orange, which are horrific. Furthermore, there was photo documentation of the torture that went on during the war. Of course, all of the images depicted Americans torturing VM soldiers. Now, I am clearly aware that this museum depicted a wholly one-sided representation of the war, but it was still difficult to swallow. Furthermore, it's clear to me that the atrocities displayed in that museum were not specific to the Vietnam War. In actuality, the museum was simply depicting accurate representations of war itself, to which we are not privy in the US out of consideration for, what I assume, is human decency. Needless to say, I left the museum feel depressed and downtrodden, but I did manage to learn a few new things during my tour of the museum as well.
First of all, in school, I remember learning about the intense protests against the war that went on in the states, but I never realized how anti-war protests had spanned the globe. This museum documents intense protests in countries all over the world. Furthermore, I was kind of shocked, in general, at how little other people on my tour seemed to know about the Vietnam War and Vietnam in general. Aside from the four of us Americans, it seemed like many people were clueless about what kinds of foods could be found in Vietnam, what Vietnam was known for, the colonial history, the communist history, none of it. Now, I know some of this is because certain things, such as the Vietnam War is a very US-centric topic that would probably only be addressed in schools in the US and in Vietnam. Furthermore, because the US has such a diverse population, we have more exposure to different cultures and cuisines. Still, I had never realized just how vast the difference would be. Finally, I figure some of it might have had to do with myself as an invidivual. I'm generally pretty fascinated by all things Asian and can't help but try to learn as much as possible. But it was weird to feel as if I was one of the people on the tour group with the most knowledge of Vietnam, when I felt that my knowledge was actually very limited. That's another thing that I loved about this tour; it was so much fun to interact with people from different cultures and learn about all of the differences that exist even between the US and Europe. I actually ended up spending most of my time with the Europeans, and I had an absolute ball!
That night was our last night together as a group. In the morning, Natasha, Felipe, Matteo, and I would leave the group; four others would take our place and the entire group would continue through Cambodia and end in Bangkok. For our last night together, we decided to all don the fancy clothes we had made in Hoi An and go out for a fancy dinner. It was a super cute idea and fantastic to see all the guys looking quite dapper in their suits, and all the girls looking pretty in their dresses. Too bad the newbies had to feel left out in their backpacking clothes. Lol. Once again, the cabs had a hard time finding the restaurant (even though it was inside a big Saigon hotel!), so that seemed to be a theme in Saigon. I don't understand how you can be a cabbie in a city and not know where anything is. The food at the restaurant was great, but the service was terrible. Oh well, you can't have it all. We all returned to our hotel after dinner to change back into normal-ish clothes and then went out for our "last night out" together -- last chance to save Vietnamese babies. This time we opted for Go Squared. It was, again, pretty mediocre. But it was nice to just enjoy the night and chat with my new friends who I would soon part with. We left sometime around 1:30am, and Natasha and I said our goodbyes to everybody before heading back to our room, where we frantically packed, were in bed by 2:30am, and then up at 5:30am to grab breakfast and head to the airport. Pong met us for breakfast and helped us get a cab. As it turns out, the airport is the one place that Saigon cabbies seem to know, so we had no trouble getting to the airport.
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| I think they were trying to dance? |
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| View from the restaurant rooftop |
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| View from the restaurant rooftop |
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| Felipe at Go Squared - 'Nuff said. |
In the end, I was sad to leave Vietnam and my new friends. It was definitely the best trip I've ever taken (and here's a shoutout to Gap Adventures, the tour company that I used -- if you ever want to hop on a tour of anywhere, they were awesome!). Although I felt sad about leaving my friends, and a little as if they were leaving me behind since most of them were continuing on together for another week through Cambodia, I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of Vietnam and ready to shift gears. And shift gears I did! The next two weeks would be a phenomenal experience that allowed me to learn about my heritage in a way I was never able to before. Over and Out!
-- Priya/Pri/P/Preesh/Pixi/LPJ/P-Money/Baibiya
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