Ho Chi Minh City
(Saigon)
I've decided that this place was the
biggest surprise for me. I loved this place. It was clean, very cheap and
very safe. It was the busiest City I've ever been in; loud, bustling,
bright. It may have had something to do with coming from the Cambodia, which
is complete chaos, but I Saigon surpassed all my expectations.
Ho Chi Minh City
or Saigon?
I've still not completely figured this one out. Apparently
Ho
Chi Minh started his quest for independence in Saigon and he vowed to
return one day. He died in 1969, so he didn't make it. But when
Saigon
fell in 1976, the VC renamed the city to Ho Chi Minh City within 24
hours. So today, Saigon only refers to district 1, however the all the folks
I met said in the South, they still prefer to call it Saigon or Saigon
City.
Pham Ngu Lao
The area of town that we stayed in
was Pham Ngu Lao. This is a typical back-packer area. More westerners than
locals and the locals that worked there all spoke English (so the they can
better de-money the westerners). Also plenty of bars, and as a pleasant
surprise, no hookers. The Army came a tried to shut the bars down at 2:00,
the the manager must have paid them a bit, because they stayed open. We
stayed at the Southern Hotel, which was fine. Cable, AC, Mini Bar, Hot
Water, Free Breakfast for $25.00 a night.
The Beer
The beer in Saigon is excellent,
all of it. Beer is now the new tea in Vietnam. BGI (Big Groovy I), 333,
Saigon, Tiger, San Miguel all very good and usually served in 20+ oz bottles
and usually less than 15,000 Dong ($1).
The Traffic
We heard the traffic in Saigon was
nuts, but I didn't understand it until I experienced it. The motorbikes are
going every direction, and there are very few stop lights. To cross the
street, you just step out into this, walk slow and steady and the bikes will
dodge you. I have a movie of me crossing the street and will post this soon.
The Money
The currency in Vietnam is the Dong.
The exchange rate is about 15,000 VD to $1. This makes most things pretty
cheap. But, the biggest bill you can find is a 50,000 VD bill. So to get
about $100, you need 1,500,000 VD. That's 30 50,000 VD bills. That may not
sound like much, but that would not fit in my wallet.
The People
The people in Vietnam were great. I
didn't detect an Anti-American sentiment, except from a couple Europeans
(no, not Francis!). The people in Vietnam are just happy there is peace and
the economy is growing. I found the people very friendly and outgoing.
Communism
I don't understand Communism is
Asia that is for sure. Free enterprise everywhere, advertisements
everywhere, political opinions from quite a few, but still the ubiquitous
hammer and sickle and Uncle Ho glaring at you from every other corner. But
then again, so is Colonel Sander, and the difference between the two is
rather subtle.
