Saigon, Vietnam

(Day 49)

Dalton, Blake and I woke up early this morning to head to Vietnam. We decided that it would be better for us to separate from Arrio and Sam if we wanted to see Vietnam and Southern Thailand. We plan to meet up with them in the next week or so, after they get their new passports.

We got onto a decent looking bus and sat in the very back three seats. The bus ride from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh city was definitely the most organized and comfortable bus ride I've had yet in Southeast Asia. We stopped along the way and got some delicious Khmer food. Mine was rice and a chicken leg, but it hit the spot extra hard.

Getting across the border wasn't difficult at all. My first impressions of Vietnam is that it is not only much cleaner than Cambodia, but it is also light-years more advanced. The streets are clean, there are flowers, grass, and trees planted along the sides of the roads, and there aren't nearly as many foul smells. However, the scams are plentiful in Vietnam.

As soon as we arrived at the bus station, we went straight to the ATM and pulled out about 4,000,000 Vietnamese Dong (there are 21,000 VTD per $1 USD). Soon thereafter, we got a taxi. Now, I was still trying to calculate in my head what the value of Vietnamese currency was in USD when the taxi driver told us we owed him 600,000 VTD for the ride. We paid him, although in retrospect, I felt like something was wrong. Before we realized that we paid him $28 to drive us a few kilometers, he had already driven away. I felt dumber than a baked potato when I realized what we had done. Oh well. We make mistakes in life, and we learn from them, right? (That's what I keep telling myself).

We found a decent 3-bed guesthouse for $15 ($5 a person) right near where we wanted to spend most of our time. It is a little backpackers nook called Pham Ngu Lao. There are restaurants everywhere, and most everything in Saigon is located somewhat near this area.

After resting for a bit, we decided to go out, get some lunch/dinner, and see the city. The first thing I noticed about Saigon (also known as Ho Chi Minh City, for those who don't know) is the ridiculous amount of motorized scooters that flood the city streets. I'm not kidding you, the streets of Saigon probably need to be re-paved at the end of each day due to the sheer amount of scooters that wear at them each day. It is insane! Crossing the street, I feel like Moses trying to part the Red Sea. Sometimes it works and they all go around me, but other times, I escape death by the skin of my teeth (what does that saying even mean?!).

Since being in Vietnam, serendipity has followed us around like a stray dog. We accidentally found a restaurant named Hai Thien while trying to find a restaurant listed in Lonely Planet called Mon Hue. I'm glad we did because it was, bar none, one of the best meals I've had in my life! Like top 5 probably. It was Beef Pho, but the noodles were made out of gac fruit and rice. The flavors from the fresh basil, the lime, the beef broth, the chili sauce, the chives, and the beef tenderloin worked together so well that it made me think my mouth had developed three times as many taste buds as usual. I also had some fresh guava juice to accompany the meal, and afterwards, we were given some iced herbal tea made from a local flower and nuts. I walked away thanking God for my life so that I could have experiences such as this one. Superb!

After our meal, we wandered back to our guesthouse, dropped off some things, and went back out to continue exploring the beautiful city. Today is the first day of celebrations for the Vietnamese New Year, so the streets are full of people and full of festivals. There are flower gardens filling the streets, live music and dancing, and crowds and crowds of chattering, excited Vietnamese people. It is a beautiful sight to behold. We naturally found ourselves heading towards the Skyhigh Saigon skyscraper, which stands at about 262 meters up in the air. We went inside and explored a bit, but decided not to go to the very top because of the $10 fee to do so. I did, however, buy some more guava juice while Dalton and Blake bought some strange Japanese sweet candy.

Afterward, we headed back to the guesthouse, but stopped by a few places to pick up some snacks. Dalton wanted to stop at this little Kebab place, so we did. The owner of the kebab place got into a heated argument with an Englishman who apparently tried to leave without paying for his food. In other words, we got dinner and a show.

Now we are back in the guesthouse, the guys are watching The Prestige on the TV, and I'm about ready to go to bed. Tomorrow I will be sure to update the blog.