South Vietnam

The only issue we had before going to Vietnam was getting the visa done on time. We’d forgotten all about it on our little break in Thailand and found ourselves in quite a rush and trouble to get our “visa on arrival” documents sorted out (read paying some money into someone’s bank account).

Once we got to the airport, we just had to pay more money (to the customs this time) to get the visa papers sorted out. There were quite a few tourists waiting for the customs to give them their “visa on arrival” documents and get their passports stamped. Someone explained that if you give an extra 5-10 dollars when paying for your visa, the documents are found and stamped by the customs in a few minutes instead of the “normal” one hour wait.

Being in no hurry (and a tight budget) we decided to wait with the others… who also happened to speak English, which was always nice to hear as we were gradually realising that clearly not everyone speaks English in Vietnam. In fact, hardly anyone speaks English in official and public buildings. I guess the Turkish boat captain with his ten crew member waiting in the same room as us hadn’t realised that either as he was desperately trying to understand what the authorities were  asking for… (more money?)

Two hours later and we were out of the airport, in the public bus to Ho Chi Minh (or Saigon as everyone except the government calls it in Vietnam). We had to get back in travel mode quick as the ticket selling lady in the bus had already managed to make us pay an extra ticket for our bags, and for some reason I still can’t explain, served herself to one of my notes whilst I was counting my cash. I got my note back a bit later, after double checking with Sonia that I hadn’t imagined what had just occurred. The lady let my take my money back without saying a thing. Very strange…

Saigon was exciting, busy, and very lively. Quite a few people have told us since that they hadn’t enjoyed it much, but we were clearly enjoying it, especially the death threatening game of trying to cross main roads as the hundreds (if not thousands) of scooters were racing in between us.
The people were nice, the everyday life entertaining and bars opened until late, which meant there actually was life after 9 pm!

We went to a few museums and saw in depth the atrocities of many wars the Vietnamese have been fighting for the last thousand years, especially in the last hundred where the Americans clearly win the claim for the most horrible and vicious stuff that we’ve seen so far (we hadn’t been to the infamous S-21 Khmer rouge prison camp yet).
Amazingly, or incredibly to be more realistic, the Vietnamese hold nothing against the Americans, the French and more or less anyone else except the Chinese, who seem to clearly unite Vietnamese in their hatred…

We also went to visit the Cuchy tunnels, where we were explained how exactly did peasants (men and women… or even children) armed with basic weapons and a load of courage managed to make the heavy equipped GI’s look like fools, whilst killing a few in the process. Vietnamese are very very cunning. You don’t want to mess with them, especially on their own soil. They exploited anything that could be turned in their advantage (like being roughly half the size of an American soldier).

Back to Saigon, and we got a bus to travel south, towards the Mekong delta. Vinh Long will be our first (and unfortunately only) stop. The city is small and very basic, not really geared towards mass tourism, which can only be a plus. This is one of the few places where you can still go up to someone and say, rent his boat for a short trip without having to deal with a tourist orientated boat mafia. Same goes with scooters or even laundry (where individuals will be more than happy to add your dirty washing to the family’s lot for a small amount of cash).
We also met a very kind (and strange?) local boy who often “looks out for tourists” when cycling home in order to have a chat and practise his English. Unfortunately, it seems most people shun him away, so he was more than happy when we agreed with him to meet later for a drink! He also brought a friend over to practise her English, which I believe was also to prove that he actually manages to find sociable tourists from time to time. We had good discussions about our different lifestyles and ended the day with a quite enjoyable street meal, which started making us more comfortable with the local food (I might not have pointed this earlier, but Vietnamese food is a little too Chinese orientated to our tastes!).

Next day we were off to the (disappointing) local floating market where we saw our first roasted dog and then had a little ride on the Mekong, visiting smallish islands and their various farms. This was also the occasion for our first (of many) self driven motorbike rides… which went amazingly well given that I had never ridden a manual motorbike before! (I did have to bluff the lender that I knew all about them though)

Back in town, for a famous “Vache Qui Rit” (Laughing Cow) sandwich, a Vietnamese speciality…believe it or not!!
Unfortunately, I lost a filling whilst eating it, so our trip in the Delta was cut short as I requested an urgent visit to the dentist in Saigon…

Comments

[DM]

Dear Squirrels,
Just logged on 2 your website to read about Vietnam. great u r having intersting contacts with the locals. It enriches your travels & experiences so much. Don't be too hard on those people who want to make a bit of money on the side. You probably spend as much money in a day that they earn in a month (or year).Looking frwd 2 seeing u soon. bisous DM