Miss Saigon in the tunnels, well dressed, with a big ass gun.
Good morning Vietnam! (you know it had to be said.) We crossed into Vietnam on a boat. The Cambodian customs office at the boarder looked like someone's farm house, and the Vietnam boarder had a floating customs house. Yet, we had to get our visas months in advance and wouldn't be let in without one! Our first night in Vietnam was in Chau Doc. Pretty uneventful 
except for 2 things: 1) The difference between the Vietnamese general population and the Cambodians was immdiately evident. They are much more inclined to be rude, and have absolutely no regard for personal space of social courtesy. If you need to pass them, they will look at you and not move, however if they need to get by you or want to you enter their shop, they have absolutely no quams about shoving you or yanking your arm! 2) We ate at the mosthilarious restaurant that was a testement to Asian creativity. The restaurant area by day is a small hotel lobby, with the hotel staff still attending to guests while you eat. In the back corner of the restaurant/lobby area there is a small, fully functional optomitrists office! In the corner of that office, there is one computer for an internet cafe. We were in the middle of eating the popular Vietnamese soup, Pho, when a patient walked in and had an eye exam done behind us! Too funny.
except for 2 things: 1) The difference between the Vietnamese general population and the Cambodians was immdiately evident. They are much more inclined to be rude, and have absolutely no regard for personal space of social courtesy. If you need to pass them, they will look at you and not move, however if they need to get by you or want to you enter their shop, they have absolutely no quams about shoving you or yanking your arm! 2) We ate at the mosthilarious restaurant that was a testement to Asian creativity. The restaurant area by day is a small hotel lobby, with the hotel staff still attending to guests while you eat. In the back corner of the restaurant/lobby area there is a small, fully functional optomitrists office! In the corner of that office, there is one computer for an internet cafe. We were in the middle of eating the popular Vietnamese soup, Pho, when a patient walked in and had an eye exam done behind us! Too funny. The next day, we arrived in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City). I absolutely loved hanging out in "Uncle Ho's" 'hood. Easily one of my favourite cities in Asia so far. It had all the ingredients that I love in big cities: interesting neighbourhood areas, great restaurants, swank places to get a cocktail. It also had all the elements I love about smaller Asian cities: manic (but funny) traffic, great shopping in the markets, and people yelling/selling/group exercising/sleeping in every available square inch of the city. Due to Vietnam being occupied by the French, the main buildings and layout of the city have a distinctly French feel which is beautiful. Saigon is also known as the "Paris of the Orient". Although not quite... the city is home to over 5 million 
motorbikes. Crossing the streets here is a true adventure. The video below shows us crossing at a quiet time of the day... you just step into the traffic and pray all the bikes swirve! During rush hour in Saigon, there are motorbikes absolutely everywhere, including driving into oncoming traffic and on the sidewalks! We spent way too much time wandering through the endless sea of markets... I 
have never ever seen so much stuff in one place... check us out (if you can find us) in just one of the market's fabric areas! I almost died when I saw the sheer number of jam-packed shoe merchants. I could have spent my entire trip budget here on shoes alone. However, I was spared due to the fact that here, I am actually a giant among tiny Vietnamese ladies. I tried on this fab pair of stilettos but needed a bigger size. The little shop lady looked disgustingly at me and sneered "No Madam. No shoes here for you. Your feet are too big!" Literally. Among the endless stalls, not one high heeled shoe big enough for my canoe feet :( haha! I made up for it by buying lots of other good stuff, though! And to buy said things, we needed to take out Vietnamese Dong. The exchange rate is roughly $1CDN = 15,000 Dong. So, for the first time in my life, I can honestly say I'm a 
millionaire!!! My first transaction, I took out 3,000,000 dong!!! Also, as we have had many great new experiences, it is true that some things never change. My favourite place to get pedicures both in Oakville and TO was always the place where the Vietnamese ladies worked. They do a spectacular job, especially with the foot scraping and nail art. I just HAD to investigate the pedicure skills of the motherland. The result, as they say in all countries here, was "same same, but different!" The service itself was excellent and the same as at home. Mars and I both got pedis with fancy art and a foot massage. The difference was that after we paid and tipped them, they actually came out with these laminated notices about how much tip they expected, and basically demanded we give them that much! This, we have discovered, is not uncommon here... if anyone feels they desrve a tip, they let you know!! Bizarre.
motorbikes. Crossing the streets here is a true adventure. The video below shows us crossing at a quiet time of the day... you just step into the traffic and pray all the bikes swirve! During rush hour in Saigon, there are motorbikes absolutely everywhere, including driving into oncoming traffic and on the sidewalks! We spent way too much time wandering through the endless sea of markets... I 
have never ever seen so much stuff in one place... check us out (if you can find us) in just one of the market's fabric areas! I almost died when I saw the sheer number of jam-packed shoe merchants. I could have spent my entire trip budget here on shoes alone. However, I was spared due to the fact that here, I am actually a giant among tiny Vietnamese ladies. I tried on this fab pair of stilettos but needed a bigger size. The little shop lady looked disgustingly at me and sneered "No Madam. No shoes here for you. Your feet are too big!" Literally. Among the endless stalls, not one high heeled shoe big enough for my canoe feet :( haha! I made up for it by buying lots of other good stuff, though! And to buy said things, we needed to take out Vietnamese Dong. The exchange rate is roughly $1CDN = 15,000 Dong. So, for the first time in my life, I can honestly say I'm a 
millionaire!!! My first transaction, I took out 3,000,000 dong!!! Also, as we have had many great new experiences, it is true that some things never change. My favourite place to get pedicures both in Oakville and TO was always the place where the Vietnamese ladies worked. They do a spectacular job, especially with the foot scraping and nail art. I just HAD to investigate the pedicure skills of the motherland. The result, as they say in all countries here, was "same same, but different!" The service itself was excellent and the same as at home. Mars and I both got pedis with fancy art and a foot massage. The difference was that after we paid and tipped them, they actually came out with these laminated notices about how much tip they expected, and basically demanded we give them that much! This, we have discovered, is not uncommon here... if anyone feels they desrve a tip, they let you know!! Bizarre. The first day our group was in the city, we went to lunch and Mars and I were chatting with our Vietnamese guide, Hai. We told him about how we lived together in Toronto. He looked at us and said, totally casually, "so, you are lesbians?" HAHAHA!!! Now THAT is a new one, even for us.
The funny experiences continued that day as, after lunch, the entire group (12 glowing white tourists) was loaded onto siclos (push bike taxis). In all of my travels, all over the world, including all of the times I have shamelessly pulled out a massive city map, asked locals to take my picture, or stood out as a giant among little Peruvians I have never EVER felt more like a silly tourist than I did that afternoon. In the insane heat 12 tourists were being pushed around on a bike with a seat in front in a long convoy by old men (smoking and spitting the while time) that, without exception, weighed less than their passengers. We moved slowly through the city streets as motorbikes flew around us and locals on the streets pointed at us and laughed. It was the height of ridiculousness and I wouldn't have done it normally, but it was included in our tour cost already!
The funny experiences continued that day as, after lunch, the entire group (12 glowing white tourists) was loaded onto siclos (push bike taxis). In all of my travels, all over the world, including all of the times I have shamelessly pulled out a massive city map, asked locals to take my picture, or stood out as a giant among little Peruvians I have never EVER felt more like a silly tourist than I did that afternoon. In the insane heat 12 tourists were being pushed around on a bike with a seat in front in a long convoy by old men (smoking and spitting the while time) that, without exception, weighed less than their passengers. We moved slowly through the city streets as motorbikes flew around us and locals on the streets pointed at us and laughed. It was the height of ridiculousness and I wouldn't have done it normally, but it was included in our tour cost already! On our last day in the city, we took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong famously 
built over 200km of underground tunnels that they would jump
out of an surprise attack the American soldiers. We had a go at crawling through the tunnels. My god - the tunnels were 80cm x 80cm and blisteringly hot! Good thing the Vietnamese are a small people, as you can see the tunnel entrances are very small!!! (when you walk by them covered with leaves, you would never know anything was there!) Also, while at the tunnels, we jumped at the chance to fire AK47 guns!! They were kick 
ass, but sooooo loud. The ear covers did nothing and I have no idea how any of the fighters weren't totally deaf by the end of their first battles! We took our bullets home as souveniers :)
built over 200km of underground tunnels that they would jump
out of an surprise attack the American soldiers. We had a go at crawling through the tunnels. My god - the tunnels were 80cm x 80cm and blisteringly hot! Good thing the Vietnamese are a small people, as you can see the tunnel entrances are very small!!! (when you walk by them covered with leaves, you would never know anything was there!) Also, while at the tunnels, we jumped at the chance to fire AK47 guns!! They were kick 
ass, but sooooo loud. The ear covers did nothing and I have no idea how any of the fighters weren't totally deaf by the end of their first battles! We took our bullets home as souveniers :)
All in all, a great time in Saigon! I want to go back when I have more $$ and more luggage space!
I think the AK pics are my fav to date. Amazing.
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