Got back last Friday night. Going to Vietnam was a cool experience and we had fun. The long flights were boring and not great to sleep, but China Air was nice. We got into Saigon around 10am and people were everywhere. We walked out of the airport and about 500-600 people were waiting on the planes to unload. We left for the hotel. You would not believe the amount of people on motorcycles and bikes. They rarely have traffic signals and people just merge and honk everywhere they go. It is fairly safe to them since they know what to expect and how to do it. It is not a good idea for foreigners to drive there. Taxis are cheap, about one dollar. We had a van and driver to visit the MeKong Delta. The roads are paved but just one lane on each side with motorcycles everywhere you go. It takes hours to go 50-60 miles. The village was very primitive. Houses are basically small shack type structures. The outhouses over the ponds that have koi fish are interesting. We looked around and they saw some people they know and visited a gravesite or two. We came across a cock-fight with 50-60 people gathered around. We stayed in a hotel type building that government and v.i.p. officials use when they are in the area. I think it was a few dollars for each room. It had air conditioning, but mosquitos were looming. The bathroom had one towel hanging up that was stiff as a board. I guess they use it over and over ? We didn't shower that night. We had to head back through Saigon and then 6-7 hours towards Da Lat. We had 2 vans full of family and help. They catered to our every need, which I am not used to. The town where they live is more modern. Cement, adobe-like homes that are larger. Their house was nice. It had everything you need, regular kitchen, bathrooms, a/c, cable t.v., 4 computers, etc. We stayed there for 3-4 nights and they showed us around. The people around would stare at us like we had 3 heads and 8 eyeballs. The little kids would crowd us like celebrites and touch our arms and giggle. We rode around on the back of the motorcycles (mopeds as we called them) to sightsee and to the beach about 1-2 miles away. The beach close to the house was nasty, trash everywhere .....pretty sad. The beaches 5-6 miles away by some resorts were beautiful. The landscape in this area would remind you of New Mexico or Arizona ...with mountains, but near the ocean. Every meal was cheap, but one of the best was at a restaurant on the beach. We had scallops and crabs (more than we could eat) with beer for 10-11 people and the total bill was around $20 US dollars. Every village or town had a market place where anything could be bought or bartered for. We traveled into the moutains to Da Lat that looked more like any Vietnam war movie you have seen. It was beautiful, looked like Tahoe .....we traveled over a lake to an area where we rode an elephant. We had to ride back 7-8 hours to Saigon and spent the night and left the next day. 8 days was not enough (lose 2 flying).
Saigon is still the official name of the city. Ho Chi Minh City is considered the metro area of Saigon and the surrounding "cities" or suburbs. I didn't see any overweight people over there. Most of the women are really goodlooking. They like to cover up and stay out of the sun if possible. Most girls wear masks while riding or walking around to protect from the sun and fumes from the motorcycles and vans. Some wear the full length gloves up to the shoulder to protect their skin. They are friendly and helpful. Money was easy to use. You could use either and it was never a problem. DVDs and CDs cost about one dollar. We picked up some of the movies that are out on the big screen now. It looks like they had someone video inside a movie threatre and then copied them. People operate stores or restaurants in the front of their homes. When we were away from the big city, we would just pull over for food or bathrooms. It seems like a good wage in the small towns was $2-4 US dollars a day, with most making $1-2 a day. Bottled water was easy and cheap and the food was good. Don't worry they don't have dogs or cats everywhere to eat, but I think you can find it if you wanted to. Safety was never an issue. It helped having people with us most of the time, but anyone would feel safe over there. We did come across one traffic accident that looked like it was bad, they had chalk outlines on the road. I knew they had to have accidents over there with that many motorcycles, vans, and trucks driving so close together. Overall it was great and I would recommend people to get out and try other uncommon travel destinations.
Good to be back,
el diablo
