We flew to Danang yesterday. Danang was the embarkation point for most GI's during the Vietnam War. It's the the northern tip of what was South Vietnam. The DMZ is not far. We drove by the old US army base with the cement bunkers. China Beach is there. From Danang, it was a short 30-minute drive to Hoi An.
We are in Hoi An now. It's a quaint town with a preserved old city center. It's a UNESCO site. It reminds me of the French Colonial buildings I saw in Laos, but with a fresh coat of paint and narrower streets. There are no cars allowed in the old city center. This town is full of tailors, so I am finally going to get some underwear made. You can get a tailored suit for $25 - $80 depending on the material. I am looking forward to wearing a three-piece wool suit around in this heat.
It's a three-day weekend in Vietnam. Yesterday was their Independence Day! No fireworks going on around here, though. Interestingly, it's a three-day weekend in the States too, Labor Day, a day off from work.
There are plenty of Vietnamese women wearing pointy caps and flowing white aoi-dai gowns, biking around town. As my friend Mike would say, "Verrrrry niiiiiiiice."
Rob and I visited a local Vietnamese restaurant a couple days ago with no English menu. We pointed to another table that had some boiled meat, and the waitress pointed to the sketch of a dog in the menu. That's dog?! Yes. No, thank you. Maybe later... Instead we enjoyed some hot pot. Great stuff.
More than anywhere else, I have been mistaken for being a local. It usually happens when we walk into a shop and Rob will inquire on the price of something in Vietnamese, and the shopkeeper will look at me expectantly. After a few moments, the shopkeeper will start speaking to me in Vietnamese, and I proceed to be embarrassed about not being able to speak. I smile, shrug, and wave my open hand by my ear indicating I don't understand. The shopkeeper frowns and asks if I am Vietnamese. Nope. Where are you from? Taiwan. Ohhh...I thought you were Vietnamese. You look "same same". No! You don't say? And then we proceed to the next shop where the same thing happens again and again.
We've eaten at road side stalls the past couple days. Like the food cart stands in Thailand, they are the cheapest place to get a meal. A bowl of pho noodles cost about 30 to 50 cents. The main difference is that in Vietnam they use children-sized plastic chairs, so Robert's knees are by his chin. Also, they use "sandpaper doilies" for napkins. These are actually small pieces of recycled paper that have the absorptive qualities as a sheet of notebook paper in the states. It is funny that in the States, we will use the paper napkins to jot phone numbers, while in Vietnam they use sheets of notebook paper to wipe their faces. Somehow we need to get the two groups to swap.
It's sad to see the complete chaos depicted on CNN and BBC in New Orleans. Robert remains completely calm about it all. We're half expecting to see footage of his neighborhood, but that has happened yet. A lot of the scenes from Biloxi, especially beach boulevard are very familiar.
It looks like the destruction in Biloxi was pretty bad; amazingly, Robert has remained in a state of complete cool while watching the CNN reports.
Yesterday we visited a Buddhist temple and a Cham ruin (you'll see photos later). Today we went diving with another shop. The conditions were better. Better visibility (the best I've ever experienced) and did some more swim throughs. I think there was something bad about the air at the other dive shop because we both felt better this time.
We're headed to Hoi An tomorrow.
Well, Robert has arrived in Vietnam! We went around Saigon visiting the War Remnants Museum, the Reunification Palace, and a couple markets. We rode around in a couple of cyclos for an hour at night. These are bikes with a rickshaw seat in the front. We paid about $1.25 for some poor dudes to bike us around the city center. It seemed pretty decadent.
The next day we took a bus to Mui Ne, a quiet beach resort. We stayed at a flash resort for $25. It was right on the beach. At Mui Ne there are some large sand dunes that we visited and slid down on plastic sheets. A group of five kids about 10 years old tail us around on the sand dunes
entertaining us with their English and their antics. The kids, especially the girls, just love Robert -- so whats new.
From Mui Ne, we headed to Nha Trang, which is where we are today. It is a large beach town for vacationing Vietnamese. We went diving today. The conditions were good, and we did some swim throughs -- swimming through caves. It was pretty cool when there were loads of sleeping fishes in the caves. I saw a whale on the boat ride back to town.
Last night, we saw on the news that Biloxi, Mississippi was being battered by Hurricane Katrina. I hope everyone back there is okay.
I'm in Saigon now! This is a much more developed city than Phnom Penh or Vientiane. It reminds me more of Taiwanese or Malaysian urban areas. Interestingly, the red and yellow flags of the communist party are everywhere (hammer and sickle flags), much more than in Laos, where they seemed to be isolated to government buildings. The streets are narrow and traffic is tight. They say the key is to walk slowly and make eye contact with the drivers, oh and to watch out for the motorbike thieves.
I've got a day and a half to rest up. My buddy, Rob, is flying in tomorrow night!
"...You know I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam!"
I'm headed to 'Nam tomorrow morning, Saigon to be exact. Phnom Penh -- what an interesting city. I visited the US Embassy a couple days ago and spent an hour watching the interesting folks that stepped up to the window. There were a lot of engaged couples who had been introduced through acquaintences back in the States and had just met face-to-face in the past month. Very interesting, indeed. Ah, love, 'tis a wonderful and strange thing. Well, mostly strange, anyways...
I visited the Foreign Correspondent's Club yesterday and enjoyed dinner with a nice view of the Tonle Sap and the riverside drive in the evening. I have to admit that I have not been too bowled over by Cambodian cuisine, but I think it's been ruined by a decade of civil war and poverty. It's like a less spicy version of Thai food.
I find myself arguing with mototaxi drivers over the agreed fare of rides around this town on half of my trips. It's a con game they play because I think they're able to tweak a little more money from tourists. Not me. I haven't budged at all, and they scream and howl and cry, and gather other Cambodians around me to complain about me, but I am totally immune to that
sort of treatment. I know I'm paying twice what the locals are paying already. I find a secret satisfaction when I walk away and they're displeased. I haven't felt like this since Indonesia.
