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This page was last updated on
08/02/07.
 August 21,
2002: Double J (John Johnson) suggested I come along on his trip to
Vietnam and I thought it to be a grand idea, so off we went. Vietnam Air
is nice, but a wee bit scary. The plane flew fine, but there were various
pieces and parts hanging out of the ceiling and obvious signs of wear and tear.
Not a good airline for those scared of flying. The flight was uneventful
and we arrive in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Min City) unscathed.
Moments after stepping out into the new would of Vietnam, we were doused with
the hardest rain in recent memory. It was a serious downpour. JJ
knew where we were going from his previous visits, so we hop in a cab and head
across town.
 The
traffic in Saigon is horrendous with taxis, scooters, hand carts and
bicycles swarming this way and that and the predominance of round-a-bouts
or circle intersections. It was pretty nuts. It's even worse when
you learn to cross the street. (To cross a busy street you step out and walk
across slowly, trying like mad to make eye-contact with each on-coming car...the
theory being if they see you they won't smash you. The rain didn't last too long
thankfully, but would come and go with little warning. Thankfully it was
in the go state when we arrived at our hotel. (Check out the girl in pajamas in
the picture, it was very common. She was selling lotto tickets...)
After checking in and getting settled we moved out to find JJ's "friend"
Trang.
I won't go into the details of their relationship as it was and continued to be
rather grey, and besides, this is my story not his.
We wandered about checking the touristy stuff and area until we eventually
settled in to
 a
nice seat at an
 open
front bar. It was a dive, but it had cheap beverages (25-40 CENTS a
bottle) and a great view of a very busy interseion in the backpacker area of
town. It's dive status was insured when seeing the mold in the restroom,
it was very impressive and the picture doesn't even do it justice.
 Aug
22, 2002: The next day was spent checking out places like "The American and
Chinese War Crimes Museum" and wandering about in some markets. Neither of
us were in the big-time explore state of mind and really just wanted to kick
back,
 so
that's pretty much what happened. We did go ahead and buy tickets to
visit the Vietcong tunnels the next day, but were rather leery of the 7 am start
time. We did manage to find what is billed the world's most famous fake Hard
Rock Cafe. The souvenirs were plentiful and the drinks cold. Actually, the
shirts and glasses were higher quality than most HRC's I've been in.
 After
another stint at the corner place we finished out the day at another
adult establishment, this time one called Guns and Roses. This place
inspired some serious feelings of being on leave in Saigon. Lots of 70's
rock, barflies, and a varied assortment of people made it a cool place to chill
and watch the world. My hair proved popular here as it did in China and again
I'm in lots of pictures with that aforementioned assortment of people.
Aug. 23, 2002: We'll the 7 AM trip to the tunnels didn't quite
happen...go figure. Pretty uneventful day yet a gain, but that was ok by me.
Evening again rolled and after a dinner with Trang we looked for another
watering hole. After a
 couple
of poor choices we ended up at GnR again. Sometime in the AM JJ wanted to go be
with Trang so I tagged with some expats and went to a club. No clue where it was
but it was pretty cool. It was in a former ambassador's house and had a
big patio and lot of rooms. In the main room there
was a live band that was amazingly good. Well, they were good until they
broke out "Wok awound the cwock," then they were just funny! The
downfall of the place had to be the prices. After a few days of insanely cheap
drinks, paying $3-5 per beverage kinda hurt. They obviously knew that expats
want a place to call their own and are willing to pay for it (take a note Korean
hof owners). The morning ended sometime after the sun came up and I found
my way back across town to my hotel.
Aug. 24, 2002: Our final day in Vietnam was spent shopping and exploring a
bit. A shopping mall we went
 to
was 5 stories tall and looked to have been built back when the US was still
around. The lower level was all a food court with an amazing assortment of
damn scary looking stuff. The "mall" was ok I guess. It's was just like
any large market area, just covered and with broken escalators. As we
tired of sweating and walking we made it back to the backpackers area and had
dinner. At some point I eat something that will plague me (understatement
of the year!) for a week, but luckily it doesn't hit until home the next day...
 So
we catch dinner and end up back at the corner bar. The entire time we have
been shopping, I've been tempted and teased by "Snake Wine". Snake wine is
some gold alcohol product sold all over the place. It's not the gold color
that makes it special, it is the real cobra sitting in the bottle that does it.
Well the tempting made it to critical mass and I tell John that we must try it
and then use my power of persuasion to get him to walk across the street and buy
some. (I'm more of an enabler, didn't wanna walk of course but I'll push a
bit ;p) So....he returns with a small bottle and we ask for some shot glasses.
This is shocking to the waitresses and the locals in the bar and is rapidly
moving towards the spectacle. Undeterred,
actually more inspired, I crack it open and pour....oh how it stinks!
Again I ply my powers of coercion to keep JJ in the game. 3, 2, 1...Gulp.
1, 2, 3...BURN. Oh my, it was not pleasant. JJ turned a very special shade
of red and was unable to speak for days. The bottle reads "Usage:
Rheumatism, Lumbago. Sweat of Limbs Dosage: TWICE A DAY EACH A SMALL
CUP BEFORE MEAL" Twice? A day? Once in a lifetime was ample
thanks....although with salt and a lime it would be on par with Jose Cuervo
Traditional. Oh ya, upon downing our glasses, the whole place clapped and
cheered, seems it is a pretty rare thing for anyone to actually drink the crap.
The next morning we hopped Scary Air back to the good ol' ROK. It was a
cool trip but I really need to go back when I have more time and am in the right
mood to go do the real touristy stuff.
And of course the
gratuitous picture gallery.
Final Thoughts: For a bunch of damn Commies, Vietnam is a pretty
decent place. I found the people very friendly and even welcoming. Pretty
amazing for a country we were at war with and caused so much harm to just 3
decades ago. They have embraced the future, and while remembering
the past, they do not dwell upon it. (Well Agent Orange still has em pretty
pissed, but it has many of our vets pissed too. After seeing the after-effects
at the AO wing of the war museum I was a bit perturbed as well) How great
would it be if more people and countries could be like that? (that's for
all, not just Americans) I really want to go spend more time there and get
out of the city and see the real people and see if they are as friendly.
Even tho the people seemed fairly free to do what they will, I could tell
there is still a fear of the government and even their fellow citizens.
Trang was very concerned with being seen at our hotel and when going to the
expat bar, Viet girlfriends took a different taxi to not be seen riding
with the crackers. Obviously they know who is watching some of the time, but
must be wary all the time.
Rus
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FOLA August 31, 2002 | 
