Random Observation

Uniforms are big in Vietnam. There are many security type people patrolling public areas, roads etc . This morning I watched the ones in dark green uniforms checking out the concrete place across the road. Last night the khaki green ones were mingling with the market crowds.

And the "real" police? Have only seen them once and I would suggest they get a new designer. Their uniforms are a ghastly salmon pink. The macho Aussie cop would not put up with that kind of fashion faux pas.

Day 3 - Last Hours in Saigon

The thought of steamboat dinner at the Rex for $10USD was tempting but the waiting staff seemed in a hurry to move us off so we moved round the corner to Miss Saigon which had a good write up in Lonely Planet for its seafood. Like all Lonely Planet things, the prices go up when all of that international exposure brings in more tourists.

We ordered salt + pepper fried prawns and spinach and oyster sauce. The kitchen staff, that could be seen through the servery window, were undressed from the waist up (the heat and humidity was stifling)and we hoped that they were dressed on the bits we couldn't see.



The prawns were awesome but also tortuous as they had been cooked with garlic and chilli. I had to order a Tiger beer to cool my burning mouth. Dinner all up was 208,000VND with half a kilo of prawns costing 140,000VND spinach 40,000 and the beer was 18,000...plus a 10% service charge.



The clouds that had rolled in while we were at the Rex began to put on a lightning and thunder show and so we grabbed a cab back to the Le Le (13,000). After getting the pictures burned from my memory card (20,000VDN...that's like $1.85!) we spent time at the internet cafe sheltering from the impending storm that never happened. Alas as I had feared quite a few pictures are blurred due to my shaky hands.

Day 3 - Saigon Death March Part II

Dawn and I dragged our hot and sore feet across the road from Luna to a large airconditioned department store. After spending the last 24 hours in the poorer older part of town it was a bit of a culture shock to be somewhere where they sold designer home wares and children's toys. We popped into a convenience store (who made us put our gear into lockers before entry) and picked up some staples for the train trip tonight like Pringles and cod fish snacks.

We brave faces and girded loins we headed in the direction of the Java Coffee lounge to sample some good coffee but alas we could not take a step further than the French patisserie across the road from the Municipal Theatre. Delirium from the heat was setting in and I caused a small scene when I threatened Dawn with a butter knife if she did not eat the rest of my cake. Bravely she refused and I was forced to eat it myself.



Dawn tried the Vietnamese coffee (she reports it was incredibly strong) and the Honey, coconut tart. I had a decaf and the Opera cake, a layered chocolate and sponge creation. Keeping in mind this was a really swanky upmarket place we spent 32,000VND each on afternoon tea and airconditioning.

We struggled on, feet screaming, sweat dripping, eyes sunken. We had two goals to complete before dinner. The first was to go to the Reunification Palace and the second was to have a beer at the rooftop bar on the top of the Rex hotel.


We made it to the Palace in entirely the wrong frame of mind. All we wanted to do was sit down and rest our swollen feet and all we got was room after room of old presidential furniture (I swear there was a 1950's Parker sideboard in one room).

It wasn't until the end of the rooms, corridors and equipment with "do not touch" signs that we came to a room with a photographic history of the palace with brief translated phrases under each one. There was a picture of the bombed out palace with the original French colonial facade, there was a picture of the tanks as they were smashing down the wrought iron gates and churning up the manicured front lawn, there was the helicopter on the roof plucking people to safety and there was the Buddhist monk self immolating in protest against the war.




I had deliberately avoided going to the War Remnants Museum. Previous visits to the relatively tame Australian War Memorial had left me disturbed and depressed for days so it was with some trepidation that I looked on the picture of a village of dead Vietnamese peasants laying in a road. What stood out most were the dead naked babies tossed on top of the piles of adults. The simple words below explained this was the result of the Americans offensive on the village. We had to sit for some time on the front lawn of the palace (not far from the gates where the tanks had come through) to digest what we had seen and gather the last of our strength before hitting the Rex.

Our tottering steps were on razor blades and the pain was almost as bad as seeing that on top of charging 33,000VND a beer, they had 10% VAT (GST) and 5% service charge. Still we grabbed a brew and a plate of mixed fruits (Dragon Fruit, pomplemousse (sp), papaya, watermelon and a mystery fruit that may or may not have been milk apple but was tongue curlingly sweet) for 44,000VDN. I paid for it all with a 500,000VND just so I got my money's worth from the change.

Day 3 - Saigon Death March Part I

We checked out of the Le Le after a breakfast of omelletes, bread and coffee that was part of the cost. For the two of us the deluxe room and breakfast came to $30USD. We probably could have gotten much cheaper places but the service was special and can heartily recommend them to anyone going to stay in HCMC.

We left our packs at the hotel and walked through the park to the Ben Thanh markets. The place was huge, crowded and selling everything from pork intestines to dinosaurs made of motorcycle parts (I wanted one!).



Even though it was only 9-10 am the heat and humidity was oppressive and I had to have a sit down and a chilled coconut centre drink ($5000 VND). I bought my daughter a goth looking bracelet (bet she hates it) for 70,000 and 2 cheesecloth tops for 100,000 the pair.



Then it was off to the HCMC Fine Arts Museum. I was more impressed with the architecture, tiles and leadlighting than the art inside for the most part. Vietnamese modern art has a strong French influence and includes lots of simple stylised form. The war was represented in quite a few pieces and so were the people you can see on the streets like beggars and vendors.




The ground floor of the museum was taken up with a free exhibition of photographs celebrating the designs of Pierre Cardin. Dawn and I had a good laugh over some of the stuff from the 60's. A Vietnamese man was most interested though and was taking digital pictures of all of the pictures. Entry to the upstairs rooms was 10,000VND and it was worth it just to turn on the floor fans in each room and stand in front of them.



We were hungry, hot and tired and stopped at the first airconditioned restaurant we came to. The Luna. We ate pork and prawn rice paper rolls, beef pho and sour prawn and vege soup. We also drank life saving beer. I had a tiger 22,000VND and Dawn had a Bia 333 18,000VND. Lunch all up was 179,000VND

Random Observation

The Vietnamese like to exercise. Getting up at dawn allowed me the opportunity to watch the morning routines of the local people. How can you tell the difference between an exercising Vietnamese and one just walking to work? The shoes are a dead give away. If they are wearing runners they are exercising, if sandals, thongs or
heels, they are not. All other clothing is interchangeable between work and play.

The parks are full in the morning of groups walking up and down or waving their arms about in vigorous calesthetics.

Day 3 - HCMC

Both Dawn and I were completely knackered after a net cafe to tell everyone we were alive. Thoughts of maybe visiting a rooftop bar were replaced with thoughts of a cool shower and a good sleep. In the alley round the corner from the hotel Dawn grabbed a dessert of black sticky rice (black rice, peanut paste, chopped peanut, sugar and shredded coconut) before we hit the sack. The net time was 10,000VND for a couple of hours. That's about 90c. The rice cost 5,000VND.

The bed mattresses appear to be made of rubbery foam stuff (quite firm) that has holes right through it (to either make it lighter or breathe better or something). After our nap yesterday, Dawn who has some leg and foot swelling had the circular imprints on her arms from the holes. She looked like she had been embraced by a giant squid...no pictures though.

The fan in our room made some great white noise that drowned out the traffic sounds from the street and getting to sleep was pretty easy. I knew nothing more until somewhere, thoughts of kilometres south east of me, it was time to wake up and take the kids to school. Once I am awake I find it hard to get back to sleep, but as it was very dark and very early I slept until the sky turned grey. Rather than toss and turn I grabbed the camera and a bottle of water and headed out to the balcony.

I could take a million pictures here. Everything is something to look at , to marvel over, to try to understand. My hands however, are shaking from the heat and I fear the results of my happy snapping will be a blurred shaky mess