Good Morning Vietnam!

After our whirlwind tour of Cambodia, we hopped a 14 hour bus ride towards Vietnam. The length of the ride sounds more painful than it actually was. Everything went smoothly though crossing the boarder into Vietnam has been the most vigours and time consuming yet! Our entire bus was held up for over an hour because one guy set of the medical heat sensors that screen our body tempratures. The swine flu scare adds at least 20 minutes to each point of entry as hoards of people scramble to find pens to fill out the health cards that nobody ever checks. We arrived in Ho Chi Min city (Siagon) a bit late, but got a room complete with air con and satalite TV. TV proves to be one of the biggest money savers as it entertains for free rather than racking up a bar tab(well...that was before we discovered "Fresh Beer": one jug that fills three glasses costs under a dollar). We splurged that night on buy 2 get on free cocktails, made a delightful new friend, and stayed out till 2 am after discovering the little street cafes with cheaper beers.

The next day of sight seeing matched the pace of Saigon. We ate the usual pho breakfast and headed for the Ben Thanh Market. Quite accustomed to people hollaring "You buy something?" as we walk down the street, we weren't ready for people actually grabbing your sweaty arms as you try to navigate through the narrow stalls of the Vietnamese markets. We've found the Vietnamese people to be VERY hands on. Lots of arm stroking, cheek pinching, arms over your unbelieveably sweaty shoulders, and even the occaisional butt spank if you've established at least a 5 minute relationship. After the market, we meandered our way to the Fine Arts museum and the Museum of Ho Shi Minh City. Most of the museums feature a least a couple rooms dedicated to Vietnams fight for independence. A very eye-opening experience for two Americans. The Vietnam War wasn't covered much in the generalized history classes of high-school, especailly not from the Vietnamese perspective. We stopped for a lunch of clams steamed in lemon grass, noodles, and a yummy dessert that consisted of multiple colored jellies, condensed milk and ice cubes. After lunch, we toured the retro-style Reunification palace which has been preserved in it's late 70's form complete with circle couches and padded doors. Our last stop of the day was the War Remnants Muesum. As humbling as the S-21 prision we visited in Cambodia, this museum displays pictures and first hand accounts of the atrocities committed in Vietnam during the late 70s. The stories are heart breaking and the brutality seems unreal. One photo exhibit shows pictures of people born (as recently as 2008) in Veitnam with severe birth defects and a wide range of bizarre diseases. They are people from communities where the U.S. used Agent Orange. On the door leaving the exhibit there is a post citing the U.S. supreme courts denial of the direct link between Agent Orange and the negative side effects that plague 3 million people in Vietnam. It was dated July 2009. We were kicked out of the museum at closing time and walked silently home until we ran into a friend and went for fresh beers to help digest what we learned. Our night ended early in the comforts of our aircon room with Animal Planet on the tube.

The next day we woke early, enojyed some pho, walked the market, updated the blog, drank some more fresh beer, got ripped off by a fixed meter in a cab, and boarded an over night train to Hoi An via Danang. We booked the top bunk soft sleepers with air con and shared our 4 bed berth with two elderly Vietnamese men. They were very nice, always smiling up at us and throwing Leon's sheet back on him when he kicked it off in his sleep. Unfortunetly, the language barrier limited us to hellos and a hearty handshake goodbye. From the train station, we pushed through the crowd of taxi drivers that wait at every (so far) Vietnamese train station 24 hrs a day descending upon the tourists the second they leave the secured boarding platform. We avoided the severe over charging and caught a shuttle bus toward Hoi An.

We stayed at a lovely hotel (with a pool!) for three days and four nights. Where Siagon was loud and crazy, Hoi An was comparatively cool (in the shade or the pool) and calm. A lot of structures in major cities were destroyed by bombs in the Vietnam War, but luckily Hoi An maintains the beautiful colonial buildings that were built under French rule. The nights in Hoi An are best spent wondering along the river and admiring the old buildings lit up by soft Veitnamese lanterns. I'm not sure if anyone who visits Hoi An manages to leave without a hand-tailored garment. The streets are lined with tailors and all you have to do is bring in a picture of what ever you want, and they will replicate it. We may have got a little carried away with the novelty of hand tailored clothing-the evidence should be arriving on my doorstep in Bellingham within a couple of weeks. We did manage to do some sight seeing between fittings, more like man-handleings by the main seamstress. The old quarter of the city is cut off to cars and motor bikes which makes for great window shopping. Everynight after our afternoon swim we would eat at Cafe 43. Delicious local dishes include: White Rose (amazing little pork wontons dipped in sweet chilli sauce), fish grilled in banana leaf, cao lau (doughy noodles which can ONLY be made in Hoi An as they require water from a specific local well), banh xeo (thin crispy rice paper spring rolls), and of course: fresh beer. We managed to pull ourselves out of town on a 5km bike ride to Cua Dai beach complete with palm trees, white sand, and turquoise water.

After a few days of relaxing, we took the scenic bus ride along the coast and through the hills to Hue. With only an afternoon and a morning to explore, we got down to buisness by getting lost in an effort to enojoy a delicious Japanese meal from a restaruant that trains street kids to work in the hospitality industry. The next day we got up early to bike to the citidel whose walls still encompass most of the city. Biking in Vietnam is...an experience. Slow and Steady wins the race. As motor bikes and cars whiz around you, everyone honks to indicate they are either going to turn or pass you. Sometimes people honk just to let you know they are very close behind you. You take comfort in knowing that at least the big vehilcles (cars and buses) mind the traffic lights. If you want to merge, you stick out your hand and make a motion as if you are fanning the motorcyclclist next to you, and then you just slowly drift over. You must go slow to give the motor bikes time to swerve around you. After awhile, you get the hang of it and trust that everyone else is going to try to avoid hitting you. The citadel was alomst worth the near death experience of biking there. It housed Vietnamese royalty until 1945. In 1968 Hue was the sight of the bloodiest battles of the Tet Offensive. Bombing destroyed a lot of structures and the typhoon that passed through in the 1980s didn't help with rebuilding efforts. Even though many of the buiildings are under reconstruction, the completed temples were very interesting and the grounds were beautiful. We spent a good three hours at the citadel and spent the rest of the morning biking through the modern neighborhoods. At 3:30pm we boarded another overnight train to Hanoi where we are gearing up for our 3 day/2 night tour of Halong Bay.