Good Moooooorningggggg, Vietnam!

Greetings all!

I am writing to you from Malaysia where John is working this week and I am enjoying my mid-semester recess.  By enjoying I mean doing lots of work sans class.  It’s actually been very productive.  John works from 8:30am until at least 10:00pm (if not later) every day, so that give me lots of time to spend with my books and the computer.  Plus, I go exploring sometimes.  Today for lunch, I ventured down a local street and found a “Tandoori House” with delicious Indian food.  Only thing that would make these little adventures better would be the husband!  🙂

John and I had an AMAZING adventure this past weekend.  In Singapore and Malaysia, it was the Hari Raya celebration–an Islamic holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan.  It’s a big deal–think Thanksgiving weekend in the US.  John had a four day weekend so we knew we had to take off.  Where to???  Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), Vietnam!!!!

We each got about an hour of sleep then night before we left.  John had just returned from KL and I had to submit some school work before the break.  So—5am rolled around and we were off to the airport.  At the airport, to our surprise, we met one of John’s colleagues, Tony, and his wife Courtney.  They were going to Saigon, also!!!  We would end up meeting later in the trip for some dinner!  We boarded the plane and an hour and a half later, we were in Vietnam!

Our first day in Saigon, we got to the beautiful Sophia Hotel and zonked out for a few hours.  When we were finally awake enough to be pleasant to each other and everyone around us, we began to do a bit of exploring!   First, our room.  We discovered that a) the safe was not bolted down (John could easily pick it up), b) the shower head was bolted into the wall so that no person over five feet tall could use it, c) instead of hot and cold water mixing to make warm it just oscillated between hot and cold water.  It may not sound like it, but our hotel really was nice–a great place to relax after a nice day roaming around the city.

John cooking our dinner at the BBQ Garden

We set out for dinner (yes, we slept a lot) and wandered down one of the main streets in Saigon until we found a place called BBQ Garden.  It was an outdoor restaurant with beautiful Christmas lights hanging down from the trees.  We ordered some delicious fruit drinks (the fruit in Vietnam was delicious) then ordered some meat dishes and steamed rice.  When they served the meat, we noticed it was raw.  Hmm….interesting.  Then, the waitress lit a gas grill in the middle of our table and we got to cook the food right there!  We had beef, chicken, and pork, and a yummy banana crepe (yes, Vietnam was colonized by the French so there are lots of delicious pastries!!).  It was fabulous!!!

Next, we headed the Rooftop Garden Bar at the Rex Hotel as recommended by my good friend Ben Ray.  It’s where the US officers would go for a drink during the Vietnam War (or American War, as they call it in Vietnam).  It was a beautiful rooftop bar with live entertainment including a Grecian born, German raised Canadian living and working in Saigon and an Australian Elvis impersonator.  I can’t make this stuff up.  I have videos of these fine gentlemen posted on Facebook.  I’ll get John to put them on his You Tube site once he gets a spare moment…

Historic Rooftop Garden Bar. Elvis may even be in this picture.

The next day, we were off to the War Remnants Museum.  When we arrived, it was closed for lunch (apparently, siestas are common in Vietnam also) so we headed off to find a restaurant to grab a bite to eat.  We happened upon a little restaurant that had no food.  I kid you not.  No food.  They did have frozen yogurt though and the manager was so excited about it, he got it for us himself.  When we tasted it, it did not taste like the frozen yogurt that we like to think of.  No, it was not soft serve.  It was Dannon yogurt that had been put in the freezer and frozen.  Therefore, it was literally frozen yogurt.  Actually, it was pretty yummy.  We finished it and some lotus tea and were on our way.

Finally, we got the museum (it was open this time) and went inside to see the relics the Vietnamese collected during the war.  They had American tanks and airplanes, photo galleries of Vietnamese war victims, and all the anti-war propoganda you would ever want to see.  One thing I was very surprised by, having been educated in the US was the way the war was presented.  The South Vietnamese government was referred to as the “puppet” government of the US.  And, in the museum, Vietnam referred to the North Vietnamese as us and we.  I always thought the war had three parties:  the North Vietnamese on one side and the South Vietnamese and US on the other side.  The story at the War Remnants Museum tells it as much more of an us and them story.  As we walked out, we were greeted by a landmine victim who pegged us almost immediately as Americans, although we told him we were from Singapore.  I’m sure you can guess how that conversation went…

Post Motorcycle Ride. We're on a boat.

That evening, we went on a dinner cruise on the Saigon River.  It was John’s birthday present from me!  Our first taxi couldn’t get us there (we couldn’t communicate well enough to figure out why).  So, desperate to not miss the boat, literally, we found an alternate mode of transportation.  A motorbike.  A Vietnamese guy came up to John and I and offered to take us to our boat.  Hmm… I am wearing a white dress and this man wants me to hop onto a motorcycle behind him AND for John to hop on behind me?  Sounds like an adventure–let’s go!  So, all three of us hop on and we weave through traffic to the dock.    Let me explain something about Saigon.  It has a population of 9 million people and 4 million motorcycles.  I’m sure you can imagine what the traffic is like.  I’ve often heard it described as the worst in people have ever seen.  I definitely believe it.

The dinner cruise was fabulous complete with European and Asian fare, music and even a magician!  John and I completed our evening with a trip to a bar called Insomnia.  The patrons of the bar were all white men with Vietnamese women.  These women were not their wives.  I definitely felt out-of-place.

John bought me a hat! I was so excited!!!!

The next morning, we were up bright and early for a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels just outside the city.  These tunnels were famous hideouts for the Viet Cong (VCs) during the Vietnam War.  These things were so tiny–you can see pictures of John and I actually getting inside of them.  Some of the village people lived in them for years.  I can’t imagine doing that–I would go crazy!  Our introduction to the tunnels was a propaganda video that we weren’t too fond of, but then we got to do a bit of exploring which was really eye opening.

In the tunnel. That thing was tiny!

The VCs set up traps for the American GIs (as in giant camouflaged pits with sharp bamboo sticks in them) and popped out of these crazy tunnels (see picture to the right) to capture any Americans that stayed behind to try to help a wounded GI.  You have to respect the ingenuity of the VCs but it really made me feel for the South Vietnamese and the Americans.

John in the tunnel. Yes, he is standing on the ground.

I can’t imagine being in a jungle with camouflaged tunnels and traps everywhere, not knowing where the enemy will come from next.  The more I walked around and saw what the war really looked like (without the guns, bombs, and bullets even) the more it really made me stop and think.

We also got to crawl through some of the tunnels.  They had one for “big western tourists” as they put it.  It was 100m long–John and I both completed that.  Then, we went down to an original tunnel.

John and I inside one of the "real" passages. Notice the size!

You can’t believe how tiny it was.  Apparently, the VCs were able to bend over at the waist and walk through, but I had to crawl on my hands and knees the tunnel was so small.  We can out dirty, hot and sweaty and with a new respect for that war altogether.  It truly was an amazing and enlightening experience.

On our way back to the city, we stopped at a local farm and learned how to make incense!  We even got to step into a rice paddy.  It was the most gorgeous thing–so peaceful.  I even stuck my hand down into the water (probably not the smartest idea) and pulled out a huge snail!!!  What a gorgeous gorgeous place!!!!

In the beautiful rice paddy

When we got back to Saigon, we met up with our friends Tony and Courtney for dinner.  We went to a Claypot Rice restaurant where we tried some chargrilled claypot rice.  They cook the rice in a claypot and grill it.  Once it’s grilled, the rice on the outside of the riceball becomes hard and keeps it’s shape, so they have to use a hammer and break the claypot off (John loved this part because things were being broken).  They then proceed to through the rice ball across the restaurant and catch it on a plate at the other end before it is served.  After all of this, the results are quite yummy!!!!!  We had a delightful dinner of pepper beef, braised pork, sweet and sour cauliflower and the biggest omelette you have ever seen!  It was great to be able to share a wonderful meal with our friends!

My attempt at photographing the traffic. This picture makes it look tame.

After dinner it was off to the night market!!!  Prices in Vietnam are unbelievable!  I’ve been eyeing a large platter in Singapore for the past year–it’s price is a slightly over US$100.  In Vietnam, we got it for US$25.  I also bought a complete tea set (including tea pot and serving tray) for US$11.00.  We bargained that down from about US$25.00.  The night market was amazing!

We went back to our hotel for last last evening in Saigon.  Early in the morning we were off to Singapore to catch a coach back up to Kuala Lumpur.  Saigon was an AMAZING city–probably my favorite city I have visited since we’ve been over here.  There are barely any food chains (no McDonalds in Vietnam) and all of the food we had was fantastic.  Despite the propaganda, the locals were very friendly to us, despite the fact we’re American.  And, traffic aside, we found it to be a very safe city.

John and I are in KL until Friday when we head back to Singapore for the Formula 1 Race.  Next week, it’s back to KL for John and back to school for me.  I am going back to Indonesia next Friday to teach English at the children’s home, then heading back up to KL to spend the weekend with my sweet husband.  Loving life right now!!!  🙂

Hope you are all well, wherever you are reading this.  Drop us a line!!!  We’d love to hear from you!!!!