Villa in Vietnam
Vietnam was amazing! So after leaving Hong Kong we sailed across the East China Sea and down towards Vietnam.
Once we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, we immediately disembarked and headed towards our villa along the outskirts of Saigon. The first thing I noticed upon walking off the ship was the immense amount of humid heat. It struck me right in the face and was a drastic change from China's chilly nights.
Upon disembarking from the ship, I hopped on the free bus with my friends and headed to Saigon City Center. The first thing I noticed was the sheer amount of motorbikes crossing the street at one time. We arrived at the city center, passing by the famous statue of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader. His grand posture and stoic expression appeared to be providing a honorary welcome to this new country.
Once at the city center, I noticed the imposing presence of Notre Dame (Or really an exact replica of Notre Dame) looming over us. My friends and I rushed to exchange our Hong Kong Dollars and USD into Vietnamese Dong. After our exchange, we hailed a taxi. We were careful to hail one with green colors at the top, as we had been warned that fake taxis often overcharge customers and lead them into dangerous situations.
So we hopped in two taxis, four people in each taxi. We split up so that there were three girls and one guy in each taxi, just to stay safe. Then we sped off through the city of Ho Chi Minh, passing a surprising mix of celebrations for Tet (New Year's in Vietnam), commercialized shops like McDonalds and KFC and an excessive surplus of motorbikes honking loudly. On some motorbikes, entire families of five sat, with the father driving and three children squeezed between him and the mother.
It took only ten minutes and for a short time we were unsure of what to do. Only after several hours of searching did we find our villa hidden amongst the houses in the area. Once we arrived at our villa we had a fun time settling down and exploring the area.
We went to Bahn Than Market, which is the local bargaining market. Music was blasting and we were a little overwhelmed, so we decided to grab some Pho (Pronounced "fuh") which is a classic Vietnamese dish. After a delicious Chicken pho broth, we went back outside into the dying light. This is when I realized that Vietnam comes alive at night. Shops were opening up and endless goods were being marketed. The items being sold were fake brand name items such as Louis Vutton purses, Ralph Lauren polos and Rolex watches.
I ended up bargaining with shopkeepers in a really confusing but extremely fun process. To give you some perspective: 1,000,000 Dong is equal to $50 USD. The whole experience was extremely disorienting, as I might pay up to 100,000 Dong for three pairs of socks. It may sound expensive, but that translates to approximately $5 USD. At first, shopkeepers ripped me off quite a few times because they would quickly sell me overpriced items.
However after two hours, I became quite aware of the proper approach to bargaining. I always started much lower than the real price I wanted. Let's say I think a polo shirt is worth 200,000 Dong ($10 USD). I would start by bargaining for 50,000 Dong ($2 USD), the shop keeper would start at 300,000 Dong ($15 USD) and we would meet in the middle around 150,000 Dong ($7 USD).
Anyway, enough with the crazy bargaining situation. Next we drove back to the villa and ordered some more pho from a local restaurant before going to sleep. The following day, I woke up around noon and was well recovered from the busy first day.
My friends and I decided to visit the "American War Museum" (As it is called in Vietnam) to learn more about the infamous war. What we found there was beyond comprehension: the devastating war crimes that are part of United States legacy in Vietnam brought me to tears. We saw children without limbs, mass murdering of families and learned the atrocities of Agent Orange.
Agent Orange was biochemical warfare waged by the United States. It resulted in immense deformities that I was able to see in children on the streets even today. Oblong heads or children without legs were the result of this type multigenerational warfare.
Finally, my good friend Jeanie wanted to celebrate her birthday and of course we were all in! So we went to the top floor of the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh (And all of Vietnam) and enjoyed an amazing view of the rest of the city while encompassed by beautiful sounding music. By far, one of the best, calmest, most relaxing nights of my life!
Later that week I traveled to one of the only Car Die Temples in the world. Can Die is a mixture religion of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taosim. Inside smelled like incense and a loud metallic bell was rung every two minutes. The bell communicated with heavenly spirits and was in a room of armor to be defended. We listened to a monk speak for quite sometime. I learned it takes 10 years for someone to advance in their religion and at 8 levels of advancement one is guaranteed to ascend to heaven. Better not die to early then! It was an eye-opening experience.
Thank you Vietnam!
