Post by Dom:
Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon by the locals) was a really good time. Being Vietnam's largest city, it is a lot busier than Hanoi... and more modern and metropolitan. Neon signs, upscale hotels, international cuisine and designer stores abound. Tai (who most of you know from SF) was awesome enough to let us stay with him. He has a nice setup in a 2 bedroom apartment, and in a great location. It was nice to not be in the touristy backpacker section of town for once.

Eric & Myrthe (from Holland) also stayed in the apartment with us for a couple of days. We spent most of our time just hanging out...eating...and drinking. Tai took us to all of the good local eateries, bars and clubs. It was great having the inside track on what the best dishes are. Our first night we attempted to go bowling, but all of the lanes were full. So, we opted for playing games in the arcade instead. The next day we checked out the Zoo & Botanical Gardens with Myrthe & Eric. Tai stayed behind to get some work done. I was hoping for more gardens & less zoo, because I wasn't too interested in the zoo. But, it ended up being the other way around. We saw tigers, elephants, zebras & giraffes in spaces much too small. The most interesting part were the crocodiles. There is one section with so many crocs, they're lying all over each other... all with with their mouths open...just waiting for something to wander in. There are little mini bridges that are over the croc section, and the gate isn't all that tall. So, it wouldn't be entirely difficult for a clumsy idiot to fall in. Yikes!


The following afternoon was spent at the bowling alley (again). We actually got to bowl this time. I was horrible, and got the worst score. But, my whole life I've always sucked at bowling, so I don't know why I'm always surprised whenever I don't break 100. I always have fun though. We all played a few games of pool afterward (again, I sucked), before heading back to "Pad Tai". It was still too early to head out to the club, so we had some drinks & played Uno. Finally, something I don't suck at! I was getting sleepy after 5 games and a couple of drinks, but we all rallied and headed to a club called Lush. It's a nice club...just the right size...not too big. There are two levels, and we hung out upstairs and looked down on all of the action below. It happened to be ladies night, so all of the drinks Myrthe & I ordered were FREE! Maybe that explains why the place was so packed on a Tuesday. It was cool seeing how the locals unwind. The women get really dressed up (dresses, high heels). They didn't seem to do much dancing, a lot of standing around sipping cocktails and looking good.


A couple days later Eric & Myrthe met up with their parents in Saigon, and were traveling on to Thailand. So, we had to say our good-byes over some drinks. Tai, Tony & I started off by going to a couple of swanky bars. Then we met up with Eric, Myrthe, their parents, and their dad's business partners at Saigon Bar in one of the upper floors of the Caravelle Hotel. It's a nice open-air bar, and the live band was good entertainment...which, consisted of 3 scantily dressed women. Occasionally, some drunk guy would stagger his way up to the stage and dance provocatively in front of the band... as if trying to woo one of the singers. Later we went to a club called Apocalypse Now. It was ok, but the music was cheesy. The DJ on the upper level played a CD on a loop that kept replaying over & over again. But, he looked legit with his headphones on. I'm not sure what he was getting paid for. We only stayed for a couple of drinks, and then said our farewells... boo hoo. Those guys are really cool, and we had a lot of fun hanging out with them.

Our last couple of days in Saigon were spent hanging out with Tai and running errands. One day we took a combined Cao Dai Temple & Cu Chi Tunnels tour. We stopped at Cai Dai first. It's an ornate & colorful temple with intricate columns that have dragons wrapped around them. Several religions are practiced there, including Christianity, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism... and I forget what else. They hold a service everyday at noon, which we were able to witness. The leaders wore different colored robes (each color representing a different religion) and bishop-like hats. Everyone else wore white. Live music and singing came from the rafters.


The next stop was Cu Chi Tunnels. Tai was able to get the local ticket price for himself, and also for me (apparently I can pass for Vietnamese). Good thing I didn't have to speak. The local price was 90 cents, but Tony had to pay the tourist price, which was $5.00...sheesh! The tour started off in a video screening room, where we were going to watch a "documentary" about the tunnels. But, what we saw was actually an old propaganda film with footage taken during the war. It mostly painted an ugly picture of the American military, calling them a "batch of crazy devils" who shot at anything including "women, children, chickens, and even Buddha statues". The Vietnamese soldiers were called "American killer heroes". The more Americans they killed, the more medals they received. The film was both interesting & disturbing.

The tunnels are a huge underground network that are quite impressive. I just wish we could have seen more of them. They were used to aid the Vietnamese in traveling back & forth right under the noses of the U.S. military. A section of the tunnels even ran right underneath the U.S. military base. The entrances to the tunnels were ingeniously hidden by dirt & leaves. They were made just big enough for the slight body frame of the Vietnamese. So, even if a U.S. soldier were to discover an entrance, he probably wouldn't have fit inside the tunnel. We were able to go inside one section of the tunnels, which was neat. But, it was pitch black & so narrow in some parts that I felt suffocated. I had to use my camera flash as a light to see where I was going.

Surrounding the tunnels... scattered throughout the jungle, were booby traps. Basically, deep holes with metal stakes at the bottom... ouch! It was amazing to see just how serious the Vietnamese were about defending their country. Surrendering was not an option. Not only men & women soldiers...but, even civilians joined in the fighting. Along the tour was a shooting range, where (for $1.50/bullet) you could fire an AK47, M30 and even a Tommy Gun. We didn't shoot, but we hung out and watched for awhile. It was so freakin LOUD! I can't imagine having to fire those guns for long periods of time during a war. I'm sure many people lost their hearing.

On our last day, I decided I wanted to get a hair cut. I really needed one, and I figured Saigon would be a good place for it. I kept going back & forth on either getting just a trim, or going more drastic and chopping it all off. It's really hot out here, and my long hair was getting on my nerves. This indecision lasted all day, and all the way to the salon... up until I was sitting in the chair. I told myself that if the stylist didn't speak any English, then I would just get a trim... should be easy enough to explain that, right? But, what ended up happening is the complete opposite. The stylist did NOT speak any English. The receptionist had to translate everything. I decided to follow my "live in the now" motto, and with Tony's moral support I had him chop it all off! I even went a step further, and asked him to add red highlights. Meanwhile, Tony is sitting next to me getting pampered with a foot, neck & head massage. After the cut & color, the stylist flat ironed my hair, and I was happy to see that nothing was lost in translation. The red turned out a lot more red than I was expecting. But, it's kinda funky so I like it. It's funny that in Vietnam, with a non-English speaking stylist, I was more happy with my hair than countless times in the U.S. with no language barriers. Go figure. So, I walked out of the salon feeling sassy, flipping my hair around. It was so light & bouncy! I didn't realize how long & heavy it was before. Now let's hope I can style it on my own, or else I'll have poodle hair for awhile.

We're off to the Philippines next. We're really going to miss Saigon and hanging out with Tai. We were just starting to feel at home at his apartment. *d
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