June 24- Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

The overnight train turned out to be a good gamble. We were a little leery when it was two hours late, and we had to wait outside on the platform (that was lined with dried squid vendors.) There were two little boys in matching day-glo orange sweatpants pulled up way too high running around like sumo wrestlers on sugar highs; at least we had some entertainment.


Once the train came, there were no problems at all. We were in a four person sleeping berth that mildly reeked of pepperoni, but all in all it was a lot better than the overnight bus rides.

We arrived in Saigon yesterday morning, and again found a hotel without too much trouble. We directed our taxi over to the backpackers' district (or, he directed us there because he knew exactly where we were going before we even got to his car). Coincidentally, the hotel is run by the wife of the premiere surgeon in the country. He has done a lot of research on Vietnamese-specific epidemiology and physiology.

With our Lonely Planet in hand, we followed a walking tour of the city, first coming to a huge indoor market, and then walking by Pho 2000, the soup joint that Bill Clinton ate at when he came to Vietnam. We continued on to the Fine Arts Museum, where we had our fill of high culture before rushing off for some ice cream. Fanny, the French ice cream cafe, turned out to be much as Jillian would imagine heaven. The menu boasted a lot of unique and local flavors as well as the some of the coolest sundaes/creations ever! (No pun intended). Ari had Bailey's ice cream drowned in whiskey, but it was Jillian's dessert that will go down in history: a sorbet cyclo. See photo and be jealous.


Feeling all happy and giddy, we went to the War Remnants Museum for a BIG change of mood. Huge American war machines, tanks, planes, and guns were displayed in the front courtyard. Inside the building were extremely graphic photos of the atrocities of the Vietnam war. It was designed to be a sort of memorial to the Vietnamese people who lost their lives, but many of the photos evenhandedly told the stories of the American soldiers and journalists as well. While we were at the museum, there was an opening for a new gallery of children's art work representing images of world peace. It was nice to end the day on a more hopeful note. In addition, they were also installing an exhibit comprised of a series of photos of magnified piles of dirt from each town that had experienced devastation during the Vietnam War.

We tried, in vain, to find some cultural evening activities, but there was nothing going on at the Opera House or the Conservatory of Music. No one was really helpful in telling us when there might be an upcoming event either. So it was bia hoi for us. Bia hoi is "cheap beer" and is very aptly named. We had quite possibly the cheapest beer on the planet last night- less than 25 cents for 2 liters! And it was in a lovely little patch of sidewalk with seats, not stools this time.



This morning, we each took our own cyclo to Cholon - Saigon's own Chinatown. We explored a gaggle of temples and pagodas, each one more intricately adorned than the next. These pagodas have large statues of deities in the form of humans and animals, often horses. These statues are robed in gorgeous embroidered and sequined silk garments. A temple can have anywhere from three to several hundred of these figures that ranged from twelve inches to twelve feet tall. Placed behind and around these antiques were cheesy flashy colored Christmas lights, flashing and whirling in all their "glory."



The pillars, ceilings, walls, and everything inside the temple was beautifully carved with dragons, lions, phoenixes, lotus flowers, and warriors. Much of it was painted in bright colors while some of it remained in natural wood. There were also panels of Chinese caligraphy adorning the walls and columns.

The air is choked with incense as it is the most common offering left at the numerous altars. Most of the pagodas that we visited today had three feet tall spirals of incense hanging from the rafters. Each pagoda had a fireplace and chimney where the "friendly neighborhood incense man" gathers the sticks that have burned low and tosses them into the fire.

We even walked past the Cholon mosque, which was elegant but very sparsely decorated in sharp contrast to the lavish pagodas.

We had lunch at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant before hopping in a cab back to the center of the city. Jillian asked the cabbie to turn on the meter, but he insisted they could work out a better price. She wrote 10,000 dhong (about 65 cents) on a piece of paper and he agreed. We were a little puzzled as we watched the meter run up to 50,000 dhong before we reached our destination. Needless to say, once we got there he wanted us to pay the metered price. We have been in Vietnam too long and our skin has grown thick - the man got 10,000 dhong and not a diggity dhong more!

Just when we thought Fanny was the best thing to hit Vietnam, we found Cafe X. In Vietnam, they love the phrase "Happy Hour" and use it indiscriminately to describe any and all promotions. Well, Cafe X was having ice cream happy hour. It was an all you can eat ice cream buffet for about $3. Boy were they in over their heads with us.

Here is the play by play:
Round 1: Jillian - dish of Pinky Winky and M&M Smart Pants
Ari - dish of Cappucino and Creamy Cookies

Waitress brings over bright green drinks - think Fenway Park's Green Monster meets Kool-Aid

Round 2: Jillian - cone of Gum Drop and Hokey Pokey
Ari - cone of Boysenberry Cheesecake and Green Tea

Jay-Z Interlude

Round 3: Jillian - dish of Gold Rush and Rum Raisin topped with hot fudge and sprinkles
Ari - dish of "Cramel" Candy and Awesome Chocolate with sprinkles and mystery yellow sauce

Round 4: Jillian - dish of Passion Fruit topped with dried apples
Ari - dish of Banana Split topped with dried apples


Let us add to the story the fact that we were the only people in the cafe and there was a staff of 15 waiting on us. We had wanted to try all 27 flavors, but we were proud that we at least made it through half. Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Notice we were able to add photos. Please check some of our older posts because we have added pictures to them as well. Keep the emails coming - we love hearing from you.

Lots of love,
Ari and Jillian