Tag: Saigon

Who Can Resist Women in Uniform

 

 

 

I Certainly Can’t.

Which is why I being currently in Vietnam, Sai Gon or Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), to be exact.

Why here? Why now?  Why not:

  • I have a friend here.
  • I needed a vacation from Dauntless.
  • She needed a rest from me.
  • I needed to be in New York for a bit, so it’s almost on the way.
  • It’s incredibly cheap, with wonderful food.
  • The people are so very friendly, nice and welcoming
  • And I do like women in uniform.

After this post, my writings about my other, non-Dauntless related, travels will be under Dispatches From the Orient

I can write gobs and gobs about HCMC so far.  Let me suffice to say in this little introduction that it is a true working city full of really nice, friendly people, with incredibly good food at even more incredibly inexpensive prices.

Today I did a little exploration of a new section of town, took four buses that cost me a total of $1.00, that’s 25 cents each.

My DInner that Cost $0.90
The image on her fight is some kind of missile sitting on a stand on a table. This show was about various weapons systems, as I saw some US and Russian made stuff.

Here is a little video I took on my first days.

I found it best to just close my eyes often.

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And if you think the motobikes are numerous, think of the alternative like Bejing, where cars sit in endless traffic jams and the pollution is so bad it’s hard to go out!

We Don’t Need no Stink’in MiniVan

Stay tuned for many more tidbits to follow:

Dispatches From the Orient

 

Coming up here next, In Hindsight; A Retrospective of the Cruise from Ireland to Costa Rica

Dispatches from the Orient – Vietnam

A Barge on the Song Sai Gon

I have a lot of pictures that things to of Vietnam so far.  I’d like to keep my writings more focused than usual on a particular theme for any given post.

And while many of these writings will be about places new to me and many of you, I will also use this blog to write about all of my travels that are distinctly of a non-nautical nature, whether they be in North America, Asia or Europe.

I find Vietnam incredibly fascinating.

First Impressions:

  • I really admire the people, I have never been in a place where everyone seems to work all the time and still be pleasant doing it. My days are full of smiles and pleasant interactions.
  • The Vietnamese people I’ve run across have been the friendliest I’ve ever met. Much like Ireland, but maybe a better comparison is Latvia. Another place with incredibly friendly people and speaking an incomprehensible language.  Oh, I’ve learned a few words, just a few, but with my non-musical brain, the words I think I am saying and what others hear are pretty much mutually exclusive.
  • My hotel is just 20 minutes south of the airport and about 30 minutes west of “downtown”. A great location. HCMC aka Sai Gon, is much like NYC, a city of neighborhoods. Pretty much everything I need or want can be had within a 15-minute walk. The only disagreeable moment occurred when I was “downtown”, in District 1.  The place where Trip Advisor and that ilk tell everyone they must go and as expected my experience is just the opposite.  The one place I will not return.
  • They actually make things here. In fact, they seem to rebuild everything.  There is remarkedly little trash. And everyone seems to be working literally from dawn to dusk (and later).
  • Nothing is thrown away. The little sacks of garbage that are picked up periodically seem full of inedible things and a little plastic. These people would probably build a whole new civilization with all the crap Americans throw away in a week.
  • IF there are no free seats on the bus, a young person always insists I take their seat.
  • Air Conditioning on the buses works better than in New York City buses and I am sure the buses cost 1/100th
  • Costs are even better than anticipated. Bus costs 20 cents. The three of us has a 6-course dinner for $19 the other day, yesterday it was $15. This is very typical.  My lunch today was $0.90. Yes, less than a US dollar.
  • Foods are as tasty as one would expect.
  • There are a million coffee places and the iced coffee is like the old days in NYC, strong and good. (Not like today where Starbucks gets people to pay $7 for a glass of water with coffee color)
  • HCMC is full of trees and motorcycles.

Upcoming:

  • A city of motos and scooters and I am the only pedestrian.
  • How to cross the street and live to tell about it.
  • A Worker’s Paradise where everyone works