olafman

December 2010: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
as always photos of the journey can be found at http://travelcarl.blogspot.com

Originally, Vietnam was not included on our big round-the-world adventure. Instead this month was supposed to be China. I felt it was one of the more important countries that we would be visiting. China is such a world power in population, economy, industry and language. So what could change my mind and make me chose Vietnam over China?

The answer is plain and simple. Good friends. Our best friends from Munich left the school at the same time as us. We went traveling for a year and they accepted jobs in Ho Chi Minh. The thought of spending a month with them was too hard to pass up. So China out. Vietnam in.

I knew very little about Vietnam. I don’t really remember the American-Vietnam war. I was playing with Legos when the Americans were getting their ... kicked and dying. I do have lots of memories throughout my life of seeing homeless guys on the streets of the USA with signs proclaiming their veteran status and needing money. Even to a naïve teenager, I could see that this war had done damage to a lot of people. By the end of our month there, I had a much better understanding about the “American War” as they call it.

We arrived after a great fifth-freedom flight on Lufthansa from Bangkok. We spent five hours in the Thai Airways First Class lounge so we were well drunk and well fed before stepping on the aircraft. LH did their part to add to the situation. The full trip report and lots of photos can be seen here:
FLIGHT#19: BKK Royal First Lounge & LH772 BKK-SGN in First Class with photos

Most people in the world need a visa for Vietnam. Tourists have two options: apply through the local embassy or use a travel agency to write you a letter of introduction. It seems like a racket to me but it was easier to use an online agency and then have them email me a PDF of the letter of introduction. It was about $80 for the three of us so didn’t seem like much. Upon arrival, the letter of intro and $25 USD per person gets translated into a visa in about 30 minutes. It wasn’t speedy but worked out just fine.

We exited customs and almost immediately saw our good friend, Daniel. Beer in hand, he didn’t mind waiting for us. He had come with a taxi and driver that he uses to get around town. Ho Chi Minh has crazy cheap taxis. While I’m not sure the local Vietnamese culture allows you to walk around drinking a beer, a feisty Venezuelan guy can pretty much do what he wants there. We squeezed into the taxi with all our bodies and bags and fought the Friday night traffic to District Two. Immediately we could see a vibrant, alive city with more scooters on the road than cars!

The scooter situation in HCMC is unbelievable. They rule the roads. The government issued a helmet law but only for the adults. Kids don’t need to wear one! How does that make sense?? While in the western world we might see one or two people on a scooter, it is normal to see an entire family of five or six people all piled on a single scooter. Now multiply this times two thousand bikes at every intersection and you will get a sense of what life is like. Crossing any street as a pedestrian reminded me of the early eighties video game, Frogger. Because the stream of traffic is so thick and constant, you just start to cross the street into the mass of scooters and magically they start to go around you. Almost blindly, you continue to cross against all the odds and normal traffic rules. When you get to the other side, you say thanks to your favorite saint and marvel at the experience.

District One is the center of HCMC and most tourists stay in the heart when they visit. Spending a month in district one would have killed me. It’s just like NYC but more crowded and noisy. Luckily District Two was full of wide streets, luxury apartment buildings, swimming pools, restaurants with gardens and fancy grocery stores. I was amazed we were only twenty minutes from the center of this big city. The An Phu market was similar to the SCORE market in Madagascar. They mostly carry imported products for the foreign tastes. Why we need to import Kraft Mac & Cheese to Vietnam? I’ll never know. Although the salty, bland taste of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle canned soup offered me some comfort later in the month when my tummy was giving out on me.

Daniel had rented us a three bedroom flat. It was fairly new and in great condition. After not having air conditioning in Krabi, Thailand all last month, our apartment in Vietnam was an oasis from the perpetual heat of HCMC. I kept having to remind myself that THIS WAS THE COLD SEASON. It’s weird to wake up on Christmas morning while in the northern hemisphere and turn on the A/C at 06:30. I was so glad we weren’t visiting in July! It would be hard for me to live there simply because I enjoy doing outdoor activities which aren’t possible most months of the year there. Dan had stocked our fridge with beer and other essentials so we didn’t need to run out and do any shopping right away. The weird thing about the flat was one of the bathrooms was always full of cigarette smoke. Someone on a different floor must enjoy having a smoke while sitting on the toilet. And they sat on the toilet A LOT! At first I accused Corbin of taking up smoking but then realized that it was beyond what an eleven year old could do.

We hadn’t seen Dan, Louise and their now two year old daughter since we all left Germany at the end of June. We were there for the birth of their daughter and also at the first birthday party. I was so happy that on our first full day, we could participate in her second birthday. It has been murder on us to be so far from them while we’ve been traveling. Luckily Baby Elena remembered us especially Corbin who is like a big brother to her. Corbin was great with her and even got her to take her nap and go to bed in the evening in a way that her parents couldn’t. We also got to hang out with Dan’s mom from Venezuela. We had met her when she visited in Germany after Elena’s birth.

We had a good friend Jay arrive from Seattle to hang out with us for ten days. Before we left we invited all of our friends to “join the fun” and visit us along the way. We rented three bedroom flats with this purpose and it was great to have a little bit of home come to us. Having Jay around helped to get us seeing all the tourist sites: Mekong Delta, City tour of HCMC, War Remnants Museum…

On the day after Elena’s party, Dan took us all into the center for our first look at HCMC. This place had a different feeling than Bangkok. The people spoke more loudly. They seemed to live more on the streets. I loved the fact that their script was similar to English but the tone and pronunciation were well beyond my ear’s limits. We tried learning a few words but were discouraged by people who had lived in Vietnam many years. I left after a month with very good “taxi Vietnamese”. I could give directions like “right”, “left” and “straight”. Showing the maps on my iPhone was useless so guiding while they drove was the way to go.

Speaking of which, we bought local sim cards like always and used them to power our iPhone for almost no money. We probably spent only $20 each for the whole month including using the internet all the time on them. How did we explore a foreign city before having Google Maps in the palm of our hands?

The central Ben Thanh market was full of lots of typical tourist crap: fake Lacoste, “Hawaiian” shirts, bags, shoes… I bought a “North Face” backpack that is already showing signs of its inauthenticity. Parts of the inner metal structure are poking through to my shoulder blade and one of the straps has already worn through. What should I expect for $7 USD? I also got Terry a Prada man purse for $15 that isn’t doing so well after two months. The good news is that the man purse idea is working for him. After two lost wallets on the trip, a larger “purse” is harder to misplace.

One thing different about our Vietnam experience was we led an “expat” life. We hung out with our friends by their huge pool. We dined in “expensive” restaurants or did take away almost every evening. We took a taxi EVERYWHERE. I can’t say it was “Vietnam, up close and personal”. But it was wonderful. Last month in Thailand we were on our remote island almost living like a local. So this month it was a different approach.

Our friends really enjoy living in HCMC. They see themselves staying there for a while. The best part is that they are banking one of their salaries in spite of living very well. After five years, they will have quite a nest egg.

On one of our first days, we decided to take a one day tour of the Mekong Delta arranged through a Lonely Planet recommended tour agency. The total cost was $23 per person for the day which seemed very reasonable. It began at 08:30 am with a one and a half hour bumpy bus ride. The road was in horrible condition and our driver drove like he was late for his wedding. Our bodies felt slightly abused by the time we got to the boat dock in the delta.

I knew that since we were on a tour, we would have lots of opportunity for shopping. I’m not really a shopper but knew that our tour was partially funded by the shops and factories. So we endured.

Our journey up this famous river at first was in a boat for about 20 people. It was similar to the long tail boats of Thailand with its screeching car motor with no muffler. At our first stop we enjoyed some fresh, sliced fruit and were serenaded by a local trio. Like much Asian music, my Western ears found the music confusing at best but could appreciate the tradition of it. No one was rushing up to buy the CD though. Just before leaving, our guide brought out a big vat of “rice whiskey”. Then he announced that this whiskey was flavored with the carcass of a dead bird reaching in and grabbing the bird to show us all. Next he offered us all a taste of this local favorite. Thank you but no. My friend Jay was much more adventurous and tried a shot. Corbin even stuck his finger in Jay’s glass to see what it tasted like. Jay said it just tasted of whiskey with no overwhelming dead bird flavor. I’m adventurous but I too have my limits.

Next we got in a smaller long tail and stopped at a coconut candy factory. From raw, whole coconuts to sweet candy, we saw the whole unautomated process. Corbin did convince me that we needed to buy some to eat later. I acquiesced after saying no to the dead bird whiskey.

Our next stop was lunch which was included in our tour price. We chose to upgrade to some more expensive food and a couple of beers to fight the midday heat. After lunch we had the option of biking around the island but with the heat, we strolled along some nearby roads to see the area.

After eating we took a ride on tiny boats up a very crowed jungle canal. Our boat had no motor instead a husband and wife team that propelled us forward. They offered us the famous conical hats to keep the sun off us during our journey. It was a fun 20 minute ride through the jungle.

At another stop, we met some beekeepers. Corbin got to touch panel of honeycombs that was covered with bees. He will remember that forever. He was amazed that he didn’t get stung.

For the journey back to town, we decided to pay a bit extra and take a speed boat back down the Mekong to a jetty in the middle of the city. Little did we know that our bumpy 1.5 hour bus ride instead turned into a four hour bumpy speed boat ride. It was long and bumpy. Next time, we choose the bus.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was meeting an older couple from Stuggart, Germany. We got talking and when I mentioned that we were spending the month in Ho Chi Minh, the woman grunted with visible disgust in a way that only a German could. Then she added “Why would you ever want to do that?” I told her that we weren’t in District One and that we were there visiting friends but she was not convinced.

We arrived back in HCMC and soon enough were back at our place for a take-away dinner of Indian food. It had been a long day but we enjoyed everything we saw.

The next day, Jay and I had signed up for a city tour of HCMC. Terry and Corbin opted to just relax after the long touring day before. One of our first stops was the busy Chinese Market which was a more local version of the Ban Thanh tourist market. It was fascinating to see all the products for sale. The term “Chinese plastic crap” did come to mind. I made a mental note to return to buy a fake Christmas tree.

The visit to the old South Vietnam parliament building was a bit strange. Since the north won the war, the government seat is now in Hanoi. So an old, unused sixties architecture parliament building is a stop on the tour of the city but isn’t worth much. I did like all the “retro” lighting fixtures.

The highlight of the tour was the War Remnants Museum. Our guide warned us that it was communist government propaganda about the “American war”. It was a presentation of captured American army vehicles and planes outside with graphic photos of the atrocities committed by the Americans on the inside. The worst of which were lots of photos showing the results of Agent Orange. By no means was this an unbiased presentation of the war. I was fascinated by the whole place. About this time I began to wonder why the Vietnamese people in general don’t outwardly hate Americans. We came. We fought. We screwed up a lot of the country and we left. The results of which are still visible today.

For our visit to HCMC, I purchased the $5 Lonely Planet city guide on my Kindle. Having read several Lonely Planet guides on my Kindle, I can now say that the electronic versions just don’t work. The maps are too small and I constantly needed to refer to other screens to figure out where we needed to go. In the future, I’m sticking to the printed guide. I think an iPad version would be better.

One of the unexpected cultural phenomenon in Vietnam was the fact we were recognized as celebrities. While, yes, I have appeared on TV including the Matt Damon episode of “Will & Grace”. Yes, I have sung solo for a sitting US president. Yes, my wedding was covered by CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. But I didn’t think that we would get recognized in Vietnam. Three different times were out on the town and got stopped by groups of young people to take pictures. Corbin swears that it’s him. I think it’s me. Terry just rolls his eyes. Regardless, the camera phones go a-clicking when we appear. The funniest was at the movies we were about to enter and this group of kids got very excited about seeing us. They were very polite but lots of photos were taken standing with us. Why? We’ll never know.

As Christmas approached, we had to say goodbye to our friends. Louise’s mom was getting married down in New Zealand so they had to fly south. This meant that we had just over a week on our own. HOW COULD THEY LEAVE US!?!?!?

Louise did lend us her box of Christmas decorations to help make our place feel a little more like the holiday season and a little less like a bowl of Pho. I went back and purchased my meter tall plastic tree and soon with Christmas music playing, we decorated it to Martha’s liking. I think the term is “ladened”. It did help though and soon we were wrapping gifts and humming “Mr. Hanky, the Christmas poo…” Yes, we have a wide variety of Christmas carols.

So we need to spend a few moments talking about my bowels. We were three months into our “developing nation” tour and my stomach was beginning to complain. Actually it had begun to complain back at the end of Thailand. But in Vietnam its complaining turned into nausea about two days before Christmas. So this meant a visit to the doctor. I did my online research and soon was seeing a wonderful Vietnamese doctor who asked me where I had been. I told him that we were traveling and we had been to Madagascar, Thailand and now Vietnam. I added that we were going to India next month! He smiled and said that my intestinal flora had been wiped out. He prescribed a powder that would re-grow the “flora” in my stomach to help process the food I was eating. He also gave me another powder to help “plug things up”. Two powders and twenty-four hours later, I was a new man. My whole bill for the doctor’s visit and the meds ran me about $25. Love the developing world.

Christmas morning we woke and opened all our gifts. Shopping for presents is difficult when you know you’ll be packing them up in a week into already bursting suitcases. Somehow we ended buying Corbin this huge Lego and promising that we will put the Lego in OUR suitcases. We’re pushovers.

After the pressies were opened, I somehow decided that we needed to record a little Christmas greeting movie to our family and friends. Since we had been living in Europe, we had long abandoned the whole Christmas card thing. I somehow felt moved that morning to get the family to sit down in front of the camera and share some holiday greetings. It took three takes before I gave up. In post-production (or “post” as we call it in the industry), I simply decided to include all three takes and call it a day. In the end, it turned out wonderfully it conveyed the spirit of the holiday. While not intended for public viewing, you all are family so feel free to watch it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81DTa08LvnU

Since Mama still wasn’t feeling one hundred percent, I decided that we would let the Intercontinental Saigon do the Christmas cooking. They offered a Christmas lunch including a visit from Santa for $70 a person. In Vietnamese Dong, this seemed a lot but can you really put a price on happiness? Also they promised that Corbin would have a special moment with “Santa”. Really! This ought to be interesting.

So the Haley boys arrived at 12:30 for the meal. It was set up in their main buffet restaurant. We immediately popped our Christmas crackers and donned the crowns. How is it that we have avoided the cracker/crown tradition in America? Who doesn’t look good in a paper crown? Oh wait, ANYONE. Looking completely dorky, we attacked the seafood bar like drag queens at the Lancome free sample give-a-way. The food was outstanding. We ate and then we ate some more. Did I mention the free flowing wine? Soon after we finished with the main courses, we were invited to visit Santa.

I was very surprised that Santa was the European version and not just a Vietnamese guy in a Santa suit. I’m not sure why Santa was European though. Had someone complained at last year’s Christmas buffet? Also who is the European living in HCMC that dresses up as Santa and hangs out at the Intercontinental hotel on Christmas day? So many questions would remain unanswered. We did get a lovely picture of all of us together.

The day after Christmas, we flew fifty minutes away to the coastal resort town of Nha Trang. One of Dan and Louise’s neighbors had raved about a new Sheraton there. So we booked some cheap airfare (see my business class report on Vietnam Airlines) and stayed on the Club level of the Sheraton Nha Trang. The resort was great and we especially enjoyed the Club lounge. It was an extension of our room. The full Flyertalk trip report can be found at:
FLIGHT#20: SGN Domestic Sasco Lounge, VN452 SGN-NHA Business Class and Sheraton Nha Trang


One of my favorite parts of our Vietnam experience was Van. She’s is the nanny of Baby Elena. Since they were all down in New Zealand, Van came over to our house and taught me how to cook several Vietnamese dishes. I took copious notes and shot lots of pictures of the preparation. Next I typed them all up and posted them on our website: http://fifthgradearoundtheworld.com/fgatw/Recipes.html

Van came a total of five days and we cooked up a storm. On our last day just before New Years, we met for our final lesson. Both of us wished it could continue. It was a very tearful goodbye that afternoon. She had shared so much with us that I will never forget.

So what do you do in HCMC for New Year’s when your best friends have up and left you? Luckily I had been looking on Couchsurfing.org and noticed that a big group was going to get together for New Year’s Eve at a BBQ restaurant. A lovely Argentinean couple that we met in Bangkok would be arriving in time to attend. So that evening just over thirty CouchSurfers met for an amazing meal at a well known Vietnamese restaurant. We had a great time together. The food was delicious. The company even better. Around 11:00pm Corbin started to fade so Terry volunteered to take him home while I stayed with the Surfers. Just before midnight we spilled into the crowed HCMC streets and counted down to 2011. It was a great time. Then one of the locals dragged us to Vasco, a bar/club where we danced until the wee hours of the morning. There is nothing like dancing in a hot club on a hot night in Vietnam. I look a little shiny in all the pictures.

January 1st was our last full day in Vietnam. It was sad to be packing up and preparing to move on. It had been such a wonderful month. We met so many wonderful people along the way. Once again we said “au revoir”, until we see you again. It’s definitely a place we will return to.