Final Days in Vietnam

Jet fighter at the War Museum
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We arrived into Ho Chi Minh City at 5:30 am with the intent of finding a place to sleep as soon as possible. Those overnight busrides sure wear us out. Its odd because all I dream about when i'm on the bus is being snug in a bed. Well Saigon (what it was referred to before Vietnam reunification) is not the safest place for girls to be meandering with huge backpacks before dawn. So we took a seat at the nearest outdoor bar (Go2 Bar). As we waited for the sun to rise, we were approached and befriended by two guys from Oregon. Nice chaps, they bought us a beer. I wish they'd asked because I would have requested coffee, but at least it was Tiger Beer. So at 5:30 am we sipped away.

sky bomber
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At last we excused ourselves and found shelter. Ahh...we passed out for about 6 hours. It was a unanimous decision that we would spend very little time in Saigon. Its a really hectic city with nightlife partying as its highlighted attraction. Not really for us. The day was spent visiting the War Memorial Museum which is highly recommended. It was rough reading about all the victims of Agent Orange and the struggles endured during and since the war. Seeing some of the U.S. fighter planes was neat. What can I say, i'm a fan of aircraft.  Its tough being an American and having to face all the awfulness. There was even a book for people to write freely in. As i flipped through the pages there was some good, some comforting, and some hatred. Things like, "America burn in hell," just felt like a slap in the face...even for someone born a decade after the fact.

It was a unanimous decision that we would spend very little time in Saigon.

Rach on the cyclo!
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We also took a spin around the infamous cyclos! Bad idea. We settled on payment before boarding the bikes of doom. Not only did I almost get hit by a bus...honestly. There wasn't much i could do. I just crunched into a ball (tucked my legs up, wrapped my arms around my head, got a visual? ok good) and thought, "damn this is going to hurt." Luckily the bus slammed on its brakes for us. After that i just wanted to get off. But to make matters worse, the guy starts hassling me when our ride was over. We payed them twice as much as we'd promised and they still were upset. While he was flailing his arms around like a madman, i just shoved the money in his palm and ran! Haha...jerk.

Me on the cyclo!
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Can't say I was to impressed with the city. I suppose it is just a popular starting/ending point for any vietnam trip. I heard the reunification palace is cool. We didn't get a chance to see it. Apparently, it was the government house before Saigon fell to the North. The palace was left exactly the way it was found back in 1975.

Anyways, check out the city if you don't mind hustling, honking, and just a little bit of mayhem. ;)