Moto's Galore!

Top Floor View from Reunification Palace
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My first experience with Saigon was a little tough. You try and not pass judgement on a new and foreign place at first glance but I could not get over the traffic and pollution from exhaust fumes off vehicles. The traffic is horrible, choking every street, alley, bridge, like a relentless grip. You can't go anywhere in this city to get away from the congestion of the busy traffic. It is 24hrs as this city never sleeps! And I thought Bangkok was bad with traffic. It put me in a very stressed and tense mood constantly. I never could relax as I thought my life would be taken constantly by a passing vehicle whether I was walking, on a moto, cyclo, or bus. The traffic comes at you at all angles making you feel trapped. It amazes me that people even get around in this city at all. I was told by a local that the number one reason for death in this country if traffic accidents. I did not question him at all on the matter.

So I tried my best to block the chaos of the traffic aside and dive into what the city has to offer. The first night I decided to get away from the streets and watch a movie at a coffee/brewery/theater/Restaurant. I very good decision on my part-both relaxing and a nice escape from moto drivers pestering me.

On my first day I hired a cyclo taxi driver that took me around to see three major historical sights. This was a great alternative to the smokey, polluting motos. It also makes for a slower more relaxing experience-although you still think you're going to be taken out by a passing car/moto. The first being The Reunification Palace massive in structure and history. This was the actual location on April 30, 1975 where communist tanks charged through the main gate with VC soldiers entering the Palace and taking power over from General Minh-who had become head of State only 43 hours before the major historical moment took place.

The next sight being the War Remanant's Museum which was both insightful and extremely depressing. It is unavoidable to not experience this museum as it is a vivid sight of documentation of the Vietnam War and the history of all the destruction it has caused. The photos that surround the main floor are unforgettable scenes. Photos of American/VC soldiers torturing Vietnamese people, victims of Ogent Orange with serious disformities, chemical warfare that we continue to use to this day-just in a different form- women, men, children, soldiers, crying in desperation, acres and acres of land charcoaled with Napalm.  It made me so sad and angry to think that after seeing such inhuman experiences that the war caused, that humans can continue down the same path with different legistlation. I thought to myself as I viewed each photograph, how many wars, how many innocent victims, how much bloodshed and violence will it take for humans to learn something for the better of humanity.

After feeling angry and bitter about seeing scenes of war I needed a little boost to pull myself out of the angry funk I was in. A perfect choice was the Vietnamese Fine Art Museum. Everytime I go into a Art Museum these days it makes me feel so alive. It always gives me a new found energy in art and it's creative process. From the finely crafted pottery/furniture, to the abstract, the Vietnamese Artists are very talanted in their medium of choice.

Unfortunately at the end of the trip I had a huge blow out with my Cyclo driver in regards to deciding on what I actually owed him. Apparently Cyclo rates are currently $3.75 an hour. Even after showing him the price we agreed on before I got into the Cyclo he saw things different. He became irrate, throwing up his arms in dis-apporval and started to yell at me. Things got really ugly real fast and to try and calm the situation I never yelled back or showed anger. I only showed my frustration with the fact that he agreed to a price that he ended up changing. I told him he was dishonest and unfair gave him more than I should've and walked back to my Room feeling aweful.

I know not all Cyclos taxi drivers are bad people but this put a dark cloud over my visit. After this experience and being pushed, pulled, pinched, and prodded by people trying to get my money I decided I had enough of the big city. The next morning I took a long scenic train ride to the Central coast of Phan Rang.