Seeking Shelter in Saigon

The day finally arrived on Thursday.  A  one hour flight to Chicago, a 14 hour flight to Tokyo, and a 5 hour flight to Saigon.  I know that may sound long...and it is.  We didn't sleep much on the Tokyo flight, but we did get to find out how bad the new Fantastic Four movie is.  But we both passed out on the Saigon flight, which was good.  Around 10:15pm on Friday night, we arrived in Saigon.

The first thing you notice about Saigon is motorbikes (mostly mopeds but some motorcycles).  They are everywhere.  No, really.  It was raining when we got in, but that doesn't slow them down at all.  And forget about any traffic laws...I've seen maybe three traffic lights in the entire city, and they are mostly ignored.  When you go into an intersection, just honk your little horn and get to the spot first.  One way street...no problem.   Amazingly, we have yet to see an accident.   It truly is remarkable.  And the moped is solid family transportation here.  In America, car seats are mandatory.  Here, put your three year old on a moped (and maybe a couple other people too) and head on down the road!  I suggested renting a couple, but Casey put the kaibosh on that idea.  She's probably right.

I think he ripped us off, but it was worth $2 not to walk in the rain.

So far, the trip really has gone fairly smoothly.  The hotel is solid, if not fancy.  It has A/C...trust us when we say that is important.  The staff is helpful.  We are on an alley, so traffic noise isn't very bad.  The minibar has beer for about 8,000 dong and water for about 5,000 dong.  That's $0.70 and $0.50 to you and me.

We started out early on Saturday with breakfast next to the hotel.  I (Steve) went traditional and had pho (hot beef & noodle soup) while Casey had a ham and cheese sandwich.  She was jealous.  We then went out for a wander.  I thought we were headed in the attraction area, but I was reading the map wrong.  We actually ended up in a more residential area.  As you might imagine, Casey attracts stares here since she is about a foot taller than the average Vietnamese woman and much taller than the men as well.  As we were walking through a market area, locals were openly pointing and laughing.  Fortunately, Casey's a trooper and used to such attention.  In the market area, we saw some tasty looking food (lots of prawns, shellfish, and fresh fruit) and some nasty stuff as well (grubs).  Eventually, we found our way to the more commercial part of town and checked out the Notre Dame cathedral and the Post Office, which was designed by Eiffel, as in tower. We also found a good coffee shop (very important) and had lunch at a Russian/Vietnamese restaurant.  Casey was very excited because she could read the Russian part of the menu.  The food was solid, and we downed it with a couple Tiger beers.

Last night we decided to check out the rooftop bar at the Rex Hotel.  This place was built in the 50s and was where US officers and much of the press corps stayed during the war.  We had a great view on the rail, but then it started to rain.  So we moved under the cover (still open air on the rooftop) and decided to wait out the rain over a couple more beers.  The rain won, so we had dinner there and more Tiger beer.  Eventually, we met a Malaysian couple and talked with them a bit.  We caught a cab for the short trip back to the hotel since it was raining.  I think he ripped us off, but it was worth $2 not to walk in the rain.

Oh, and yes, it rains alot here.  And it is humid.  Think New Orleans in August.  That's OK...it's rainy season in Saigon but pretty dry everywhere else.

Today, we did a little more exploring including a walk along the riverfront.  Uh, I'm pretty sure Saigon is not known for its beautiful riverfront.  The highlight of the day, maybe the trip, was we decided to splurge on a one-hour massage each at a nice spa.  They gave us some mint tea first, then took us to a stylin' room with two massage tables.  I have no idea how such a little woman was able to work my back so well.  It was amazing.  That could become addictive.

That's it for me (Steve) right now.  Casey may have more to add later. I think we messed up the picture add option, but you can probably find a few in here somewhere. I promise to work on our formatting later.