Alissa Dawson
The first day we felt great, no real 'jet-lag' or exhaustion. We wandered around the city and, as Forrest mentioned, we went to the huge market in town. Upon arrival, a young man outside of the building took our photograph because, you know, we just looked that damn good. I must say, I have never had so many sales people graze my arms or pull me towards their products before. One woman didn't even show me anything or speak, she just touched my arm. When entering through a side exit of the market a relatively large rat ran out from underneath one of the tables and scampered across several peoples feet. It was entertaining but Forrest kept pulling me towards it making it that much more terrifying. If you ask him, he will tell you the rat was "cute."
I was warned plenty that I would stick out here, so none of this is truly shocking, it's just fascinating to experience. We were at a bar and a waiter exclaimed that my nose was so...he didn't quite have the word for it but I thought he wanted to say "pointy." Indeed he did! He even had me write it on his hand to practice the word. He was very kind and complimentary but these experiences are still very interesting nevertheless. "Lon Don" told us that he practices English every day and strictly requests guests to his house speak English with him as well.
He mentioned that he has dreams of living in San Francisco just as a group of young boys rollerblade down the busy street (which appears to Westerners as almost certain death.) The driving rules here--non-existant. Check out the video to see the plethora of motorbikes on a day to day basis. They ride through the alley ways, all over the side-walks, and most importantly, they follow no rules, at least, none that I can make out.
The second day we did in fact take a nap. A nap that turned into a 17 hour coma...for one of us. Forrest fails to mention that I was absolutely unable to sleep from 1am until 5am. The jet-lag began to kick in then, and again the next night keeping both of us up from around 2am-6am. Today we woke up and took a Vietnamese cooking class. It was just the two of us and the two instructors took us to the local, off-the-grid market. It was full of anything imaginable; skinned, headless frogs, jumping fish, live eel, barrels of shrimp, whole chickens, baskets full of fresh garlic...you name it. It was mesmerizing. The instructors told us that the people wake up every morning and shop (the women do the shopping and the men wait on their motorbikes.) The meal we prepared was wonderfully delicious and the two instructors couldn't have been more kind.
Most things are ridiculously cheap here. 10$ for a full meal for two, 4$ for a pedicure, 5$ for a massage, .50¢ for a bottle of water...but the water puppet show...priceless. (In actuality I believe it was 16$ for the both of us.) Even though the 50 minute show is in Vietnamese, the humor and personalities still shine through. More captivating is trying to imagine how the show is being performed under the water...we still don't know.
The first day we felt great, no real 'jet-lag' or exhaustion. We wandered around the city and, as Forrest mentioned, we went to the huge market in town. Upon arrival, a young man outside of the building took our photograph because, you know, we just looked that damn good. I must say, I have never had so many sales people graze my arms or pull me towards their products before. One woman didn't even show me anything or speak, she just touched my arm. When entering through a side exit of the market a relatively large rat ran out from underneath one of the tables and scampered across several peoples feet. It was entertaining but Forrest kept pulling me towards it making it that much more terrifying. If you ask him, he will tell you the rat was "cute."
I was warned plenty that I would stick out here, so none of this is truly shocking, it's just fascinating to experience. We were at a bar and a waiter exclaimed that my nose was so...he didn't quite have the word for it but I thought he wanted to say "pointy." Indeed he did! He even had me write it on his hand to practice the word. He was very kind and complimentary but these experiences are still very interesting nevertheless. "Lon Don" told us that he practices English every day and strictly requests guests to his house speak English with him as well.
He mentioned that he has dreams of living in San Francisco just as a group of young boys rollerblade down the busy street (which appears to Westerners as almost certain death.) The driving rules here--non-existant. Check out the video to see the plethora of motorbikes on a day to day basis. They ride through the alley ways, all over the side-walks, and most importantly, they follow no rules, at least, none that I can make out.
The second day we did in fact take a nap. A nap that turned into a 17 hour coma...for one of us. Forrest fails to mention that I was absolutely unable to sleep from 1am until 5am. The jet-lag began to kick in then, and again the next night keeping both of us up from around 2am-6am. Today we woke up and took a Vietnamese cooking class. It was just the two of us and the two instructors took us to the local, off-the-grid market. It was full of anything imaginable; skinned, headless frogs, jumping fish, live eel, barrels of shrimp, whole chickens, baskets full of fresh garlic...you name it. It was mesmerizing. The instructors told us that the people wake up every morning and shop (the women do the shopping and the men wait on their motorbikes.) The meal we prepared was wonderfully delicious and the two instructors couldn't have been more kind.
Most things are ridiculously cheap here. 10$ for a full meal for two, 4$ for a pedicure, 5$ for a massage, .50¢ for a bottle of water...but the water puppet show...priceless. (In actuality I believe it was 16$ for the both of us.) Even though the 50 minute show is in Vietnamese, the humor and personalities still shine through. More captivating is trying to imagine how the show is being performed under the water...we still don't know.
A glimpse of vietnam : Ho chi minh city
- Forrest McGuire
- SNAPSHOT...
- Where we stayed: NgocThao Guestouse, District 1, Ho Chi Minh
- What we visited: Markets, War Museum, Local Bars
- What we ate: Pho, goi cuon (rice paper shrimp rolls), Banh Bao (pork bun)
- Highlights: War Museum & 17 hour coma
We arrived at the Ho Chi Minh airport around 10:30pm after 19 hours of flying; excited, but exhausted, and ready to check in to our hostel. We took a taxi from the airport directly to our hostel for about 250,000 VND ($12 USD) and arrived to a small alleyway where our hostel was located. The NgocThao Guesthouse was about $9/night for each of us to stay in 1 bedroom with a queen bed. We took melatonin as soon as we showered and got ready for bed in order to get acclimated to the time change by going to bed and waking up at a decent hour. In the morning we were given a free breakfast by the guesthouse of eggs, bread and quick ramen noodles. Once breakfast was over we began our adventures around the city. Our first stop was the massive market in the center of town. We looked around for thirty minutes at the heaps of clothes, souvenirs, and food they had available-- all for very cheap prices. We wandering around the city in search of the War Museum and were approached by a pair of Cyclo drivers (basically just a three wheeled peddle taxi) and they offered to take us to the museum for very cheap.
We were dropped off and told they would wait for us, so we went inside and checked out what the museum had to offer. The museum was dedicated to the Vietnam War, who was affected by it, and how it changed their lives. The museum offers a glimpse into the war, how it started, and why it lasted so long. The most impactful piece of the museum is the exhibit on the Agent Orange victims-- those exposed to the chemical warfare by the US forces. It honestly amazes me how people who went through such horrible atrocities can still be so happy and forgiving even though the effects of this chemical will be seen for generations to come. They had a section of the museum where today's Agent Orange victims make souvenirs to sell and play instruments while overcoming the hardships they face every day because of what happened over 50 years ago.
As we exited the museum, the Cyclo drivers were waiting to take us to our next destination, we were dropped off just a few blocks away at the Palace of Reunification and ended up getting charged about 500,000 vnd ($20) for our tour around the city. I was furious at first but later felt at ease since we had a blast riding around the city on the Cyclos. We ate at Ngon restaurant right beside the reunification palace, and we shared an appetizer and two well portioned meals for a grand total of 150,000 vnd ($7!!). We walked back to our hostel and decided to look at our pictures from the day and take a quick nap before going out at night. However, we ended up taking a 7 hour nap. We then decided it was too late so we stayed in all night and ended up sleeping from 2:00pm until 7:00am!
JetLag, Rats, and an absurd amount of motorbikes
Alissa Dawson
The first day we felt great, no real 'jet-lag' or exhaustion. We wandered around the city and, as Forrest mentioned, we went to the huge market in town. Upon arrival, a young man outside of the building took our photograph because, you know, we just looked that damn good. I must say, I have never had so many sales people graze my arms or pull me towards their products before. One woman didn't even show me anything or speak, she just touched my arm. When entering through a side exit of the market a relatively large rat ran out from underneath one of the tables and scampered across several peoples feet. It was entertaining but Forrest kept pulling me towards it making it that much more terrifying. If you ask him, he will tell you the rat was "cute."
I was warned plenty that I would stick out here, so none of this is truly shocking, it's just fascinating to experience. We were at a bar and a waiter exclaimed that my nose was so...he didn't quite have the word for it but I thought he wanted to say "pointy." Indeed he did! He even had me write it on his hand to practice the word. He was very kind and complimentary but these experiences are still very interesting nevertheless. "Lon Don" told us that he practices English every day and strictly requests guests to his house speak English with him as well.
He mentioned that he has dreams of living in San Francisco just as a group of young boys rollerblade down the busy street (which appears to Westerners as almost certain death.) The driving rules here--non-existant. Check out the video to see the plethora of motorbikes on a day to day basis. They ride through the alley ways, all over the side-walks, and most importantly, they follow no rules, at least, none that I can make out.
The second day we did in fact take a nap. A nap that turned into a 17 hour coma...for one of us. Forrest fails to mention that I was absolutely unable to sleep from 1am until 5am. The jet-lag began to kick in then, and again the next night keeping both of us up from around 2am-6am. Today we woke up and took a Vietnamese cooking class. It was just the two of us and the two instructors took us to the local, off-the-grid market. It was full of anything imaginable; skinned, headless frogs, jumping fish, live eel, barrels of shrimp, whole chickens, baskets full of fresh garlic...you name it. It was mesmerizing. The instructors told us that the people wake up every morning and shop (the women do the shopping and the men wait on their motorbikes.) The meal we prepared was wonderfully delicious and the two instructors couldn't have been more kind.
Most things are ridiculously cheap here. 10$ for a full meal for two, 4$ for a pedicure, 5$ for a massage, .50¢ for a bottle of water...but the water puppet show...priceless. (In actuality I believe it was 16$ for the both of us.) Even though the 50 minute show is in Vietnamese, the humor and personalities still shine through. More captivating is trying to imagine how the show is being performed under the water...we still don't know.
The first day we felt great, no real 'jet-lag' or exhaustion. We wandered around the city and, as Forrest mentioned, we went to the huge market in town. Upon arrival, a young man outside of the building took our photograph because, you know, we just looked that damn good. I must say, I have never had so many sales people graze my arms or pull me towards their products before. One woman didn't even show me anything or speak, she just touched my arm. When entering through a side exit of the market a relatively large rat ran out from underneath one of the tables and scampered across several peoples feet. It was entertaining but Forrest kept pulling me towards it making it that much more terrifying. If you ask him, he will tell you the rat was "cute."
I was warned plenty that I would stick out here, so none of this is truly shocking, it's just fascinating to experience. We were at a bar and a waiter exclaimed that my nose was so...he didn't quite have the word for it but I thought he wanted to say "pointy." Indeed he did! He even had me write it on his hand to practice the word. He was very kind and complimentary but these experiences are still very interesting nevertheless. "Lon Don" told us that he practices English every day and strictly requests guests to his house speak English with him as well.
He mentioned that he has dreams of living in San Francisco just as a group of young boys rollerblade down the busy street (which appears to Westerners as almost certain death.) The driving rules here--non-existant. Check out the video to see the plethora of motorbikes on a day to day basis. They ride through the alley ways, all over the side-walks, and most importantly, they follow no rules, at least, none that I can make out.
The second day we did in fact take a nap. A nap that turned into a 17 hour coma...for one of us. Forrest fails to mention that I was absolutely unable to sleep from 1am until 5am. The jet-lag began to kick in then, and again the next night keeping both of us up from around 2am-6am. Today we woke up and took a Vietnamese cooking class. It was just the two of us and the two instructors took us to the local, off-the-grid market. It was full of anything imaginable; skinned, headless frogs, jumping fish, live eel, barrels of shrimp, whole chickens, baskets full of fresh garlic...you name it. It was mesmerizing. The instructors told us that the people wake up every morning and shop (the women do the shopping and the men wait on their motorbikes.) The meal we prepared was wonderfully delicious and the two instructors couldn't have been more kind.
Most things are ridiculously cheap here. 10$ for a full meal for two, 4$ for a pedicure, 5$ for a massage, .50¢ for a bottle of water...but the water puppet show...priceless. (In actuality I believe it was 16$ for the both of us.) Even though the 50 minute show is in Vietnamese, the humor and personalities still shine through. More captivating is trying to imagine how the show is being performed under the water...we still don't know.