JO Chi Minh City

First day in Vietnam... let the walking, the sore & blistered feet and the jet lag begin!

Today I explored...

I have to admit, from the moment I woke up, life was a bit daunting... as one might expect it to be when you wake up in a foreign country and you don't speak the language... and you're all alone.

But... it's go time!

I organized my belongings in the hotel room, got myself prepped for the day (or part of it anyway) and headed out on to the streets.

I must have only made it about 15 metres down the sidewalk before it came time for my virginal crossing of the road.  And believe me... this is a big thing.

There are no street lights or traffic cops or stop signs (at least not many anyway!) - there is only chaos and a lot of it.  I took refuge with an older Australian couple.

As soon as I saw them, I scurried right up beside them and without shame, announced "I just got to Vietnam.  I've never been here before and this is my first cross walk, so I'm going to stick with you two. Hope you don't mind."

Very matter of fact.

I think that I caught them slightly off guard, but they both turned and looked right at me- surprisingly enough without that 'you're nuts' look in their eyes (unless thoroughly disguised), and the lady said "We all glob together like sticky rice and go!"

With that, we all took off in to the traffic, dodging and weaving between cars and mopeds and other pedestrians.  Surreal... yet safe.

Once that first time cross was taken care of and well under my belt, the rest of the day crossing the streets became a breeze and I can quite honestly say that I can now cross these roads like a bad ass mo-fo.

Don't believe me, just watch.

So, what did I do today?....
First off, I found the market.  Actually, I take that back....

Just a few of the culinary & vending delights of the day...

The Australians led me to the market, pointed at it and then set me loose.

This market, mere blocks from my hotel, is ENORMOUS and they have everything from fruit, veggies & coffee, to chopsticks & rice paper magnets, to knock off high-end purses & silk shirts, to intestines, fish guts & live frogs to... to... everything... and then more stuff that you couldn't even imagine would be there if you were paid to imagine it would be there.  Seriously.

Walking through and trying to take it all in, while clutching my belongings, listening to;

Looky look! 

I have something for you. 

Lady! Lady! Lady! 

You must have kind with me and buy! 

Do me favour and lady look!

I didn't really want to buy anything, as it was my first day in Vietnam and anything I buy today gets hauled around with every single day until I fly out...
But I did get suckered in to some cool chopsticks and colourful little change purses.  Christmas done.

The smells are similar to Ecuador... almost a cross between rotten veggies, rotten meat, exhaust, garbage, soup, diesel, fried pork... and dirty... yet with this almost sweet odour lingering... it's enough to jump start the senses...

Things I've noticed so far in Vietnam;

1. The 3-story KFC that seems empty all the time.  Why 3 stories?  Who needs that?
2. The extensive use of the 'outdoor' free exercise park equipment.  People love it! :-)
3. Full 2 piece women's patterned outfits.  Usually the same gaudy & bright pattern for top and bottom.  Sometimes 2 completely different gaudy & bright patterns.
4. There is a LOT of garbage.

I spent a large part of the day exploring the Independence Palace and learning about the beginnings of Ho Chi Minh City and the rise & fall of President Diem.  It was really interesting and just as I was about to head over to the War Museum, I was hit with another bout of 'go to sleep now.'

Back to the hotel for a nap.

War Museum will have to wait.  Although, I might add, the Independence Palace did have a few old Vietnamese tanks outside in the garden and there were a group of girls wearing slightly too tight items of clothing and doing the hand-on-hip sexy, 'look away' poses in front of them.

It was strange.
Here's my sexy tank photo.  Hot.

I have booked the Floating Market Tour for tomorrow.  They are (fingers crossed) picking me up at my hotel at 7:30am.  I like to say 'fingers crossed' because who honestly knows.  Maybe when I booked, I agreed to be picked up down by the river?  No idea.
Time will tell.

After my nap on the hardest bed on the planet... no joke... this bed puts 1990's Futons to shame... after this, I headed out to the Street Food Market.

Guess what was waiting there for me when I arrived?  Salad rolls and peanut sauce!  My first peanut sauce of the trip.  It wasn't exactly the North American version that I've come to love and adore... but definitely not turn-down-able...

Nothing says delicious like the SHRIM ROLL
That's what I say, anyway.

I just had such a difficult time trying to choose between the Mushroom roll and the Shrim Roll...  shrimp seems to be a staple of this trip.
Shrim too :-)

My McDonald's
substitution

At one point during the day, I suddenly got it in my head that I wanted an ice cream cone.  It's hot and muggy here.  Don't judge.

BUT... at that exact moment, right where I was standing, there were two options in front of me.  McDonald's was on one side of the building I was standing in front of, advertising their soft serve cones... and the Postal Cafe Bar was on the other side.  

It was like a real life choose your own adventure book...

Life time achievement of the day: Saving the planet from McDonald's one cocktail at a time.

One more mention.  There is a dead cockroach in my hotel room.
Now... spending a year in Ecuador served to desensitize my disgust of these creatures, but now I'm left to wonder, why did he die in my room?
Unnerving...