Vietnam, and more specifically ho chi minh city, kicks ass - but i will start from the beginning. I landed in the airport and realized i didn't have my ticket w/ me that proved I was going to be leaving the country, but wtvr, the customs guy didn't ask me for it so went right through w/ no problems. When i got outside there were literally thousands of ppl just sitting at the airport and i have no idea what the hell they were doing. after about 0.004 seconds, five or six cab drivers all ran up to me to grab my bag out of my hand. after narrowing it down to one i asked him how much it would be to my hotel, he said 700,00, i said 150,000, we agreed on 150,000 (i knew this was the price b/c i had looked it up online during my layover in darwin, australia for 2 hrs). The extreme bargaining that the vietnamese use would be a theme throughout the day. a little friendly bargaining is expected but i can never tell if the price they first offer is 5x the actual price (like it was for the cab ride), or if it's just slightly more. As a side-note, their currency is called Dong, which is obviously hilarious and needs no explanation, and the exchange rate is $1=18,900 dong. But everyone seems to want dollars over dong.
Anyways, i get in the cab with one other couple (they paid 250,000 for the same ride which obviously made me feel good) and as we're pulling out of the airport i ask the cab driver which side of the road they drive on (we were on a one way street pulling out so i couldn't tell yet), and he replied, mostly right but sometimes left - and he wasn't joking. the streets are absolutely incredible. the motorbikes outnumber the cars about 100-1 and there are no rules on the street other than try to stay right if you can. He told me that my hotel was a good deal, and i knew he was telling the truth b/c he told the other couple that their hotel sucked and was too expensive. When we finally get to my hotel it was around 10:30 and i decided to go out and get something to eat b/c i hadn't eaten since b-fast b/c i knew that once i got to vietnam food would be 1/5 the price so i saved up. but, i encountered a problem walking out of my hotel... i couldn't cross the street. I had no idea what to do. i stood at the corner for literally 10-12 minutes waiting for traffic to stop or even just slow down so i could run across, but it didn't. So i just kept standing at the corner. twice while i was standing at the corner, a woman driving a motorbike, with another younger woman sitting on the back of the motorbike, came up to me and said "fucky fucky?". I kept wondering why they say it 2x but either way, they were pretty aggressive and wouldn't leave me alone until i stepped into a store to get dinner. I had to step into a store on the same side of the street b/c i still hadn't figured out how to get across. Finally, after watching traffic for a few more minutes what i noticed was that ppl crossing the street would just walk across the street at a slow pace, not stopping, and motorbikes would just manage to avoid them so i decided to try. I started to cross the street and all i could think was - shit shit shit shit shit shit. I stopped once in the middle of the street b/c a guy was going to hit me, but he had clearly planned on me continuing to walk slowly and then swerving at the last second and he almost ran into me because i stopped and that threw him off. basically, after crossing a few streets, i realized that you have to just walk slowly, don't make any sudden movements, and essentially close your eyes and you will be fine. Without a doubt, crossing the street for the first time was one of the most exhilirating moments of my life.
this morning i woke up, showered, got dressed and then realized after 5 min outside that there was really no point in showering. the streets are incredibly dirty and it's so hot outside that everything you have is immediately damp. The heat wasn't as bad as i thought it would be, i think it was about 95-100 today but wtvr, it doesn't bother me so much and i'm just wearing a t-shirt so i'm not worried about ruining my clothes. i first walked to ben thanh market which is the big market in ho chi minh city. It is awesome. It is hundreds of little stores selling everything. Food (alive and dead), t-shirts, shoes, hats, etc. There is one main alley through the market but other than that, every alley is about 4 ft wide with stores on both sides of you and through certain aisles, women in the shops literally grab your arm and say "hey you, want t-shirt?" so at any point you could have as many as 3-4 women on your arm. The thing is, my arm is covered in sweat, as is theirs, so their hand kind of slips right off your arm. Also, in the food areas of the market, the smell from the restaurants and places selling fresh meat is so incredibly disgusting and strong (b/c the market is both inside and crowded) that u immediately lose your appetite. the bargaining, as i mentioned before, is quite confusing. I needed a nail clipper (since i forgot one and haven't cut my nails in 2 weeks, i'm sure you all wanted to know that) and so i asked how much it cost. The woman said 50,000 so i offered back 5,000 and then she refused to deal w/ me. But on other items like a hat I was looking at, the woman started at 500,000 and i offered back 100,000 and then she said 140,000, so clearly, i was well within the realm of reasonable bargaining. It's really unclear what % of the original offer i should offer and it varies greatly, or so it seems. Anyways, i bought a backpack for 290,000 (although i could've gotten it for 250,000 and i kept thinking about it all day).
I also went to the war museum and the people's palace in the afternoon and what i learned was, the vietnamese government didn't like being attacked by america. who knew? it seems like they're still pretty pissed though even though americans made up half the attendees in the museum. they had a bunch of american helicopters, tanks, warplanes on display and then some exhibits about how terrible america is/was and how much they've suffered.
things are really cheap, but a little more expensive than i thought. i needed a backpack b/c i was carrying everything for carry on in a plastic bag so i bought a north face backpack for $16 (this was a top of the line one, they had other ones for about half that price but i need one for school also so i figured this was a good thing to buy). main courses are about $2 and drinks are about $0.50. also, at least once every block i get stopped by motorbike drivers who ask me if i need a lift. i am tempted to try one just to see what it would be like to ride one and i don't think it'll cost more than $1. Overall in vietnam i am spending a similar amt that i spent in australia (not including cairns where i spent a lot of money) b/c i buy pretty much everything i see. I ate 2 breakfasts, 3 lunches and prob spend $5 on water/soda not to mention each museum here costs money (although only about $0.80 each) and my total dollar amt here is similar to australia. Even my hotel is roughly the same price (although here it's a nice hotel and in australia they were nasty hostels) but it is totally worth it. I am loving it here. It's a really fun and exciting city.
all in all, i am loving vietnam and i'm really sad i only have a week to spend here. I could easily spend most of that time in saigon alone. One last thing, this is the noisiest city i have ever been to and a side street is louder than times square at new years b/c of all the motorbikes. There is a constant roar in the city and it is really cool.
The pictures in order: power lines in ho chi minh, the main aisle in ben thanh market, me at independence palace, me at independence hall, random street (not a main road) in ho chi minh, guy at ben thanh market cutting up fish.
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