Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City

What a crazy, madcap, city this is. It’s such a  visceral place, talking about it will never do it justice, you have to be part of it to really understand the place and even then I don’t think most of the westerns who visit will get it anyway. It’s  a complete sensory overload, each and every step, every block you cover is exhausting, every street crossing enthralling or horrifying depending on whether you enjoy risk taking. Secretly I love it, the challenge of not getting hit every single time you cross a street is exhilarating! And there is always a blend of heady smells faintly observant on the breeze, a mix of  bbq pork, freshly brewed coffee, bike fumes, rotting food and a waft of sewerage every now and then. Told you it was an assault on the senses! It’s like you are constantly thinking to yourself, “yum”, “yuck”, “yum”, it does your head in a bit… and then there is the constant hilarious things I see that make me giggle at the craziness. Guy on a scooter trying to get across 6 lanes of traffic going the other way with a 42 inch LCD TV strapped to his seat behind him, or the guy putting sealant into a gap in an awning of a hotel, balancing on a stool, which is balancing on a slightly bigger stool being held in place by a guy who is then  balancing up on a jutting concrete ledge about 2 metres up in the air…. Nearly got a photo but missed by seconds…there is no risk not worth taking around here….

I had a few little jobs to do this morning, pick up my new pair of prescription glasses that I chose and ordered yesterday: $70, get my teeth checked and cleaned and polished at the dentist: $17, jobs done. Then it was off to wander through the 3 glitzy, air conditioned shopping centres with all the designer brands and bored looking shop assistants standing around. If there is one thing the city doesn’t need is any more shop assistants, there are probably triple the amount in every shop compared to similar places in Australia. They spend the majority of the time sitting on stools playing with their phones or chatting. Fun thing to do No. 1: pick up a shoe, handbag or anything else, have a look at it, put it back down and walk away. Within seconds one of the many shop assistants discreetly walks over and carefully adjusts the item to exactly the way it was before, turned slightly this way or that with the label facing out. I’m just giving them something to do, its not mean I promise!

I walked about 6km’s this morning, so hot and sweaty by the time I walked up the 90 stairs to my hotel room after being in 35 degree heat most of the morning! And now it’s absolutely bucketing down, at 2pm, early onset of monsoon weather maybe. But in reality there was a breeze for the majority of my walk and there are so many tree lined streets around the area I wandered, it’s a lovely part of the city. I could hear birds or cicadas buzzing in the trees, either that or it was the humming sound of thousands of  street slung phone cables!

 

And everywhere you go, every corner, every alleyway, every space, there is someone willing to sell something to someone, they have the service industry sorted over here I tell you! Pull up your scooter and pass the cobbler your shoes to be re-soled, lean off your scooter at the lights and buy an ice coffee, or bag of fruit cut up and presented in a plastic ba with a skewer to eat on the go. For the last hour of my walk it was lunch time so there were bikes and cars parked everywhere on the footpaths, even more than usual for those who have experienced it, and people sitting around in cafes or on the footpath at temporary little street cafes having lunch, they probably all thought I was mad wandering slowly past with my umbrella up, looking up and around me, checking out the buildings, people, traffic and trees. Only a mad foreigner would walk at this time of day! An older women went past at a slow, steady jog, swinging her shop on her shoulder, on one end a heavy pot of liquid, on the other jugs of pre made black coffee, juice and other odds and sods, it looked so heavy, if she didn’t keep up the brisk pace I reckon she would collapse. 

Had my first bowl of Pho for lunch today, along with a fresh lime juice and iced coffee, ah bliss! I’m going to a little corner hole in the wall restaurant for dinner tonight, just down the street from my hotel, it crams in 15 people with gaps of mere centimetres between the tables and they spill out on the street corner. Has a tiny little space that they use as a kitchen, and there is no menu, the choice is pho, pho or pho, its what they are known for and what people turn up for, westerners and locals alike. 

Tomorrow morning I get on a bus at 6.15am and I’m off on a 6 hour bus trip up to Phnom Penh, my first time to Cambodia. Very much looking forward to experiencing a new place, I love Ho Chi Minh city but I’m keen to see a new place.