That feeling has proven to be true. I really like this place a lot.
My first day was great! I hung out with sweet fellow travelers, walked the awesome streets and alleys, jammed with some local kids and old people, and even got to spend some time with a former Colonel in the North Vietnamese Army!
It pretty much started good right away. After sharing a cab with two Israeli-Americans, Ben and Ricky, I get turned away from one hotel (good - got a bad vibe there anyway) and find a sweet place down a relatively quiet (for Vietnam, anyway! OK as I right this some major drilling activity starts. Vietnam is NEVER quiet, not where people live anyway) little alley in the center of the action.I go for a stroll, bump into Ben, and we sit down for some Pho - the traditional Vietnamese noodle soup, which I love! Ben and I shoot a few "Vietnam's Fledgling Tourism Industry Safety Videos" (I've shot a dozen now), including one about the ridiculously dangerous bundles of electric wires that seem to hang over you at all times in Saigon, and why this is actually a good thing.
We keep walking and I come across a stunning woman in a sundress. Oh my. I'm like, I have to talk to her. So I circle back. And she circles back. Hmmm...
I launch into some witty little comment relating to the video I just shot, and without missing a beat she responds with an equal measure of whit. The Brits are great like that.
Then she asks me my name and says, "Got time for a drink?"
"Uh, yes. Yes I do." Even though I don't really drink and it's like 1pm.
In any case me and Ben and sundress girl skip the drink and go for a walk. We come across a high school gym class getting tested on their badminton skills. It's just as pointless as the gym class you remember, except it was badminton instead of pull ups (which I fucking sucked at. Got to retake that test now! Oh Krouzman...).
In any case, I hop in and say, "Can I try?!"
They're stoked! I'm about to hit the little shuttlecock (LOL) when the main Frau Farbisana gym teacher with the red whistle comes over and waves me off :-( Former Viet Cong for sure. Well she would have had to have been 2 years old, but you get the point. I think. OK so not everyone in Saigon is warm.
But many people are! We keep strolling. I lose the girl. I'm pissed. Ah fuck it. Ben and I sit on normal sized people chairs (wow!) and drink cokes from a bottle (with a straw, as they are all rusty here - hmmmm...) as we watch the world go by.
Then it's peace out Ben, and I go to a park, and...my god...these people are from San Francisco or New York! I mean they're not. But they might as well be. An old man who looks like Ho Chi Mihn / Colonel Sanders is playing the Mandolin, another is playing violin and guitar, and lots of young people are gathered round watching and singing.
As soon as Ho see me, he says, "Hello! Where are you from?!" That's the standard greeting to Westerners here, whether you really want to get to know them, just practice some English, or harass them to buy something.
I take the chance and head over and we talk and he's great. But right away he stops playing the Vietnamese music he was playing (and people were diggin'), and asks me if I want to sing a song. Uh, OK! A bit embarrassed I hobble over and sit.
And then he starts to play the Star Spangled Banner, and makes me sing with him, and I do, and it's quite embarrassing and strange and also fun! Then we keep jammin' and everyone's great, talking to me (when they can) and singing Vietnamese songs.
After that, I stroll Saigon some more, and I love it. Millions of people on motorbikes, like swarms, in a very modern, open, warm city.
I hop on the back of a motorbike and get off at a square at a tip of a park, just near a major traffic circle (sort of like Central Park meets Columbus Circle). People are everywhere, including a few dozen doing...aerobics! It was so fun in Thailand, and I couldn't resist, so I joined in, much to the delight of the Vietnamese onlookers!After 10 minutes on the humid heat, I took a seat next to an old Vietnamese man. He turns to me, and in French, he asks me if I speak French. Yes, I say, and we speak in French for a good 30 minutes.
What a sweet, gentle man. Turns out he was in the North Vietnamese army for 30 years, fighting both the French and the Americans. He was a colonel of an anti-aircraft unit he said shot down 90 US planes. Wow - a walking piece of history.
He gave me his number and his address and invited me to come by sometime to talk some more. The few people who speak French in Vietnam are generally older people, and they seem to love to practice.
Later on I sat on a street side tiny little eatery / beer place. Just little plastic chairs and tables on the sidewalk, basically, in a busy part of town. I order a beer (!) and nurse it in the balmy night, eating peanuts and a delicious plate of beef and noodles. I strike up a conversation with the 4 French guys to my left. They were great, and I love speaking French! It's actually improved a ton since I arrive in this part of the world, as there are many French travelers.
Then back to my guest house, and out for a drink and dessert with Ben and Ricky. We sit next to a young German couple, and hit it off right away. That, and the bar is playing basically all our favorite songs from the late 80s and early 90s, including Guns and Roses. The German girl and I were singin' - and laughin' - it up!
A fun night, and great way to end my first long, rich day in Saigon!
Love,
Roni
ps - the women here are stunning. Just stunning.
1 comment:
Ha, why does the aerobics in the park pic remind me so much of the Filipino Inmates doing "Thriller" which circulated youtube incessantly? OF COURSE you're gonna join in: you just DON'T let opportunities like that pass ya by. :)
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