Six Days Since Saigon (page 2)Friday - Misty actually got up before me and had to wake me up. We ate breakfast in the hotel (it was included with our room), with a couple from Grand Rapids Michigan. They were on their last day of a two week trip all through The country. He had been there on a ship during the war, and said that he never really got a chance to see the country. She wasn't doing so hot. They mentioned that she had had eaten something that didn't agree with her on the second or third day, so rarely made it out of their hotel room for very long. She did relate a funny story though about the Chu Chi tunnels, where "her nose was in someone's butt, and someone's nose was in her butt, and it was dark, and hot, and then she had a hot flash." I almost spit my soup out the way she told it. After breakfast we decided to walk to the Art Museum. There are a few photographs in the image gallery that show some of the pieces in there (mostly sculpture because it survives the elements a bit better). The rest of the collection there weren't really taken care of very well. Lots of moldy matt board and frames and sagging photos. No air conditioning and certainly no climate or humidity control. The museum is certainly worth the trip if only to visit two really cool galleries inside the museum complex. One was named Lac Hong, and the other was Blue Space. Both had recent paintings of Nguyen Thanh Binh. Misty and I are seriously contemplating the purchase of one of his originals. We bought a fake oil painting for $40, but there's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you lay your eyes on an original. The originals are substantially more expensive as you might imagine. After that we decided to walk from the museum to Cholon, to look through a few pagodas. Not a good idea, and not recommended in the Vietnamese sun for a couple of whities from Indiana. We ended up stopping after just a few blocks from the museum for a drink of water. We ended up ordering Orangina and waters and hanging out for 30-45 minutes or so just people watching. Even a few blocks off the main streets in Saigon you get a better feel for the way people live there day to day. We saw motorcycles laiden with everything from plate glass and whole doors, to sacks of rice, Coca-Cola, and FAMILIES of four. You name it, and the Vietnamese transport it on a motorcycle. There were even converted, motorized cyclos (three-wheelers) that take the place of trucks. We saw one drive by with steel girders strapped down and bouncing along headed to one of the many construction sites around the city. When we first sat down at the cafe we were offered some greenish, clear liquid. it was cool, but we weren't sure what to do with it so we just pretended like it wasn't there and they eventually removed it. We guessed that it was either iced, green tea or a cleaning solution of some sort in which to dip your fingers (almost everywhere we went a food order was accompanied by a chilled, white washcloth to clean your face and hands before eating). So the attempted walk to Cholon was hot, to say the very least. We ended up hailing a cab back to the Hotel after about 45 minutes, the trip to Cholon a wash. It really looked much closer on the map. After we did the nap/shower/hydrating thing we headed out to explore and get dinner. We walked to a place named Bibi's on Thai Van Lung, in District 1. It was by far the most expensive meal we've eaten in a long time. But there's an old adage that holds very true. You get what you pay for. Misty's duck bacon tagliatelle was delicious, and my salmon tagliatelle wasn't far behind. Well worth it if you'd like to splurge at least once while visiting Saigon. We ended up drinking 5 litres of water that day, and still felt thirsty when we went to sleep that night. |