From Saigon, Vietnam—Nice to be back (Thursday, 26 June, 2008: 6pm)

It felt nice to be back in Saigon this morning. Not only is it familiar and we know our way around this area (we are in the same hotel as before), but the people here seem so much more easy-going and ‘cruisy’ than in the other cities we visited. Though Seth and I do make an effort to keep away from the overly touristy parts of Saigon, in the areas we explore people don’t chase us down trying to get us to fork over our business. No one is trying to pretend to be happy to see us and no one attempting to lure us into their shops. People are more openly quirky and good-natured towards us, not because they necessarily want our money.

Seth running in Saigon (in the road with the traffic)

Our hotel in Saigon

Here are a few overall observations from the trip:

Saigon, Hanoi, and Driving:
The driving is a big indication of the laid-back nature of Saigon—though the roads are more densely packed with motorbikes than the other cities (even Hanoi), the drivers are so smooth and keep the traffic flowing so effortlessly that the chaos is kept to a minimum. What’s more is that despite the mayhem, and owing to the fact that it is quite easy to watch people’s faces as they drive by, I have never seen any indications of road rage. In Hanoi, drivers appear frantic and aggressive, and in Hue motorbikes would hesitate and seem clumsy when crossing through traffic—their expressions sometimes revealed their panic. Crossing the streets in Hanoi was more frightening than in Saigon (where drivers could easily read the pedestrians’ movements and flow around them), and it seemed at times that Hanoi-ites were actually trying to run us down.

It is strange that so many people love going to Hanoi, and many Australians never even venture south. Hanoi has such the reputation of being the small, modest town developed and toughened by hardship, but I’d say that Saigon is more relaxed yet rugged and scrappy, and Hanoi is showy, western, and superficial. Also, in Saigon the food is so much nicer and the bakeries more delicious and plentiful!!

Smoking:
It is everywhere. Like public urination, smoking is so widespread amongst males that I am almost surprised that it is not allowed on aircrafts. The doorman/security guard at our hotel in Saigon always has a cigarette in his hand, and street vendors selling your next meal will lean over their pans with a half-smoked cigarette hanging between their lips, dripping ash into your rice, or banh xeo, or bread, or fruit. When Seth and I ordered clothes at the tailor in Hoi An, a runner pulled up in a motorbike with a pile of clothes in his lap. When he dismounted, his cigarette dropped some ash onto a black pair of pants sewn just moments before. He just wiped it off and handed it over. For some reason all this smoking—even around food—doesn’t offend me, not like it does when the little kids in the internet café let their cigarettes smolder right next to me, which makes me feel ill.

Cigarette ash makes noodles taste good

'Massage' and 'Hair' Parlours:
Massage parlours are very common, yet I don't know where a person would go in order to get an actual massage. If you peer into a massage or hair parlour in Vietnam you will find something far removed from a ‘typical’ massage parlour in the US. However, they are no different from what you would joke about (we all know of at least one windowless, back alley ‘massage parlour’) or would expect to find in a developing country that relies so much on tourism. Large glass windows let passersby watch flocks of young, attractive girls lounging around on giant, plush couches, reading magazines or drinking coffee. These girls have brightly painted faces and wear uniform dresses that seem to be too tight and short to provide very thorough massages. When I walk by the parlours during the day they are usually empty, except for all the girls, of course, but every so often you can see a young man inside getting his hair cut—however, I am not sure what the girls do because there is usually one hair cutter, almost always male, and all the girls just continue to lounge. These 'masseuses' seem to have fantastic jobs, and I would love to be paid to hang out all day with other working girls, look pretty, watch people walk by, and sit on cushy sofas while drinking tea and reading. The street our hotel is on seems to be a hot spot for these hair parlours—there are 5 or 6 on the block. Maybe I should apply for a job...

Tourism is good and bad, but mostly it is just annoying. It seems that a good portion of Vietnamese' incomes rely on tourism, directly or indirectly. Some occupations, like perhaps xe om drivers, probably don’t get more than a few sales a week, so they fight and struggle to rope in as many tourists as possible so they can feed their families. This leads to the average tourist walking down the street having to, at best, shake their head at countless xe om drivers’ calls of ‘ride?,’ ‘motorbike?,’ or ‘where you going?’; or worse, having to ignore or argue with a very persistent driver who would follow the tourist for several minutes, trying to convince them they actually do want a ride. It is not uncommon for a seller to thrust something into a tourist’s hands and say ‘now you give me twenty thousand’ then refuse to take the item back and only accept cash. Vietnamese salesmen are also not afraid of physical contact—grabbing at shirt sleeves or slapping the backs of shoulders—while trying to get attention (this is especially aggravating because it is harder to ignore and usually leads to the tourist, particularly me, flipping out).

I have found that in places where there are more tourists, like Sapa and Halong Bay, the English spoken by the locals is much better, the education level seems to be lower (compared to the bigger cities), and the vendors seem to be much more numerous and aggressive. Saigon is a good example: as a whole, the ratio of locals to tourists is lower than in other cities we visited. The education seems to be a bit higher (more school students, professionals, etc), yet it is hard to find someone who speaks much English. In addition, when walking down the street, I rarely get bombarded by vendors, and in fact, I sometimes have to actively seek out people to help me or I would need to wait for a few minutes if I want to buy something. *This, of course, all goes out the window when walking through the city’s tourist hot spots, such as the Central Market.

Busy, touristy, Central Market (Saigon)

In areas with greater tourism, it sadly becomes impossible to trust anyone. Everyone you meet or come across wants you to buy something. Taxi drivers will, in many cases (it is hard to estimate, but I’d say at least 50% of the time), try to confuse the passenger and drive longer routes in order to get more money, or tamper with the meter so it clicks by faster. Many Vietnamese also love earning commission from you without you knowing. In one situation in Hue, Seth and I were walking from our hotel, and it was past lunch time and we were hungry. A woman appeared right across the street and asked us if we needed help. I knew right away she wanted something but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured it wouldn’t hurt to get her opinion about a good place to eat. She got super excited and said we needed to try the local dish, Cao lau, and said after lunch we ought to visit her clothing shop next door. The shop was not the only thing she was trying to sell: as she lured us in the direction of a Cao lau stand, we saw her rush ahead to the woman cooking and say something to her. I knew right away she was telling the Cao lau woman she was responsible for bringing us in, and I am sure she would have gotten commission. We turned around and heard our ‘guide’ shouting after us as we looked for someplace else to eat. I should have known it was impossible to get an honest opinion from anyone: the day before we asked the hotel staff where a good place for lunch would be, and they refused to suggest any place other than the crappy hotel restaurant. Taxis and tour-group drivers also drop you off at places where they can get commission. Taxis will take people to hotels (whether or not the traveler already has reservations elsewhere), and tour buses always make unnecessarily frequent and long ‘pit stops’ at sterile, overpriced pottery warehouses, where they waste the passenger’s time, yet they get some sort of perk for making the stop. As a traveler, this all makes me feel like I can’t trust a single person, and it seems that everyone is working together to get money out of me. I suppose the tourism has reduced the number of beggars and pick-pockets, which of course is very very good, but in exchange people are much craftier and you can’t get around without getting conned out of money. (I don’t mind if prices are blatantly higher for westerners than they are for locals, but I don’t like the feeling of being cheated—it is just as bad as being pick-pocketed).

Obviously, not everyone is trying to cheat travellers; it is mostly in large tourist destinations where it is particularly bad. Clearly, we had met many honest people throughout the country, but it is easy to get annoyed when you are surrounded by westerners who actually seem to enjoy all the attention locals give to potential consumers. For example, the several Australians I know who have been to Sapa couldn’t get enough of the annoying girls who would call them by name and follow them around all day.

Waiting outside our hotel (to try to sell us stuff)...

Food:
Basically, why in the world would a person want to go to Vietnam (or any foreign country) and not want to try the local food? For Seth and me, Vietnam was perfect for trying new and unusual dishes and treats because it was all so inexpensive. If it were more pricey, it would have been harder to eat out and experiment for every meal, so on this trip we took full advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the cuisine. Eating with the locals is great for several reasons:
1) Great experiences with local people: even if the person you are sitting next to doesn't speak English, there is still a basic human understanding between you as you are both eating a meal together.
2) Few Westerners: why go to an Asian country if the people you care to be surrounded by are just like you?
3) Fantastic food: especially at road-side stalls, there are usually only one or two dishes to choose from, so the food is probably that person's specialty. Also, the service will almost certainly be quick because the food is pre-made and only needs to be dispensed from a giant pot.
4) Cheap: if you eat with the locals you usually pay what they pay. A typical meal costs from $0.75 to $1.25. At restaurants that cater to westerners meals start at about $4 (still relatively cheap, but much more expensive and not nearly as high quality food).

Lots of travellers, like my folks, are afraid of eating on the side of the road with the locals because they are afraid it will be dirty. All I can say is that it can be just as dirty inside a fancy restaurant, and despite all the 'risky' foods Seth and I ate over nearly a month (we never held back, except that I don't like to eat animal organs), we never got sick or queasy once.

We had to convince my parents to eat at this shop in Saigon. They were hesitant at first but later agreed it was a great meal! *Notice the mini plastic tables and stools. They are standards of any great outdoor eatery*