Saigon

We arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) late last night after a full day of travel by bus, boat and plane. Saigon is a busy metropolis with signs of a decent economy everywhere. There is a lot of building going on, and the streets are full of brand new scooters and well dressed people. It is hard to imagine most of Viet Nam was leveled in the 60's and early 70's by the Americans. There are still many lovely buildings from the days of French rule here,
and lovely parks where the trees are groomed into shapes...

A visit to the War Remnants Museum today was a stark reminder of the realities of war. I cried. It was difficult to see the horrific pictures of so many people killed and maimed - the brutality was inhuman, and it makes me so sad to be reminded of what human kind is capable of.

After we visited the museum, we walked awhile, and then overwhelmed by the heat (it is as hot and humid here as southern India), we decided to hire 2 rickshaws. They offered to drive us for "one dollar"...but when we arrived and I gave the man one dollar, he said, "no..,one zero dollar" By now, Nate Nate and I are onto all the tricks...so we simply said, "nice try", smiled, and gave him one dollar. And then, he had the nerve to ask if we wanted him to wait while we looked inside the cathedral so he could also take us to the market. Hmmmmm, let me think about that buddy...uh..NO!

Markets, as always are my favorite for they show the colour and craft of the local people (and lots of good food). Nate spent an hour analyzing a purchase he never actually made, and I resisted the urge to by a ruby ring. I bought a lovely sapphire ring in India, and ruby is the only of the precious stones I do not own....but, I resisted, and bought Nate some clothes instead. I have gotten quite good at negotiating - in fact, I have it down to an art. Negotiate a price, then ask for a better price if you buy more than one, then hesitate and say I better look around first, then after they have come down for a fourth time, start to walk away...that is when they generally chase you down the isle and say loudly, "OK, OK"

After a tough few hours of negotiating, I was a little parched, so next we sat at the little plastic stool place on the street corner and drank a very cheap beer and visited with a Vietnamese guy named Joey, who kept telling Nate how beautiful his mother was, and said over and over to him - "if you loose your wife, you can get another one, but you can never replace your parents." Smart guy I say. I miss my mom.

I am feeling a little down tonight...perhaps it was the pictures at the museum, or perhaps it is having to walk amongst all these beautiful, tiny, skinny Vietnamese women in tight short shorts and high heels. I feel like a fat cow. Then to make matters worse, as I was complaining about it, Nate says, "mom, you are not supposed to look 17 (true), you are supposed to look old and saggy!" Great...I guess that means I am old and saggy. Oh well, old and saggy beats deformed from the effects of agent orange, so I guess I should suck it up.

Tomorrow Nate and I will head four hours north to the country's best beach and nearby sand dunes...should be fun...my large saggy old body can lie on the beach and perhaps some of the fat will melt off me....but no worries...I will replenish those calories with a lot of cheap beer.