Vietnam Is Very Happy New Year: Nha Trang

While still in HCMC, Daniel and I looked into booking a hostel in Nha Trang.  We just assumed we would have no problem booking just a day or two in advance.  To my horror, the go-to site I use to book hostels said that "nothing was available for the dates I requested".  I have used this website for years and that has only happened one time that I can remember.  I thought it was a mistake!  I tried calling a few hostels and they said they were fully booked.

Since we had bought the bus tickets to Nha Trang already, we figured we would take a chance.  Surely there were some places with vacancy.  There was a street that was nothing but hostels and hotels and we just went to one from the next asking if they had any vacancies for the night.  After asking 15-20 different places, one said that they could do something for us.  They put out a bed for us in a back room.  However, since there was still foot traffic around that area, we had trouble falling asleep.  They saw that we weren't falling asleep, so they were nice enough to give us a room that they use for their Buddhist prayers.  So, really, we shouldn't have been too surprised when one of the employees came into our room at 6:00 a.m. to light incense and say some silent prayers.  It was slightly surreal, because I was woken up by it, and thus still in a half-dreaming state.  But at the same time it was quieting and peaceful.  It was just one of those little experiences that defies a simple description.

I could tell that Nha Trang would have been a nice place to visit...if we hadn't decided to visit during the Lunar New Year.  There were just too many people everywhere (as evidenced, of course, by the trouble we had finding lodging).  Not only were there a lot of Vietnamese, but there also seemed to be tons of Russians.  It seems to me that the only times I've seen a significant amount of Russians in other countries has been around beach resort areas.  This is not too surprising considering how cold Russia can get, and I can't say for sure, but I would imagine they are severely lacking in the beach department.

Besides getting some beach time (and it was a beautiful beach with a great view), Daniel and I went to a Buddhist temple that had a great view of the city.  While admiring the view, I asked Daniel, "Where do you think you are right now?"  He said, "Somewhere in Southern Spain."  There were many places in Vietnam that did not look at all like how we had pictured Vietnam in our heads.  Of course, most of the images of Vietnam that receive unfortunately come through Vietnam War Movies and travel shows.  Sometimes, I feel like travel shows only show parts of a country that will fulfill the viewer's expectation of that country.  I may just be cynical, though, Nha Trang and our next destination, Dalat, looked nothing like any of the images I remember seeing of Vietnam. 

There is not much more to say about Nha Trang, actually.  Daniel and I were both put off by how crowded it was everywhere, and there wasn't a lot to see beyond the beautiful beach.  It was much better when we came back for an afternoon between buses a few days later. 

One other notable experience we had in Nha Trang was when we drank a sugar cane drink.  There were a number of street vendors who had these carts with machines that would crush/juice the liquid out of sugar canes they fed into it.  Usually, the vendors would add a few lemons and limes and finish off the drink with some ice.  Let me tell ya, it was the ultimate refreshment for the hot weather!  We also had coconut juice straight from the coconut.  Delicious!

While swimming and body surfing, my dad's late 80s/early 90s swimsuit that I had been wearing ever since last summer was torn down the seam of one leg, and thus had to be retired.

Next: Dalat!

Vietnam Is Very Happy New Year: Ho Chi Minh City

I'm not sure how my friend, Daniel, and I arrived at Vietnam as our destination for our coveted two weeks of winter vacation time, but I certainly have no regrets about our choice.  Vietnam is an amazing country, and I know that I am not going to serve it justice in this short series about our travels, but I'll do my best!

Ho Chi Minh City was our first stop.  HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City) was definitely a fun place.  Compared to the rest of the places we visited in Vietnam (esp. Hanoi), HCMC seemed very modern and vibrant.  It truly seemed like the city was alive.  Also, the influence of the central Communist government seemed to be far less influential there than it was in Hanoi (for obvious reasons).  Overall, Daniel and I both loved HCMC. 

The first thing we noticed about HCMC is just how bat-shit crazy the traffic is.  I mean, traffic was insane everywhere in Vietnam, but especially in Ho Chi Minh.  Frankly speaking, if there are traffic laws in Vietnam...no one follows them.

Let me paint a picture for you with words:

Millions of motorbikes (it seemed like every single Vietnamese person owned one) swerving in and out of traffic.

Buses passing other buses on two lane highways...at night.

Roundabouts with no rhyme or reason to the traffic flow.

Everyone honking all of the time, as if the myriad drivers communicate in some sort of annoying Morris Code. 

The only reasonable thing concerning the traffic is that no one speeds (and I say "speeds" as if there are actually speed limits, because there certainly didn't seem to be).  This is not so much a rational, collective choice as it is a necessity.  This is because traffic is unbelievably congested.  It's really just impossible to describe, and best seen:

Note that this wasn't the best example.  This video was taken during the Lunar New Year weekend and many Vietnamese had left HCMC to see families in other parts of the country.  When we returned to HCMC a week later, it was noticeably more congested.

The scariest part about the traffic is that, while there are crosswalks, no one will really stop for you to cross the street.  What generally ensues is a game of Frogger.  One has to take a "step of faith" into the traffic and just attempt to dodge and elude the oncoming motorbikes as they swarm around you.  It was quite scary the first few times, but by the end of our stay, we were practically pros.  It was funny, because you could generally gauge how long any given foreigner had been in the country by how frightened/disoriented/confused they look when trying to cross the street.

We stayed in the backpacker's district, which was located in the center of the city and within walking distance to all of the tourist sights.  We stayed at a modest, but very pleasant hotel.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that the customer service at our hotel was the best I've ever received at any hostel I've ever stayed at.  They were always happy to help and provided tons of information.  They also went out of their way multiple times to help us.  If you ever visit HCMC, please please please stay at Phan Lan 2 Hotel.  I'm not a paid advertiser, but everyone was so unbelievably nice there that they deserve everyone's business.

The two, incredibly incredibly sweet people who worked the front desk kept on using "Happy New Year" as an adjective.  As in "This tour is very Happy New Year."  It was very cute, but Daniel and I joked how funny it would be if they used it to describe something that wasn't so great.  Sure enough, when we booked one of the day tours, the staff member told us that the price had increased slightly because of the holiday.  The price was described as the "Happy New Year price."  We had to keep ourselves from laughing.

While staying in HCMC, we took a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels.  These are some of the best maintained tunnels used in the American Vietnam War by the Viet Cong.  We had the opportunity to walk through the tunnels.  Now, I say walk, but what I really mean is crawl.  It was such a cramped space!  I'm not a claustrophobic person, but I must say that I had some difficulty going the full 100 meters through the tunnel.  I left the tunnel at about 75 meters, because I was actually starting to get claustrophobic.  Maybe not being claustrophobic was a prerequisite to being a soldier in the Vietcong.

While visiting the tunnels, visitors had the option of going to a firing range to shoot semi-automatic weapons.  I'm not a big fan of guns of any kind, but Daniel, an Englishman who had never shot a gun, decided that it was high time he get some target practice.  I can't remember exactly, but I think he picked out an AK-47.  I was half expecting him to turn to me with a wild look in his eye after he was done shooting and yell, "Yea,  America!  I need your guuuuuuns!" in a Southern American accent, but all he said was, "That hurt my shoulder..."

In addition to exploring the tunnels, our guide showed us a variety of booby traps that were used to maim and injure American soldiers.  I don't say "kill" because our guide specifically told us that the theory was that they thought it was better to maim and injure American soldiers with their traps.  I didn't catch exactly why that was, but probably because it was more difficult for Americans to take care of injured soldiers than it was to care of...you know...dead soldiers.

It's an interesting thing seeing the Vietnamese side of the American Vietnam War.  It's funny, because after all of these years, I still feel as though the subtext of what we're taught in school is that we "had" to invade Vietnam to "save" the Vietnamese people from Communism.  Taken from their perspective, it's easy to see that we (America) invaded their country in a way that can be easily viewed as being neo-colonial.  Not to mention what we know now about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. 

The War Remnants Museum in HCMC was probably the most sobering museum I've ever been to.  Whenever I visit war museums (most recently, the Korean War Museum in Seoul), I'm sickened by the various ways that war is glorified.  However, the War Remnants Museum showed how truly awful war is.  One entire room of the museum was dedicated to the effects that the massive amount of Agent Orange that was dropped on Vietnam by the United States has had on people of Vietnam.  I couldn't bear to look at all of the photographs in that room.  They showed pictures of horrible physical deformities suffered by children.  Just awful.

There was also an entire floor dedicated to the work of Vietnam War photographers from around the world.  I think there were Japanese, French, Vietnamese, and American photographers among them.  Most of the photographs were quite stark.  Some photographs showed piles of civilian corpses or dismembered bodies.

Visiting the musuem was a very intense experience, but I'm extremely grateful that we had the chance to see it.

As I mentioned before, the weekend we arrived in HCMC was also the Lunar New Year weekend.  To celebrate, the main street in central HCMC was blocked off and there was a massive flower display placed in the middle of the street (see pictures below).  Daniel and I joined the people strolling up and down the street with the friends, families, and significant others.  We sat at a French-style cafe (a common theme throughout our two weeks in Vietnam), drank some coffee, and just watched all of the people go by. 

The coffee in Vietnam was some of the strongest I've ever had.  They would often combine it with a thick, milky, syrup to sweeten it.  When the two were combined, it literally tasted like I was drinking a White Russian cocktail (vodka, coffee liquer, cream)!  Seriously, the coffee was that strong.  But I was in luck, because I love strong, bitter coffee.

Besides the coffee, fruit shakes were also widely available.  If made right, they were pure fruit shakes, with maybe some ice thrown in.  Mango, papaya, strawberry, kiwi, coconut, banana-whatever you wanted, it was available to throw into a shake!  Mmm-mmm!

As far as the night life was concerned, HCMC was the best that we experienced in all of the places that we visited.  The backpacker's district was full of tiny little stores that suddenly, at sundown, turned into little open air pubs with small plastic chairs and tables.  The one we frequented, for example, sold paintings during the day, but sold cheap beer ($ 0.75 per bottle!) in the evenings. 

One night when we were drinking and playing cards with some other foreigners we met, I thought I recognized someone who walked by.  For a moment, I was shocked with disbelief and couldn't believe my eyes.  I shot up from my chair and yelled, "Rick!"  As I had hoped, the man turned around-and sure enough it was my friend, Rick, from my year teaching English in China!

I hadn't seen Rick in 4 years, so we spent some time catching up.  He updated me on all of our friends still around in Shijiazhuang.  In true Rick fashion, he brought out his guitar and started playing songs.  By the time 3:00 a.m. rolled around, a group of foreigners had gathered around us to play and sing songs together. 

Hilariously enough, we ran into Rick almost two weeks later at the HCMC airport after flying there from Hanoi.

One evening, we went to the Bitexco Financial Tower in HCMC.  The building is about 50 stories tall, and is the tallest building in the city.  Two things that I always create a sense of wonder within me are when I can see over a city at night and see all of the city lights, the other is when I'm in a remoted area at night and the sky is covered in stars.  What I find interesting is that you can never have both at the same time.  At about 50 stories up, I see all of the little headlights on the street, the office lights still on, and the people walking below us, and I imagine what all of those other lives are like.  What they think.  What they love.  It can be pretty overwhelming for me.

We spent two more days in HCMC before our flight back to Seoul at the end of our trip.  The highlight of our return was going for a seafood dinner outside of the main touristy areas at a small restaurant.  We ate snails, lobster, and some shellfish, plus a lot of beer, for only roughly $7.00.  Can't beat a deal like that!

Well, that's all for HCMC.  Up next:  The wonderful world of fat, tan Russian tourists...Nha Trang!