Vietnam Email

Arriving at the Cambodian/Vietnam boarder by bus, it was HOT, sweaty, and you were pushed into lines which quickly marched you into an air conditioned room, Thank God. I waited there until my name was called out, I went up to receive my passport and visa, there it was stamped in black ink, "March 10th.....March 25th" i got screwed by the agency in Cambodia who swindled me and only got me a 15 day visa. This was how i entered the country….

"Don't go there...," "I had my wallet stolen there....," "I heard someone got a motorbike stolen and had to pay double the price for it there.......," "People are so rude and pushy there...," these were constantly uttered through out my trip in South East Asia, all directed towards travel in Vietnam.

Perhaps I had had a watchful eye on my belongings, maybe I got lucky, I don’t know but I didn’t see any of this, in fact my stay was quite pleasant minus the last 45minutes at the airport where I was figuratively raped of $70usd for overstaying my visa by two days (my own fault).

I arrived in Saigon by bus and was dropped off in District #1 which is a central backpackers area, unlike most countries I visited the backpackers area was in the heart of the city surrounded by real life Vietnamese. I wondered into a back ally (more or less lured there), with the promise of a $7 room (private bath, fan, cable tv). At first I was skeptical but it turned out to a in a private home, a family renting out a room to tourists. When led up a TIGHT path into my bedroom I still had my doubts but the room and bathroom were probably some of the cleanest I have stayed on this trip and the family turned out to be amazingly friendly offering me iced lemon tea when ever I would pass in and out of the home.
Visiting the War Museum in Saigon was a bit painful, definitely ONE SIDED in the story it tells about the “American War” and rightfully so, but none the less the facts speak for them selves which as an “American” I was a bit astonished to know. Statistics can be skewed so you can only take the info so far but the proof was in what I saw through out the country. The most disturbing fact was the amount of bombs (over several million tons, were dropped), and the amount of Agent Orange (chemical warfare) which was used. The visible proof that I witnessed was craters in the rice fields where bombs had been dropped, as well as TONS of birth defects that I witnessed all over the country due to Agent Orange, that spoke to me very strongly (especially since the family whom I was staying with had a son, completely immobilized due to the outcome of this poison we spread on millions of innocent people).
Although US involvement can be argued either way, the Ironic kick in the balls was the quote that you read upon entering the war museum “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, USA declaration of independence July 4, 1776.” needless to say the museum was a bit anti-usa.
Even with the clear hatred for what was done during the war, all the Vietnamese I met were happy to see people from the USA, I was never looked at in a negative light, when I told them I was from the US I always got smiles, many times received the “USA, GOOD!”

Travel through Vietnam was quick do to my 15 day visa and my foolish refusal to pay $50 more dollars for a new one. As most travelers take to the coast and hit up the obvious spots on the “party train” I headed inland and road on local buses for 3 days from Mui Ne up through the central highlands where the coffee is outstanding, I followed the Ho Chi Min trail (by bus) until popping back out on the coast in Hoi An. The Small town of Dalat (800,000 people) was one of my favorites in Vietnam, a bit of a mountain town, a slightly slower pace, good food, great coffee and an introduction on Vietnamese driving. Really there is only ONE rule, the bigger vehicle has the right of way, anything else goes, and god is it fun ripping in and out of roundabouts cruising in and out of rural towns.
The food in Vietnam was unexpectedly diverse and good, I had the opportunity of binge eating with a fellow chef in Hoi An for 3 days, this was an amazing experience and made Vietnam worth visiting in its self. The stunning Beauty of Ha Long Bay is something that I was grateful to see, but as you’ll see in my pictures, it was VERY cloudy, dull light, rainy, and I was stuck on an overnight boat with 11 60+ year old French tourists…. Need I say more? Hanoi was a cool place, it was quite the opposite of Saigon and YES I did eat DOG, and Yes it was good. I’m not going to do it again but after dodging it in Asia for 7 months I put it on the list of things I had to do. I received a relatively ignorant message on facebook regarding my dog consumption, so if anyone has a bone to pick with me on that I’ll, please read my comments i made on that.