There's something about Saigon

It's been a fast and furious last 5 days in Saigon. Where to begin...

I guess the best way to describe it would be to say it's a sprawling, chaotic, mess of a city that seems to flow quite nicely. If you get out of the backpacker/touristy areas and pushy motorbike drivers, it lightens up a bit, but there are still heaps of people at every corner at every hour of the day. I was even stopped a few times just to have a conversation. Anytime someone approaches me with "hey man, where you from?", I tend to think they're either selling something or have a magic trick they want to show me (99% of the former, 1% of the latter). But honestly, there have been a couple of conversations where it ended with "oh USA... I have daughter in San Jose. Well, see you later." NOTHING else. They just wanted to talk. I also had several Vietnamese students approach me just to practice their English. (pretty cool)

One of the best stories from the last couple of days was when this 12 year old kid decided to follow me for 30 minutes when I didn't buy the gum he was selling (I already had enough gum!). Since he was persistent, I asked him if he wanted some food. After turning down a couple of Bun places, he took me (or rather I took him) to this little noodle place where we were promptly seated. (in plastic kiddy chairs no less... in true Asia fashion) He then proceeded to walk me back to my hotel, in the process helping me cross the street along the way. For anyone that hasn't been to Saigon... well, let's just say crossing the street is an adventure and a half. Crosswalks mean nothing. There are usually 20-30 motorbikes headed in both directions at all times. (meaning, towards you) The trick is: just walk. Slowly, surely... walk. It's one of those "they'll miss me... I know they'll miss me" moments, and for some reason it seems to work. Being the good Westerner that I am, I tended to look both ways, and try and wait for a good time to cross. My noodle soup friend would have none of it. He deftly grabbed my arm and proceeded to walk ME across the street. (from a distance, it probably looked like I was helping him... little did people know I was the helpless one) One way or the other, we made it.

I also met up with a friend from college who showed me the finer aspects of Saigon nightlife. (aka: the clubs) Who knew Vietnamese get crazier than Americans in the club? One benefit of being a foreigner though, is that I can pretty much get into any club based on the assumption that I'll spend my precious USD. (yay)

Part of me left saying "wow, there sure are a lot of things to do here". The other (and larger part), wanted to get the hell out of Saigon. Don't get me wrong, I met some amazing people there and had a good time, but navigating that traffic day in and day out would probably drive me insane.

I made it to Dalat today, and THIS place seems to be much more my style. It's basically like the Vietnam equivalent of our Aspen. Cool climate, vacationing Vietnamese, and great food everywhere well... makes David a happy man. The fact that it's absolutely gorgeous around here doesn't hurt either.


Side note on Saigon drivers and the use of the horn:

I have to explain this to my Western friends. The horn here is merely a means of communication, not aggression. Someone can be riding your ass in a sea of motorbikes honking his horn the ENTIRE time... and not be upset in the least. In fact, he'll probably pull up next to you and ask "hey, what your name?" with a smile on his face. It's crazy, but they just honk to let you know they exist. HONK HONK= I'm next to you HONK HONK= I'm cutting you off HONK HONK= I'm flirting with you. It's pretty much the universal language of Vietnam. (and most of SE Asia for that matter) Good luck.

Note on Asian gamers:

Well, they're insane. I'm in a gamer internet cafe right now and these kiddos are going nuts over some 1st person shooter game... and this isn't the first I've seen of it in these parts...