I woke up in Saigon with no real plans of what I was going to do. So, like many of the other cities I've visited, I set out walking.
Saigon has quite a bit of hustle and bustle. It definitely has a Vietnamese identity, but for the most part it seemed very generic with large flashy store fronts, and gridlocked streets.
On my walking journey I came across a park where a group of guys were playing a variation sai, or dacou in Vietnamese. The variation consisted of two team on opposite sides of the court, similar to tennis, but with no net. I ended up playing with them for nearly two hours, and was a bit embarrassed by how much I was sweating, only to realize that the usually sweatless locals were drenched as well.
When the game ended I chatted with the guys for a while. It is odd to think about what our relationships would have been 40 years ago when we would have probably been fighting a war with or against each other.
I made way to the Reunification Palace, which was basically the Vietnamese Whitehouse of the 60's. Everything is quite beautiful and has been kept in pristine condition, which is refreshing after some of the other, less cared for, historic places I've been seeing. The building also has a lot of historical importance, since it was the South Vietnamese military headquarters during the war. I took a little tour, and enjoyed the grounds quite a bit.
It was now time for a break, so I grabbed a coffee and a traditional Vietnamese sandwich. The coffee here is quite good, and the sandwich was really tasty. It had the traditional cold cuts, pate, red chili's, and my favorite chili sauce (which is basically a spicy, sweet ketchup), all served on a tasty baguette. Very tasty.
I then made War Remnants Museum. I was a little shocked as it was very blatantly anti-American, going into gruesome detail of the travesties the American army committed during the war. Although I don't contest any of these actions, it seemed odd to me how one sided the exhibit was, it's not like the Vietcong was passing out flowers and rice throughout the countryside. I guess the winner gets to write the history. I was later told that up until about a year ago it was called the Anti-American Museum, wonder why I tell people I'm from Canada.
As I started my walk back to the hotel I stumbled across a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and immediately decided it was time for me to get out of the city. So, once back to my hotel, I booked a morning bus to the town of Dalat up in the mountains.
After some resting and packing I went out for some dinner, and met some pretty nice people. A French guy, an Isreali girl, and a Vietnamese/Cambodian guy from Boston. They were all pretty interesting. The Isreali girl was doing best to keep Kosher, and was very surprised when I told her I was Jewish. The guy from Boston had been travelling through Asia for four years stopping along the way to teach English in Thailand and China. He had some pretty interesting views on the area since he has been here for so long, speaks Vietnamese and Khmer, and has family around as well. We hung out for a bit, but we all had early bus's in the morning, so we bid farewell early.
Back at the hotel I found out via Skype that I had been accepted to NYU, which is exciting.
I have enjoyed Saigon, but I feel like a lot of these big cities lose some of their individuality after a while. I think that there is a point were you must decide whether to leave or spend a lot more time in a city to get to know it, and I have decided to leave for greener pastures (literally).
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