hi everyone!
i feel like i haven't written in forever. probably because i LOVE saigon. this city is incredible. everyone warned me about how pushy the vietnamese are, but i dont' see that AT ALL. everyone is sweet and friendly. i got here 2 days ago, and have literally not stopped shopping. everything is cute and cheap and would sell for about 10x the price on w. 4th ave. however, the package i'll be needing to ship home is growing in size, having currently surpassed the size of texas, so i've cut myself off today.
we managed to find a great room for $7/night - which, shared, means a cheap $24.50/week for my accomodations. the place is cute - think asian ikea - and really centrally located in the old quarter of saigon. you have to cut off the main strip onto a little alleyway, packed full of vendors and children and general vietnamese mayhem, to get to it....but the room itself is calm and quiet.
so...the shopping. may as well talk about it, since (surprise surprise....) its been occupying all my time! silk everything, everywhere. shoes, purses, beaded evening clutches, robes, ties...if you can make it out of silk, you can find it here. and at astronomically low prices. not to mention pirated dvds....at $1USD each, how are you meant to buy only one or two?? so, the package i'm sending home may or may cost millions of dollars. oh well.
next topic...the streets. the traffic follows no immediately discernable pattern. in fact, after spending hours transfixed, over strong vietnamese filter coffee (served with a generous dollop of condensed milk, thank you very much!), i STILL can't figure out how i haven't seen an accident yet. did that sentence make any sense?
there are so many old french traffic circles here, and traffic flows in and out of them with ease.....buses, the odd car, motorcycles galore, cyclos, bicycles, pedestrians, vending carts, children, animals.....coming from every possible angle, and all blending seamlessly into the mayhem. hannah and i have been getting around on what they call a 'honda xom'. literally translated, it means 'honda hug'. so, you basically find a moto driver, pay them about 8,000dong (50cents) and they drive you right into the centre of the madness; anywhere you want to go. the destination, to my mind, is secondary - the thrill of saigon has so far been the streets!!!
i'm realizing, as i re-read what i've written, that the allure of saigon is hard to explain. technically, it possesses the same elements that other large s.e. asian cities seem to....hustle and bustle, pollution, poverty, filth, and pushy vendors. but, there's something else here.....that i can't define. anyways, i'm loving it.
in the next few days i'm headed out to see the cu chi tunnels and then down south to the mekong delta....floating markets and stilt houses should be a sharp contrast to Ho Chi Minh City!!
i'm running out of steam here....missing all of you......and i really wish i got to hear more about everyones day to day stuff! this is an amazing trip, wouldnt' trade a day of it....would still love to talk to you guys though!
MICHELLE THIS MEANS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lots of love,
xoxox laura
