First off, the War Remnants museum in Saigon tore me apart. I was nauseous looking at the pictures and reading some of the terrible acts of war.
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City was a riot. There are motorbikes everywhere and I am pretty sure I have seen everything imaginable being hauled by either regular bike or a motorbike. A family of 5; 100 kgs of coconuts, sugar cane stalks or bananas; a million pillows, close to 20, 5gal jugs of water, pipes and metal five times the length of the bikes; other bikes, chickens... you name it they can transport it. The Vietnamese can carry more on a motorbike than any American can fit into an SUV, its funny to try and guess what new cargo I'll see next.
I took my first ride on the back of a motorbike yesterday. That was fun! I was only scared that my legs would touch down and my crocks and feet would be torn to shreds. My legs are way too long. I didn't have anywhere to put them, so I sat Harley style with them way out wide.
How could I forget this the first time around.. I ate jelly fish! It was good, firmer in texture than I expected and the taste was not overpowering it seemed to just pick up the flavor of the soup.
And the latest and best new experience: I played football (soccer) on the beach last night with complete strangers. I was walking by some teenagers kicking the ball around when it rolled towards me and I played it back. I asked to play, thinking we were just kicking the ball around. Within a few minutes a pick up shirts and skins game broke out. Complete with sandals to mark the goal posts. It was different playing when no one else spoke much, if any, English. All the communication and banter was in Vietnamese. For the most part, I feel like I understood it though. Arguing if it was a hand ball or foul, whether or not we were playing with out of bounds, telling me I should play more offense and other typical soccer banter. It was a lot of fun. They were pretty good at the game, aggressive as hell too. Bodies pushed around, slide tackles and everything. It was all friendly, but more aggressive than any friendly I've played in the States. After the game ended I took and swim and walked along the beach back to my guesthouse. There must have been another 10 games on the beach, all different ages and all pretty good. A lot of them were just playing keep away; 5 verse 2 or something of the sort. It was fun to watch. Football truly is the worlds game.
