For whatever reason, Huckleberry and I agree that Saigon reminds us of Mexico City: the noise, the traffic, the mix of shabby and chic, the way the cities seem to sprawl chaotic, the architectural variety, etc. We’ve been to Mexico City a couple of times, but have never enjoyed our visits there too much, so much so that we now plan our trips to Mexico in ways that minimize time in Mex City (we think we need a friend with local connections to show us around).
But we like Saigon. I’m not sure why that is–that the cities can be so similar, and yet we have such different reactions.
Well, actually, we do have some theories. One is that we’re traveling with family who know their way around the city. Yesterday, we were with family all day: visiting Huckleberry’s brother-in-law’s aunt and hanging out in District 1 near the Ben Thanh market (where Huckleberry’s mother helped us shop for jade for our wedding rings, which we’ll pick up next week). Yesterday, we went back to District 1 on our own, but we weren’t as overwhelmed by the place as we normally are in Mexico City, in part because we’d had a taste of it the day before. (Huckleberry’s also been here a few times before, but she’s never negotiated the city without family).
I also think the motorbikes are mesmerizing in a way that the VW Bug taxis of Mexico City are not. I could sit at a sidewalk cafe and watch them for hours. In fact, we did just that today for a break between propagandistic museums. Watching what people will carry on motorbikes is endlessly entertaining: so far we’ve seen mini refridgerators, gas tanks, water barrels, five-foot wide panes of glass, stacks of paintings, and all manner of construction tools, including ladders, wheel barrows, and generators.
Of course, I watch the motorbikes in a very different way when we cross the street. Common wisdom has it that, to cross the street, you simply need to walk forward at a steady pace while making eye contact with drivers as much as possible. If you keep at a steady pace, they’ll swerve around you. That has proven largely true of motorbikes, though less true of cars–they’ll run you down, steady pace or not. I took some video of traffic from the traffic circle across from Ben Thanh Market today to capture the volume and noise of the traffic; will have to post that when we get back to the US.
Other random notes about Saigon:
- We read in the guidebook about weasel coffee and thought we’d try that at Ben Thanh Market. Weasel coffee is made from coffee beans that have first been fed to weasels and then reharvested from their poop. Of course, when we saw the weasel coffee at the market today, I chickened out, much as Huckleberry always chickens out when confronted with the roasted crickets at markets in Mexico.
- The ca phe sua day (iced Vietnamese coffee) here is much sweeter and stronger than I’ve ever had in the US. That didn’t stop us from having two cups today.
- Sidewalks are not always for walking. We went for a brisk walk this morning in the area where we’re staying in District 7 and found it a bit challenging because the sidewalks are often claimed by the building occupants for motorbike parking or other uses. We eventually gave up and just walked in the street.
- Huckleberry and I have largely abandoned the ice embargo. Theoretically, we shouldn’t be drinking ice unless we know it comes from clean water. In reality, we gave that up pretty quickly, at least in Saigon. We’ve had quite a few iced drinks so far (see above re: ca phe sua da), and so far, so good. We’re also not supposed to eat uncooked vegetables or leafy greens unless we know they were washed in clean water, but Huckleberry couldn’t stand not throwing some herbs in her pho tonight. We figured that the broth would cook away any bacteria that might be on there.
Tomorrow, we leave early in the morning for Da Lat, where we’ll stay for one night. Then we’ll spend a couple of nights Nha Trang, then a night in Hoi An, and then a few nights in Hue. After that, we’ll part ways with Huckleberry’s family, but our plans are still in flux. We’ll work our way back to Saigon, perhaps by way of Nha Trang (no such thing as too much time at the beach), where we have to check in with the jeweler who’s making our wedding rings to check the sizing. We’ll head to the Mekong Delta, though for how long we don’t know, and then when Huckleberry’s family gets back to Saigon we’ll all go to Cambodia. At least, that’s the plan for now: things change on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis.
For now, I think it’s time for us to head back to our hotel: Huckleberry is napping while I type and I’m starting to feel sleepy myself.
