Who wants to be a Millionaire? Dong Millionaires, that is.

We're big spenders! Upon arrival in Vietnam we withdrew 3 Million(!) Dongs from the ATM. Of course, with an exchange rate of 17,000 Dongs to $1, that's only about $180. It takes some getting used to to spend such high amounts - once I thought we were spending too much money in one day, then I realized that 180,000 Dongs is only about $11.

The first impression I have of Saigon (as does everyone, I'm sure) is the never ending stream of motorcycles (and the noise) on the streets - they just swarm around the cars like ants! Crossing the street is literally like playing Frogger – one step at a time. The trick is to cross slowly so that the vehicles can see you and go around you, and definitely follow the “small yields to big” rule.

The main reason Ashok and I wanted to go to Vietnam was for the food, so as soon as we got settled, we went out in search of real Vietnamese cooking. Unfortunately, because we were staying in the backpacker/ touristy area around Pham Ngu Lau, the food is also “westernized”, so I'm sad to report that our first meal in Vietnam was not very good. We learned to avoid restaurants in Pham Ngu Lau area or touristy areas in general, especially those that offer western and Vietnamese food. We found authentic (and better!) stuff just a few blocks away: amazing Pho (beef noodle soup which HCMC is known for), really good Vietnamese baguette sandwich from a guy on the street, and freshly made thin rice crepe from a woman at the morning market (the one for locals, not the touristy Cho Ben Thang market). Not to mention the Vietnamese coffee: strong, rich coffee (one good influence from the French) balanced with the sweetness of condensed milk, then poured over ice... perfect for the hot, humid weather. If you haven't figured it out already, there will be a lot on food in my Vietnam posts.

It's amazing, too, how little space the Vietnamese needs to set up a food stall.
Everything they need is set up all around them so there's no need to get up from their little plastic stool.

This woman had everything she needed on her bike, down to the tin container with hot coals to keep her food hot:

Getting away from food for a minute, we did do some sight-seeing as well. One of the must-see's in HCMC has to be the Cuchi Tunnels. It's a network of underground tunnels used against the French at first, then expanded by the Vietcongs to fight the Americans. It really gives you a sense for how resourceful & cunnning the Vietnamese are, and therefore, why the Americans could not win the war on their turf. The tunnels are just big enough for the smaller Vietnamese to fit in, but for most people today you'd have to bend over, and in some cases, crawl to get thru the dimly lit tunnel (back in the days it would be pitch black). I was getting claustrophobic in there and couldn't finish.

Here's one of the holes the Vietcongs snipers would hide in. Once again, it's amazing how small a space they'd squeeze into:

It was surreal to see these places, especially since Vietnam today is so geared towards foreign tourism and does not feel like a communist country at all.

Our tour guide, Mr. Bean (Binh), was also one interesting character. Having fought in the Vietnam war on the US side, he was not trusted by the government to pursue a professional career in law so he became a tour guide to earn a living.... and that's just one of his stories.

Three days was about the right time in HCMC so we made our way north along the coast towards Hanoi.