A FEW THOUGHTS

The first that hit me arriving in Saigon was the heat. Compared to the”chilly” northern part of Vietnam where we had expeienced around 13-17 degrees we felt a slightly increase coming to Hoi An, but here we finally talked 30 degress Celsius. Even though walking around sweaty all day isn’t my favorite – thats the price to pay when you like the warm temparatures.

I got a cab from the airport and headed for the May Hotel which is centrally located in the Japanese area of District 1, a short walk from Lo Lei (street), Viencom Centre (mall) and a lot of nice restaurants.

The first day I used for just walking down Lo Lei to the Ben Thanh market and back as I needed to get some more mosquito spray. Also here, as well as in Hanoi, the traffic is mind blowing! Scooters, motorcycles and cars everywhere. One thing is the number of them, but looking at the traffic it seems a 100% out of control as everyone is going their own pace, shifting lanes with no prewarning and quite often you also see someone going in the opposite direction of everyone else. The use of the horn is also different as it is here used for multiple purposes (1. signaling “here I come”, 2. signaling ” you are in my way”, 3. signaling ” you are an asshole”). However, in this mayhem and chaos there is also a certain sense of order. Considering norwegian driving where I would argue we are very good at keeping to the traffic regulations and not doing very much unexpected to the extent that we may get a little unaware and rigid ( But still, I think I prefer the norwegian traffic..) Here you find the opposite; there are limited rules or ways to follow them so every person in the traffic actually have to think for himself and constantly be aware. And it actually works most of the times.. A very good example is when you as a pedestrian want to cross a street or intersection; walk calmly but firm in to the street, slow down to let the cars pass but let the scooters and motorcycles decide for themselves to go in front or behind you. If you just do this very calm and firm with no sudden moves and no stopping you will be crossing the streets with no problem while hundreds pass by you in what seems to be total chaos. A little nerve wrecking the first times but in a while you are ok with it. You almost feel a little like Moses splitting the sea..

The second day I started with a real ” walkabout” in town seeing some various sites, parks and the city in general. It’s a big city so it is somewhat limited what you manage in a day but I feel like I got to see my share. I want to limit the time spent on the famous sites so it osn’t all stress. The rest of the time is focused on just relaxing and experiencing the vibe of the city. In the afternoon I was a little tired so I took a break by the hotel pool for a few laps and some water gymnastics This evening I felt for some sushi and stopped by Daikokuya just next to the hotel. There you can both have a table or eat at the bar which is sometimes nice when you eat alone. I went for some tuna and salmon sushi and some tuna maki rolls. It tasted good but I must admit I was a little surprised as they already spiced it up with wasabi, so the extra I put on was maybe a little bit over the top

Later I went for a beer at Sheridan which was an irish pub close by. Here I was lucky enough to meet Hideo Ono, an expat computer engineer from Japan living in Ho Chi Minh. He convinced me he knew the best sushi place in the town and wanted to show me. I was up for the task of a beer and a small snack so I accepted and we went up the road to the japanse restaurant “cam-on” (“thank you” in vietnamese) where I was greeted by the kind owner (which I still suspect to be a real-life samurai) Yosuke Hirayama and the chef. They all made sure I had a great time tasting the best sashimi ever. The fish was so fresh! Together with the food I was served very good drink (mild wine) made of sweet potato and some sake. I was very pleased of this great hospitality and kindness. Aftwards they invited me to a bar close by with live music and beers. I had a very good time and we had some very nice conversations. Thank you so much for your hospitality !

I was a bit unsure how christmas eve in Vietnam would be, whether anyone would celebrate or not considering that the main population are buddhists. Entering the day of christmas, the city is filled with families out for shopping and in the evening it was clear it was building up. The city was full of people on scooters, cars or by foot. Everybody was in town. You could see christmas trees, decorations, santas in every form and shape and there was christmas tunes being played everywhere. So it is clear that despite religious beliefs, christmas is to be celebrated all the way into the night with as much noise as possible

As I was leaving the next day, my christmas eve was “limited” to a nice dinner at a lebanese restaurant “Beirut” where I had nice talks with the owner Prem Yadav over a meal of lamb. Afterwards I took a quick stop at the pub before heading to bed.

The next day I was picked up by the car arranged by the hotel, and headed for the beach town of Mui Ne some 200 km away.

So long Saigon, More to follow…

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