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Exploring the known and unknown
Our place of accommodation in Dalat had been comfortable and had been within easy walking distance from town.
Several times we had passed a restaurant just down the road, displaying a large sign "Thit Cho" above the door. I had recognised the words and pointed it out to Gert and said: “You see that Gert? Thit means meat and Cho means dog”. In other words, a restaurant specialising in dog meat. Gert didn't believe it at first until I pointed to the picture of the dog above the sign. The bits of meat in the showcase were not recognisable and could have easily been beef, lamb or goat. The thought of eating a piece of dog is, of course, not appealing because of our cultural upbringing. But it has to be seen in the same light as eating beef is in India where the consumption of beef is as repulsive to them as eating dog meat is to us.
You need to adapt and have the capability and imagination to stand in the middle of an imaginary circle at the place where you are at this moment in time and realise this is your centre of the world for now and whatever you see and experience is normal to the people you observe in your surroundings. Once you can do that, the very different things become easier to accept.
I suppose you have to be a traveller to be able to do this as, from afar, things are often “strange” if they differ from your own cultural upbringing and surrounding.
For the journey from Dalat to Saigon, we had booked the overnight sleeper bus. These buses come in several variations and it is always “a wait and see” situation. The ride was as rough as expected as we knew we were going the pass to same amount of roadworks as we had experienced on our motorcycles. Arriving in Saigon at 4.15 AM, I was ready for the scam taxi drivers and wanted to show Gert what these people are like and ultimately what damage they do to their own country. Our hotel was just 100 meters away and when approached by a taxi driver I mentioned the address. “I will take you there.” He said, but did not want to give me a quote. His answer was “I have a taxi meter”. “Of course” I thought “And I know that it turns at twice the speed as it should.” The next answer came that it would take 10 to 12 minutes. “Well, mate, thank you, we will walk in two minutes as it is right across the road”. I said.
So, travellers beware when in Saigon only use the two recommended companies - Vinasun or Mai Linh. They are uniformed and have proper meters. Upon arrival at our accommodation we were directed to a common room full of bean bags where we could have another sleep for a few hours.
Saigon’s District One is the place to be. Two main streets determine the scene: Pham Ngu Lao (pronounced; Fam New Lao) and Bui Vien Street running parallel to it. In between there are a myriad of little streets and alleyways barely two meters wide teeming with life.
I know my way around these places so we beelined for one of the best Smoothie places I know. The same people are still preparing fresh fruit smoothies from 9 am until midnight, 7 days a week. For A $1.20 they prepare a large cup of the most flavoursome fruit smoothies you can imagine. We needed to kill some time before we were able to check in (at 2 pm) so we headed for the Ben Thanh market nearby. On the way we passed a very modern computer and phone retail shop with perhaps 25 persons employed, including two persons to greet you when they open the large glass doors for you. Gert had seen the light at last and had "decided to ditch the “I “stuff" he is using. Last year while in Australia Gert borrowed my laptop every other day to write his blog but now he had to do it on a mini IPad. Many times I saw him frustrated when he lost stuff again and again, to which I replied “Why don’t you get a real computer and throw that “I” stuff away”. These days to get a new laptop doesn’t need to be expensive. We took some pictures of laptops and Phones and got to work at night. Gert selected a Lenovo laptop and me a HTC phone so I can throw away my IPhone which I hate as well. And for good measure I got another one for Paula also so we can make the house IPhone/Apple free. Night time came and Bui Vien Street started to pulsate with life. On the sidewalk rows of small chairs are lined up and turn the street into one big pub with street sellers fighting for space with buskers, scooters and food vendors. The little kid who has performed as a fire breather for many years was still performing his act but had now grown into a young man. We met a couple from the UK and had some interesting conversations.
Day two: After securing scooters and making sure our phone maps were up to date, we headed for the Presidential Palace and the war museum. The museum closes for lunch so we kept going after we learned that we would only have 20 minutes for the visit. We choose the Post Office, a work of art designed by Gustav Eiffel – the man who designed the Eiffel tower.
The Presidential Palace is still as it was when the Viet Cong took it over on April 30, 1975. I remember it well from the pictures on TV and, although I had been here before, it still gave me a strange feeling that I am walking around on that very same spot. The war museum I have visited several times and was still as shocking as it was before. The war time is over but, for many it is not, and never will be, as the aftermath of Agent Orange is still responsible for the birth of many deformed babies and people are still hurt by unexploded ordinance. Our days were pretty full and were taken up by lots of little things. (On the last day, by having to go back to the computer shop as Gert’s PC did not show certain key strokes which was due to the fact that the laptop had been setup in the Vietnamese language.)
Around midday we flew to Singapore and faced the end of our trip - Gert flying back to Holland and I for a a overnight stay before flying back to Australia on Friday night. At the airport we had a last coffee together and then each went our way. The MRT journey to Little India I could do with my eyes closed. Just over an hour later I settled down in the lounge of “The In-crowd” hostel in Dunlop Street. Although I had planned to go to the famous Singapore Zoo the next day things turned out differently. I had ran out of Singapore dollars and had to find a ATM which, the girl at the reception had advised, was at the entrance to the new underground station which I had come from the previous night. I walked over and looked around but couldn’t see anything there. It was 10 AM and already 31 degrees. Across the road is the well-known Sim Lim Square with a same named Sim Lim Electronics Shopping Centre along Rochor Road. This 6 level electronics plaza has about 500 !! electronics shops. I went in and came out again 5 hours later. It was the best place to be with 23 degrees inside and 35 degrees outside. Several hundred dollars poorer I left the centre at 3 pm and got ready for my departure from Changi Airport at 10.25 pm for my flight back to Australia.
This brings this trip to an end. I wish to thank the readers who regularly send me messages of encouragement and comments either through the webserver or via my email address.
Another great trip, hope you have enjoyed it too.
Take care Richard.
Several times we had passed a restaurant just down the road, displaying a large sign "Thit Cho" above the door. I had recognised the words and pointed it out to Gert and said: “You see that Gert? Thit means meat and Cho means dog”. In other words, a restaurant specialising in dog meat. Gert didn't believe it at first until I pointed to the picture of the dog above the sign. The bits of meat in the showcase were not recognisable and could have easily been beef, lamb or goat. The thought of eating a piece of dog is, of course, not appealing because of our cultural upbringing. But it has to be seen in the same light as eating beef is in India where the consumption of beef is as repulsive to them as eating dog meat is to us.
You need to adapt and have the capability and imagination to stand in the middle of an imaginary circle at the place where you are at this moment in time and realise this is your centre of the world for now and whatever you see and experience is normal to the people you observe in your surroundings. Once you can do that, the very different things become easier to accept.
I suppose you have to be a traveller to be able to do this as, from afar, things are often “strange” if they differ from your own cultural upbringing and surrounding.
For the journey from Dalat to Saigon, we had booked the overnight sleeper bus. These buses come in several variations and it is always “a wait and see” situation. The ride was as rough as expected as we knew we were going the pass to same amount of roadworks as we had experienced on our motorcycles. Arriving in Saigon at 4.15 AM, I was ready for the scam taxi drivers and wanted to show Gert what these people are like and ultimately what damage they do to their own country. Our hotel was just 100 meters away and when approached by a taxi driver I mentioned the address. “I will take you there.” He said, but did not want to give me a quote. His answer was “I have a taxi meter”. “Of course” I thought “And I know that it turns at twice the speed as it should.” The next answer came that it would take 10 to 12 minutes. “Well, mate, thank you, we will walk in two minutes as it is right across the road”. I said.
So, travellers beware when in Saigon only use the two recommended companies - Vinasun or Mai Linh. They are uniformed and have proper meters. Upon arrival at our accommodation we were directed to a common room full of bean bags where we could have another sleep for a few hours.
Saigon’s District One is the place to be. Two main streets determine the scene: Pham Ngu Lao (pronounced; Fam New Lao) and Bui Vien Street running parallel to it. In between there are a myriad of little streets and alleyways barely two meters wide teeming with life.
I know my way around these places so we beelined for one of the best Smoothie places I know. The same people are still preparing fresh fruit smoothies from 9 am until midnight, 7 days a week. For A $1.20 they prepare a large cup of the most flavoursome fruit smoothies you can imagine. We needed to kill some time before we were able to check in (at 2 pm) so we headed for the Ben Thanh market nearby. On the way we passed a very modern computer and phone retail shop with perhaps 25 persons employed, including two persons to greet you when they open the large glass doors for you. Gert had seen the light at last and had "decided to ditch the “I “stuff" he is using. Last year while in Australia Gert borrowed my laptop every other day to write his blog but now he had to do it on a mini IPad. Many times I saw him frustrated when he lost stuff again and again, to which I replied “Why don’t you get a real computer and throw that “I” stuff away”. These days to get a new laptop doesn’t need to be expensive. We took some pictures of laptops and Phones and got to work at night. Gert selected a Lenovo laptop and me a HTC phone so I can throw away my IPhone which I hate as well. And for good measure I got another one for Paula also so we can make the house IPhone/Apple free. Night time came and Bui Vien Street started to pulsate with life. On the sidewalk rows of small chairs are lined up and turn the street into one big pub with street sellers fighting for space with buskers, scooters and food vendors. The little kid who has performed as a fire breather for many years was still performing his act but had now grown into a young man. We met a couple from the UK and had some interesting conversations.
Day two: After securing scooters and making sure our phone maps were up to date, we headed for the Presidential Palace and the war museum. The museum closes for lunch so we kept going after we learned that we would only have 20 minutes for the visit. We choose the Post Office, a work of art designed by Gustav Eiffel – the man who designed the Eiffel tower.
The Presidential Palace is still as it was when the Viet Cong took it over on April 30, 1975. I remember it well from the pictures on TV and, although I had been here before, it still gave me a strange feeling that I am walking around on that very same spot. The war museum I have visited several times and was still as shocking as it was before. The war time is over but, for many it is not, and never will be, as the aftermath of Agent Orange is still responsible for the birth of many deformed babies and people are still hurt by unexploded ordinance. Our days were pretty full and were taken up by lots of little things. (On the last day, by having to go back to the computer shop as Gert’s PC did not show certain key strokes which was due to the fact that the laptop had been setup in the Vietnamese language.)
Around midday we flew to Singapore and faced the end of our trip - Gert flying back to Holland and I for a a overnight stay before flying back to Australia on Friday night. At the airport we had a last coffee together and then each went our way. The MRT journey to Little India I could do with my eyes closed. Just over an hour later I settled down in the lounge of “The In-crowd” hostel in Dunlop Street. Although I had planned to go to the famous Singapore Zoo the next day things turned out differently. I had ran out of Singapore dollars and had to find a ATM which, the girl at the reception had advised, was at the entrance to the new underground station which I had come from the previous night. I walked over and looked around but couldn’t see anything there. It was 10 AM and already 31 degrees. Across the road is the well-known Sim Lim Square with a same named Sim Lim Electronics Shopping Centre along Rochor Road. This 6 level electronics plaza has about 500 !! electronics shops. I went in and came out again 5 hours later. It was the best place to be with 23 degrees inside and 35 degrees outside. Several hundred dollars poorer I left the centre at 3 pm and got ready for my departure from Changi Airport at 10.25 pm for my flight back to Australia.
This brings this trip to an end. I wish to thank the readers who regularly send me messages of encouragement and comments either through the webserver or via my email address.
Another great trip, hope you have enjoyed it too.
Take care Richard.
- comments
Ab Brielle Beste Richard, Bedankt voor je verslag. Ik kijk nu toch wel iets anders aan tegen deze kant van de wereld. Misschien zal ik er nooit komen, maar door jou goede verslagen en de goede en mooie foto's, heb ik toch het idee dat ik er een beetje geweest ben. Ik bewaar alles en lees het later nog eens rustig terug als een goed boek. Nogmaals heel veel dank en we hopen je snel weer te horen of misschien wel te zien in ... Holland ??
Gert Roos Richard, thanks for your company during 6 wonderpil weeks, I learned a lot About traveling, and met a lot of wonderfull people and had a great time mate!
Paula Great story and great pictures, but so glad you are home!
Nathalie G Glad you had a good time and good to see you home safely X
karel Hoi Richard, Bedankt voor je prachtige verhalen en de mooie foto's. Het was weer een belevenis om dit mee te maken. Door dat je verhalen langer waren de laatste tijd, bekeek ik soms alleen de foto's om later de verhalen te lezen. Fijn dat alles weer goed is verlopen. ook Gert heeft eneorm genoten en zich over vele dingen verbaast. Welkom thuis inmiddels, neem ik aan. Groet aan Paula. van Elly en Karel.