Arriving on the Other Side of the World

When we told people that we were vacationing in Vietnam, we inevitably got one of two answers: an excited “wow, that’s awesome!” Or a confused and slightly alarmed “why?” The probability of getting each answer had a generational skew; people who had solid memories of the Vietnam war were much more likely to question our choice. People our age were more likely to think of the beautiful country featured in the Top Gear season 12 special or the occasional travel show episode. Regardless of the response we received, we told everyone the same thing: it had been on our list of places to go, we had gotten a great deal, and we were very excited.

We flew Japan Airlines from L.A. to Tokyo and from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City (the locals use Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon interchangeably, so I will as well). I had been told that Asian airlines would spoil me for flying on U.S. airlines, and I can’t disagree. For the 12-hour flight to Tokyo, we opted to purchase premium economy seats, mostly so that our knees wouldn’t be completely ruined. There were some lovely perks; not only could I stretch out my legs completely, but we also got tons of snacks and free alcoholic drinks. At one point we were served hot broth, which was wonderful. There were also slippers to wear during the flight, which provided a welcome change from our hiking boots. A meal on Japan Airlines (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

The new 787s succeeded in feeling more airy with their curved, high baggage bins, but they are really not built for easy access by short people. The flight attendants couldn’t reach the baggage bins in the center of the plane to close them, so they apologized profusely while standing on the edge of passengers’ seats in order to reach. When we were deplaning in Vietnam, we noticed another issue with the American-made planes: people couldn’t reach their luggage to get it out of the bins. A few people around us asked Jason to take their bags down.

After deplaning and waiting about 45 minutes for our visa on arrival, we got our bag and stepped out into the tremendously hot and very hectic city at midnight local time. We were not sure whether there would be someone waiting for us still, since the flight had been late and our visas had taken a while, but found a man holding up the sign for our tour company and waved at him excitedly. Outside the airport (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The half hour drive through Ho Chi Minh City was slightly alarming at the very least. Our tour manager calls Saigon traffic chaos, which is pretty accurate. There is very little regard for lanes or right of way, and everyone weaves through traffic as much as is allowed by the size of their vehicle. The bikes are everywhere. While there is a bike helmet law in Vietnam, it does not apply to children under five, so many parents ride with unprotected children in front of them. Walking around in the city and crossing streets is actually not as scary as I expected–the general advice is to walk very slow and let the bikes figure out how best to go around you. It feels like a terrible trust game, but it seems to work for the most part.

Bikes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Speeding bikes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

In the morning, we had a buffet breakfast at the hotel before meeting with our tour guide. The buffet was massive–there was an omelet station with pancakes and crepes, a soup station, American-style buffet including fried potatoes, sausage, and bacon, fried rice and noodles, chicken curry, a full salad bar for some reason, fruit, yogurt, toast and pastries, juice, coffee and tea, and probably some other stuff that I missed.

After breakfast we started being sheep with the rest of our tour group (about 35 people). At least half of them had already been in Thailand and Cambodia for the past week, and we joined up with their tour in Ho Chi Minh City. After our briefing, we headed out into the city in a bus. Our first stop was the Notre Dame cathedral, which was completely created in France and then shipped to Vietnam, and the Buu Dien central post office, which was one of the first buildings built by the French in the 1800s. There were at least 4 couples taking wedding pictures during our 15 minute stay. Next, we went to a lacquer shop and watched workers go through the various processes involved in putting art and 17 coats of lacquer over pieces of wood. The result is gorgeous. We then went to the Ben Thanh market, where I far overpaid for an orange and was generally very overwhelmed by the huge number of people trying to get me to buy things. A fire truck races to a practice fire (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The post office building (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Outside the Cathedral (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Inside the Cathedral (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Learning about lacquer layers (Photo/Jason Rafal)Crushing duck shells into lacquer (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Crushing duck shells into lacquer (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Ben Thanh market (Photo/Jason Rafal)Mystery food in the Ben Thanh market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Shrimp at the Ben Thanh market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Fruit at the Ben Thanh market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After taking the bus back to the hotel, we shared an omelet banh mi that we got from our tour manager (delicious, and surprisingly spicy at the end) and struck out on our own. After going to see the opera house and failing to find a pho place that our tour manager recommended, we decided to try to find another place he had recommended. While we were wandering back and forth on the street looking lost, a local took pity on us and pointed us into a courtyard full of restaurants, including the English-friendly one we were looking for. After a tasty meal in which we debated several times about eating the sprouts and lettuce included with our meal (generally not recommended for weak American stomachs) we headed out for a long walk.

Vietnamese coffee (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Saigon is very hot and muggy. After less than an hour, we were dripping sweat pretty constantly. We made a large circle around District 1, visiting the history museum and walking by the war remnants museum. We both enjoyed reading the Vietnamese communist spin on the historical artifacts and time periods. Our walk also took us away from the tourist areas, which was a nice change. Here, locals watched us walk by with no real interest and shops became specialized instead of devoted to chachskies, and we frequently stepped off the sidewalk to avoid a group of people squatting beside a bike they were fixing.

The history museum (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On the walk back to the hotel we went through the Tao Dan Park, which was a lovely surprise. In the midst of the loud, hectic city, the large polygon of green space was a welcome retreat. There was an exercise area where people used common equipment, and there were several groups of dancers, drummers, and other performers practicing. There were also art pieces scattered through the park to provide visual interest. It was surprisingly peaceful.

Public exercise equipment in Tao Dan Park (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A castle in the Tao Dan Park (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We were going to do some more wandering tonight, but it’s not even 8:00 p.m. local and we are both struggling to keep our eyes open. Tomorrow, we fly to Da Nang.

City Hall against the backdrop of a modern building (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A tangle of cables (Photo/Jason Rafal)