I’d imagined Saigon in post-colonial elegance, but instead, it’s a post-industrial metropolis, a swirl of scooters driven by candy colored helmeted 19 year olds, nearly 9 million of them. I was absolutely wrong, Saigon was not the city I was looking for.
The good news is that Phnom Penh absolutely is. The fine grace of the temple and pagoda rooflines stands out against the French colonial architecture, river boats come and go at the waterfront, and there’s a style here that makes a person feel like they’re in a movie.… continued…
- Windowless hotel rooms.
- Icky bathrooms.
- The bus.
- Lousy air quality, including second hand smoke.
- All those zeroes on the currency.
- Unpredictable coffee.
- Very Hard Beds. No, I mean VERY hard.
- Noise pollution.
- Aggressive shopkeepers.
- Being on someone else’s schedule.
That’s it for the complaining. Everyone gets to do a little bit, it’s only fair. But I’m done now.… continued…
At the Cu Chi tunnels, you can see where the Viet Cong forces, working with the local people (or not, it’s not clear) dug out an extensive underground complex that reaches from the outskirts of Saigon all the way to Cambodia. You can see examples of the terrifying traps the VC built to snag the American soldiers and you can buy an ice cream cone. You can crawl on your knees through a dark hole and then, for fun, you can shoot an AK47 at the firing range.… continued…
There’s a big mural on the back wall of one of the expat cafes in town that’s got Bruce Lee with a big can of Coke in one hand, and on the other side, there’s a Mona Lisa wearing an iPod. In the middle, it says in big letters, “I shop, therefore I am.” In the front salon, there’s a huge painting of Bono in a Superman outfit, below his portrait it says “Superbono!” in huge letters and to one side, it said “Giving, not bombing.” I was unsure how to take any of this stuff – is it ironic, sarcastic, serious?… continued…
You know that paint you used in grade school? The chalky stuff, tempera, that when it dried, rubbed off on your clothes and your hands and your backpack and your homework? Remember those dry colors, dusty and dirty but oh so bright? Those are the colors of Hoi An. And because the entire country is in a frenzy of preparation for Tet, new coats of yellow and turquoise green and cerulean blue are being applied to the buildings that line the streets.… continued…
