Saigon, Vietnam Day 3

My poor writing will in no way capture the awesomeness of this day. Here we go!

After eating breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the meeting spot agreed upon with Sheila. Sheila is our friend we met in the park two evenings ago. I sent her an email verifying the meeting spot and everything was a go. I have to be honest. We had no idea what to expect. Two Americans in Vietman, meeting a nice girl in the park that in a few days wants to take us around the town on her motorbike. It is too bad that you hear about all the scams with travelers, but we still had to keep up our guard. We had no idea what we were in for. One guy at our hostel even told us we might be drugged and robbed.

Sheila arrived exactly on time with a giant smile. The plan was to head to her place of residence, District Four, which was just across the river, still kind of close. She made arrangements with a moped driver to take me, and she took Katherine on the back of her motorbike. This was our first time on these scary wheeled death vehicles. Surprisingly, the ride was comfortable and somewhat safe. We arrived at the big market in the district. Sheila parked her bike and the driver that took me rode off. We were now in the middle of a different world.

Sheila mentioned that the market would be something different. She wasn't joking. We saw everything imaginable! We saw every type of fish. Most of them were still alive. We saw eels, frogs, snails, turtles, intestines, hearts, brains, duck heads, livers, pig parts, cow parts, fish paste, vegetables of all kinds, and also experienced the smell to accompany those items. We just leisurely strolled through the walkways dodging mopeds, bicycles, and of course the people. At this market, we were the "freak shows." There was no doubt about that. I did not see a foreigner the entire time. When I came by with the sunglasses, Aussie hat, and blonde hair, people stared. Not just stared, but hit the person next to them to have them stare too. I got used to it. Sheila took her time and talked about everything we showed interest in. She picked up some potent high powered ginger that is unattainable in the USA for sure.

From the market, we walked down a few streets with more merchants selling their wares. There are no large department stores or Home Depots in these parts. Sheila mentioned that they tried to have those stores for a little bit, but no one would go there. By having many more small family owned stores, more people can make money and there is a greater selection. No kidding. I hate the limited Big Box store selection and lack of knowledge to help you as well. These people are working with their product and know it inside and out.

I have to mention the shrimp. The were the largest shrimp I had ever seen in my life. I don't know if they were some mutated form of the species, but they we at least 1.5 times as big as the largest ones that I have seen in the USA. I was tempted to get a giant bag and cook them right there. Sheila said that was just what she was used to and she makes it to this market every day to get fresh ingredients for her cooking at home. She said almost everybody must buy food everyday because almost nobody owns a refrigerator.

We also made a stop at the local medicine shop and pagoda. Sheila showed us the inside where you can pray and get remedies for sickness. It is all natural medicine with a lady working with shelves and shelves of ingredients. She said that the place is supported by charity and if you don't have money to pay, no problem.

Next came our minor catastrophe for the day. It goes like this:

We finished at the market. There was one moped and 2 helmets. We didn't want to get a driver for me. Katherine and Sheila took off to a restaurant. I just waited. Katherine was dropped off. Sheila came back for me. We drove for a bit and she realized she needed to get to the ATM. I waited by her moped as she went inside. Time passed. She came out and said she can't find her card. She went back to the bank to figure this out. I still waited with her moped while Katherine waited down the street not knowing what was going on. A lot more time passed. Probably a half hour. Sheila came out, and we went to the restaurant to meet Katherine. Katherine was not there. We freaked! Sheila had to talk to the men outside to see where she went. I was thinking she thought we crashed, or Sheila tried to off me, or something worse. We found Kathine upstairs. All I left her with was a tube of Chapstick. No map. No phone. No address of the hotel. Good work Garner. This all turned out fine and we sat down for lunch right at the place that was trying to help Katherine find her way back to the hotel. Katherine has a better story about how she dealt with people in District 4 in Saigon that did not speak English.

We took our sweet time eating. The conversation was amazing. Sheila has so much to say and it was very interesting to hear the ideas she had about the world. She spent time in the USA at the Grand Canyon for a few months on an exchange program and finished her bachelors degree in business. Now she is working on her MBA in hopes of helping her family's ice company. As time went by, we didn't speak of it, but we knew that this girl was something really special. The day only got better.

After lunch, we headed to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. We hired one of the men who tried to help stranded Katherine to take her on his motorbike, and I rode on Sheila's motorbike without a problem. No one got left and no one thought the other died. As a foreigner, it is kind of fun to sit around and wait as the locals stare at you and ask if you need help. Standing makes me look freaky, but sitting makes me look smaller and not as many people bother me. I would like to blend in. That might be impossible.

The museum was a full history of HCM's life with pictures and relics. Obviously, I need to read up more on the man to fully understand his long lasting impact on Vietnam. This museum gave me a good douse of info on what I already had, but going farther through will be greatly beneficial. The museum overlooked the river, which made for relaxing breaks between the rooms.

Sheila then took us to a local park for dinner. We stopped to grab some coconuts for drinks and just got the local BBQ in the park. There were children everywhere. It was very clean and plenty to do. After eating, Sheila wanted to play a few rounds on the fussball table. Of course! You don't have to twist my arm to do that! We played a few games in which all others watching thought we were a spectacle. Some young teenage girls even came up and barged their way in to play. That was fine, and kind of entertaining at the same time.

Unfortunately, after the park Sheila took back to our hotel. We had to get our bags ready for the bus trip to Cambodia the next day and put an end to an amazing time with a new friend. We had just, in the blink of an eye, made a new friend, spent the entire day with her, and now have to say goodbye until.... Who knows? This was strangely the most difficult goodbye of all our travels. I mean we have made great friends before, but this new friend would be very difficult to see again, for sure. I don't just hop to Vietnam on a plane yearly, and she doesnt do the same to the USA. We wish her the absolute best with her school and family, and that hopefully in the future, we can meet again. I just can hope for some reason she needs to go to the USA for something and we can show her our hospitality. This gal is truly something special. In just one day, I think we just saw a glimpse.

 

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