25/12/2006
We got up early in the morning to finish packing our bags and also so I could go and pick up my custom made messenger bag. I made my early morning phone calls back home to wish everyone merry christmas and then had some pho as I rushed to around the city, it was crap, but I sat down for some great Cafe Suda! We caught our flight and was introduced to Saigon in the mid afternoon. My first impression wasn’t that good, but as we moved around the city it was great – one of my favourite cities. A lot more commercial than the rest of the country, but there were lots of things to do and see. The taxi drive took us to Pham Ngu Lao, the backpacker haven, it was great as we found a nice guesthouse which had regulations – such as “No bringing back prostitutes”- GOLD.
We hit some markets and it was my time to get some last minute gifts. It was great, the bargaining skills came into play as we walked around the markets firing up shop owners by dropping their initial prices down to a quarter – and it worked! We had all the strategies down pat, but some people were pissed off because we were shopping around – jeez. I ended up getting a Samsonite suit case, 4 watches, 2 bottles of perfume and a few belts. We went back to the hotel to rest up before we headed out for the night.
Rosh felt sick, Manny couldnt be bothered going out – so I enlisted Jeremy to enjoy Christmas night in Saigon. We walked around for a bit and couldn’t find anywhere good to sit down and have a few, until we hit some corner bar (I forget the name). We sat down next to an Aussie who was on his own, Rich, he’s from SA and we decide to have a big one. Jeremy and Manny had left, but I stayed out and drank till the wee hours of the morning – 3 am. We played pool and had heaps of beer, people were getting the shits with us because we owned the pool table hehe. That’s when I told Rich to join us for my final days in Saigon.
Filed under: Asia Trip, Ho Chi Minh, Saigon, Vietnam
