Three days ago I arrived in Saigon, Vietnam. After a 14 hour bus ride from Cambodia into another country I really knew nothing about, other then the war in the 1970's, I was unsure of what to expect. I had not even glanced at the Vietnam section of "South East Asia on a Shoestring" yet. Before leaving Cambodia I had quickly wrote down a hostel with good reviews to stay at, but that was as far as my knowledge of Vietnam went.
I got into Saigon at 11:00am. "Where are you going sir? I'll take you"
I say "No no, I don't need a cab, I think it is close"...
To say the least, my first experience in Vietnam was being ripped off by a fake cabby with a faulty meter... I knew I was being ripped off within the first 5 minutes when the meter suddenly hit 150,000d... But I just mentioned that he better get me there in the next couple minutes... I would rather pay $10-$15 and not get taking somewhere and robbed, or beat up. All and all it cost me 280,000d ($14usd) instead of 28,000d...
"So... This is what Vietnam is going to be like"...
I quickly made a few notes of how to say the basics in Vietnamese, and took off to wander around the city and practise speaking to the locals. I was shocked how clean of a city Saigon is, and how friendly the people are. I spoke to many people and three people had mentioned to be careful about people approaching you in the park, who just want to talk and be friendly as they will ask you to go somewhere with them, and rob you... Government of Canada website said the same thing...
Walking back to my hostel that night I was approached by a group of students in the park. "Hello, you are our first victim today"
Turns out they really just wanted to sit and talk to practise their English. I sat and chatted with them for three hours, and I had mentioned to one of the girls I really wanted to get out and eat authentic local food. She said to meet her back at the same spot at 6pm in two days and she would show me the real Vietnamese food.
Same thing the next night... I went to the park, and sat and chatted with 10 different locals. I told them about Canada, helped them with their English, and they helped me with my Vietnamese. We all shared notes, and passed around our note pads showing how to spell words. I had put a bunch of pictures on my iPod of Calgary, Canada, and the snow... They all talk about snow. So I shared all the pictures and they were so excited to see pictures of Calgary, the mountains, and snow.
We exchanged emails and went our own ways after 4 hours of "class" in the park.
I showed up at 6pm to meet "Water" for dinner. I only waited about 3 minutes before she showed up. I was already talking to another guy who was 23 who wanted to practise English. Water mentioned we had to wait for her friend to come pick us up, because we were going to district 3 for dinner. She spoke very broken English, but we were able to communicate still. The three of us walked around the park for 10 minutes, and two other guys began walking slowly behind us.
I just kept smiling and laughing knowing I really didn't have much on me. about $15 cash and my iPod, but it was stashed inside a secret pocket in my jacket.
Her friend eventually got there, and she said he would take me on his moto to district 3.
Moto, in the rain, at night, in Saigon... Ummm it was a rush.
I never got robbed...
We went to a little two story tall restaurant and I told them to order for me. The most amazing food was quickly thrown in front of us... 2 different fish sauces, chilli paste, two plates of meat, a bowl of garlic, a bowl of bean sprouts, 3 bowls of noodles, a bowl of cucumbers, a plate of rice paper, and a plate stacked about 17 inches tall of about 12 differt leafy greens, and herbs... This would honestly feed 10 people, and they said we had to eat all of it... My last few bites had me gagging and almost puking I was so full.
The bill came, it was 260,000d ($13)... That included 7 drinks. I insisted I pay as I know $13 is a lot of money to many people here. They would not allow it. They said they know I will repay the favour next time we meet in life, but tonight I was their guest. I was truly blown away by the kindness and generosity that complete strangers have towards one another, with an incredible language barrier allowing us to barley be able to speak to one other.
So by just going with a gut feeling, taking a chance, and just going with it, I met two of the kindest individuals I have ever met travelling, in a situation that very well could have taken an opposite direction and got me robbed or worse. I truly feel lucky for this experience, and it has again opened my eyes to the amazing people who are in this world.
In a city that started off in a crappy situation being ripped off, turned into one of my favourite places full of the most amazing people I have ever had the chance of meeting.
