Vietnam = Cambodia + 20 years. It’s like Cambodia’s big brother. Natural features are very like it’s neighbour, but it’s more advanced. I use that word hesitantly because it implies that commerical, economic and infrastructural development is “better”.
No tuk-tuks – that’s the first thing I noticed. And I kinda missed them. Whilst their hassling got wearing, tuk-tuk drivers were a friendly bunch. Part of the reason for their absence is the road networks – at times it felt like being in America, as we left the Mekong Delta behind:
Tourist buses have replaced local vans. I gained a comfortable seat and wifi (as long as you weren’t sitting at the back), but felt I lost some authenticity, even though the majority of passengers were Vietnamese. Second world, not third. As the bus station was 15km outside the city centre (why do they do that?), I got a moto and really enjoyed the journey (complete with helmet, which was a first):
Lots of bustling side streets extend from the main backpacker drag (Saigon’s answer to Bangkok’s Khao San Road), but it’s cleverly numbered: the first number indicates the position on the main road, and the second number shows where on the side road your destination is. So to find my hotel (address number: 185/20) I went to 185 on the main road, and as I walked down the side street, the addresses increased, so the closest to the main road was 185/1… so I just walked until I got to number 20 (about 25m).
Bitexco’s Financial Tower was never going to match up to the Burj Khalifa, but the BJ isn’t in Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City or “HCMC”, but all the locals still refer to it as Saigon). A $5 Sprite bought me a seat on the 52nd floor (it was free to go up) from where I watched the sunset:
Is this a photobomb, d’ya reckon?
Although I’ve never been to a bar where you’ve had to apply for cocktails:
Blues guitar music from the other side of the bar started out OK, but got gradually worse (something to do with the beer he was knocking back?!). It was pretty posh. Or at least, they wanted it to be posh. But I wasn’t the only one going casual – the Chinese and Vietnamese were dressed up, but a group of western middle-aged ladies were in beach attire – and I wondered whether we were let in because we were clearly western; ergo, we are rich. Finding out how the other half live. And it doesn’t sit quite right.
Wandering back through the park, I noticed groups of Vietnamese crowded round westerners. I wondered if they were doing some ad hoc cultural exchange of sorts, but didn’t stop to find out.
On the surface, Vietnam appears to be very similar to Cambodia:
- landscape
- lots of dogs
- detached properties
- scooters
- dust
- relatively poor
- building boom
- terrible music (sorry, I really am trying)
- shops and dwellings open to the street
But there were some immediately apparent differences:
- scooter drivers (and their passengers) wear helmets
- buses are government-run
- Lots and lots and lots of lorries
- More scooters than Cambodia
- Lots more cars that Cambodia
- Written language is based on the Latin alphabet (more on this later)
- More exposed flesh
- Higher-class establishments (i.e. more high-quality hotels, etc)
- High buildings – I can’t recall seeing many skyscrapers in Phnom Penh
- Western brands (food, clothing, etc); for instance, the shopping mall below the Bitexco Tower (of course there was) had a Top Shop:
… and did you notice that 12 was the largest size offered?
Random photo: you remember I mentioned that the middle-aged lady attire of choice was the matching top/bottom combo? Here it is again:
They don’t really need Top Shop after all.