I'm rich?

The Internet connection here is slow and I'm unable to upload any of my pictures so far. But I wanted to post before we leave this morning for our overnight trip to Mekong Delta.
Sunday was an interesting day... I braved the Ben Thanh market for some shopping (you have to bargain) and a $2 lunch, then went to see the Reunification Palace, but it was closed for lunch time. There was no where nearby to kill time. I was approached by some motorbike drives offering to take me to a few other places then back to the museum later on. I was scared to ride the bike itself, but the driver promised to go slow. He took to very interesting pagodas and Chinese temples, where devotees were chanting and the air was thick with incense. After the museum he took me back to the hotel, where we had a slight disagreement on the price. I thought I had established a price of 50,000 dong ($3.30) for the whole afternoon, which was in line with what my guide book recommended, but he tried to tell me it was 50,000 dong for each leg of the trip and he wanted something like $20. I was pretty pissed and tried to stand my ground at $5, but he gave me the guilty treatment about how I was a rich foreigner and had so much money for hotel, so surely I can give him more money. See, the local people see all foreigners as the same (doesn't matter if you are American or Australian or from Singapore) and that we have loads upon loads of disposable income to spend. I ended up giving him $10, but he was very ungrateful with that. To me he seemed greedy. But, I dunno, maybe other foreigners do give him same amount for similar services. He did wait outside for me while I visiting each place on our route. And he drove safely. But his attitude or the misunderstanding kind of tainted the experience for me and I was a bit upset afterwards, but I'm over it now. I was also very sunburnt on my shoulders, and I understand now why many women cover themselves completely and wear face masks while riding the motorbikes. You want to protect yourself from the sun and pollution.
My group is a good mix of 11 people. My roomate, an Aussie girl, and I are the same age and we are the youngest. There are some other single women, a bit older, and 2 couples. Our guide is a Vietnamese guy about my age. I think he's been with the company for 3 years.
Yesterday we had a short tour of the city by cyclo including a visit to the sobering War Remnants Museum. I also had some delicious pho (pronounced almost like "fur"). I spent the afternoon napping, as it was pouring down rain. I had dinner with my roomate (more delicious food for less than $3) and on the walk back to hotel I was accosted to buy a t-shirt. Actually the sales girl was really sweet and entertaining and I enjoyed talking to her. And, she was an effective sales girl. I ended up with a $2 t-shirt I had not planned on buying. And again, I was told I was rich. Hmmm, I never knew this before. I guess it's all relative. Anyway, I needed the extra t-shirt. I am sweating buckets here during the day.
Most of the people in Ho Chi Minh City seem to be working class - there is not too much poverty from what I can tell (but what do I know?). And many people seem to be in their 20s or low 30s. It's a young city. I think the Mekong Delta will be a bit different.

First impressions

I'm still adjusting to Vietnam: the heat, the people staring at me (maybe they just think it's weird that I'm by myself), and the time change. I went to bed at 9 PM last night and woke up at 4 AM today. The mattress in my room is much firmer than I am used to, but I slept well. Luckily the TV has a wide variety of channels to entertain me, including programs in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Chinese dubbed into Vietnamese, English dubbed into Vietnamese (e.g., an episode of "Charmed," The Dukes of Hazard movie, a Dirty Harry movie), and even a Mexican telenova dubbed and subtitled in Chinese, with Vietnamese dubbing on top of that.

My spa treatment yesterday at Spatropic was good. I thought I could walk the whole way there, but it was further than I thought, and the air is kind of polluted from all the motorbikes, so I took my first cyclo ride the last couple of blocks. There I had the "Pampering for Her" package, which included an herbal steam bath, flower body scrub, deep tissue massage, aromatherapy facial, and foot reflexology. Everything smelled great and they gave me glasses of yummy ice tea throughout. I think it was chrysanthemum tea. I couldn't stay in the steam bath for the full 15 minutes though. I thought I was going to pass out. I know it's good to sweat out the toxins, but it was like "surface of Venus" hot in there.

I had two nice meals yesterday, both at slightly upscale places, but still only paid $9 for each meal. For lunch I had barbequed eggplant with purple (wild) rice, and for dinner I had a lettuce roll (like a spring roll) and the house special soup: bits of chicken and shrimp with peas, carrots, green onion, and lotus root in a clear broth, served in a hollowed-out coconut. For beverages I've been sticking with (strong) ice coffee with milk, although I'm supposed to be avoiding ice. Oops.

The street scenes here are interesting. It looks like what I imagined or have seen in photos - there are a lot motorbikes, a few conical hats (but mostly people in modern dress), lots of tropical fresh fruits for sale, like dragonfruit and mangosteen, some people washing dishes on the sidewalk... There are a few beggars but for the most part everyone seems middle class or working class, at least in the areas I've seen so far.

Today I will walk around some more, try to take some pictures. This evening my Interpid tour starts. I'm looking forward to seeing who's in my group.

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I'm in Asia!!

It's midnight on a Friday here in Ho Chi Minh City (hereafter referred to as Saigon, because it's easier to type), and it's very hot. I'm using one of the computers at my hotel (cost is 20,000 dong per hour, about $1.33). I had no problems with my flights or connection in Tokyo. I was able to sleep a little bit on the planes, and the flights didn't seem that long (11 hours + 3-hr layover + 6 hours). But I couldn't get my card to work in the ATM at the Saigon airport, and the airport transfer that I paid too much for and arranged ahead of time through my tour company did not show up. I looked around the area just outside the doors where everyone was gathered waiting for international arrivals, but none of the signs held up had my name on it. I waited for 20 or 30 minutes, feeling tired, hot, and self-concious as a hundred Vietnamese people stared at me and various taxis drivers tried to recruit me as their passenger. (They weren't too bothersome, actually; they were kind of soft-spoken about it). Maybe I should have waited longer, but I decided that my ride wasn't coming, and I chose to go with the taxi driver who spoke the best English and had the best teeth. I paid him in US dollars, which meant that I ended up paying too much, but it was still only $10 including tip - not unreasonable (this type of thing is affectionately referred to as the "tourist tax").
I'm kind of hungry but will have to wait to eat until breakfast tomorrow morning (included at my hotel). The hotel seems OK so far... I think the location is good, from what I saw on the ride here. I don't think it has sunk in yet that I'm in SE Asia! I'm tired... time to sleep!