Chaos and Resilience by Vilma Bravo
Ho Chi Minh City: Chaos and Resilience
By Vilma Bravo
I soon learned the survival trick of the locals and that was to seize the opportunity presented by a few meters gap between roaring motos and pedestrians. Simply cross the road with confidence and let the moto drivers be entirely responsible for avoiding pedestrians.
“Saigon is a perfectly walkable city,” said the guesthouse manager, Ms. Vy, as she handed me the city street map. She was right, notwithstanding her failure to warn me about the motos. Walking was indeed the best way to meet the locals.
Pham Ngu Lao Street is known as the backpackers' area and that was where I stayed. Across its entire length is the 23 September Park. In search of an alternative to a western breakfast, I decided to explore the park. At one end were food stalls. I bought sliced papaya and pineapple from one vendor. I was given a bamboo skewer as fork. I moved on to another stall where I had my pick of what to place inside my baguette – fried eggs, celery, onions, cucumber. I put my foot down when the vendor offered to spice up my sandwich with chili and fish paste. I finally sat down in another stall where I ordered Vietnamese coffee which was brewed right on my table using what I thought was the Vietnamese version of a French press. That sumptuous breakfast set me back by $1.
As I walked towards the other end of the park, I was struck by the quiet respect for space the Vietnamese showed one another. The park was full of people focused on their own “thing”. Football was clearly the favored sport. It must be the national sport, because all the public television sets I passed along the way were tuned to the Football Cup games, and a crowd would break into a lusty cheer when their teams scored. Two groups were playing “sipa”, an Asian version of a ball game that uses a feathered weight that is alternately tossed to and fro, by foot. Amidst the various sports activities, a group of guys were sound asleep by a lotus pond. A man sporting a Ho Chi Minh goatee was reading the papers right on the ground. But the best sight came at the end of the park - a huge crowd of women all dressed in white were doing gymnastics to the beat of a drum.
The mother of Ms. Vy told me her sister died because they were too destitute to provide proper nutrition and medicine - that was back when Vietnam reeled from the economic downturn brought by political conflicts. She recalled that all they could afford were sweet potatoes.
That was then, however, now, while I didn't see prosperity by western standards, the roaring motos in the streets signal a people's determination to move on.
Vilma Bravo lives in the Philippines. This was her first travel story and everyone at Leap Local was delighted to receive this heartfelt and information packed entry. Here are Vilma’s tips for Ho Chi Minh:
From the international airport, Ho Chi Minh City is accessible by public bus (#152) and by taxi. The bus fare costs 3000 dong and stops at the bus terminal in Ben Thanh market, within walking distance from Pham Ngu Lao area. Within the city, transportation available would be public buses, taxos. motos, and cyclos. The public buses are cheap at 3000 dong. Not all taxi drivers use their meters so as with the motos and cyclos, the passengers have to negotiate the fare.
Restaurants and food stalls are readily available all over the cities. Varied cuisines are available. Places to stay range from budget to 5-star hotels. The budget hotels are close to Pham Ngu Lao. Travellers should have no difficulty deciding on a hotel in Pham Ngu Lao since they are close to one another. I stayed at Vy Khanh Hotel, which is also the subject of my review on local guide and services. Accomodations may be selected and reserved on hostelworld.com/
Mrs Vy’s hostel:
http://www.leaplocal.org/index.php?option=com_local&task=view&local_id=362