Perhaps My Last Visit to Ho Chi Minh City

Yesterday: Day 1 in Saigon (October 21)

 

The taxi guy who brought me from the airport to the hotel stole my 4,000 yen. When we were going out of the airport, he asked me to pay “10 dong” for “parking.” “10 dong? How much is it?” The smallest note I had in my wallet was 200 dong, a leftover from my previous trip. It was not “ten” but “ten thousand.” He took my wallet seeing me juggle SGD, JPY and USD in my wallet and grabbed some notes before I forced it away from his hands. Finally realizing it was 10,000 dong he was asking, I passed him a 10,000-dong note.  After paying the money to what looked like a toll gate, he gave me the receipt that says, “ACV” and “TONG CONG TY CANG HANG KHONG VIET NAM – CTCP MS THUE…,” (omitting the straight and curly hair on top of some letters). It was only after a few hours I found out that 4,000 yen was missing. The traffic to the hotel was quite terrible and I now wonder if he chose crowded roads intentionally. Taxi fare: 140,000 dong, which is about SGD8.4. Ripped off.

 

Feeling furious about that man, I went out and found a high tower was not very far from the hotel. I went out to find the area where I spent more than three weeks about eight years ago, Bui Vien. It was already dark and drizzling, My plan was to walk down from the hotel to the Saigon river and turn to the right to find Ham Nghi, which should take to the market. Bui Vien should be found easily from the market. But I somehow succeeded in missing Ham Nghi and went into a dark area where it was difficult to find anyone walking. I walked along the river and crossed over a bridge to the other side, a condo (“Saigon Royal”) construction site with “Coffee Plus” nearby. I started wandering by going southwest and then, turning here and there, southeast, and spent hours in this area which is outside the tourist map. I saw or passed some small eateries, a Samsung Galaxy shop, a KFC, a Pizza Hut, not necessarily in this sequence, but couldn’t find any place which should remind me of that area I was looking for. Wet with rain and sweat, I decided to back to the hotel through I wasn’t really sure how to go back there.

 

After more walk, I managed to find the river again, with a Toyota Ben Thanh building, Exchange Tower with a ticker of exchange rates, and the high tower farther over there on the other side. I walked back along the river of some couples on benches and people who were fishing. I returned to Saigon Royal, and, crossing the same bridge, saw Coffee Plus again.

 

I walked through an area with bars, and, keeping the high tower in sight, found Nguyen Hue and the hotel. Not going back to the hotel, I started walking again not to the Saigon river but to the west from the hotel.  I went into Liberty Central Hotel to ask the way to the temple called an loc/an luc/ang loc/ang luc or any variation of these (安楽), “Q Café” and “96.” I really had trouble understand what a young man working there was saying but the young woman who opened the hotel door for me was easier to understand. They searched the internet and said the temple of such a name was quite far and they couldn’t find any place called Q Café. 96 seemed to be still there. They gave me a tourist map.

 

It was not still easy to find the area. But I found a “Gingko” T-shirt shop and thought I was going the right way. (It turned out not to be true. Their website says that Gingko opened its first outlet on Pham Ngu Lao in 2007. I bought a red T-shirt at this first shop in 2008.) I had to ask a few more people before I reached Bui Vien. Finally I saw the landmark, “GO2 Bar.”

 

Going Into Bui Vien, I only need to turn to the right to the first street to find the guesthouse where I spent more than three weeks. It was not so. The street was there, but it looked considerably narrower than I remembered. It was a narrow street in my memory. It was now a real alley, with neon-lit massage parlors on either side. Bui Vien itself has become a loud street lined with bars and restaurants with some marijuana pushers and a lot of massage ladies passing out leaflets, calling out to me or trying to stop me. One lady said, “Brother, where are you going?” in Japanese. No “Bobby” coffee shop where I spent my afternoon almost everyday, doing work of “pork export license application.” I went into the first alley from GO2. No guesthouse. No temple. Going back to Bui Vien, a friendly lady stopped me with both her hand pressing on my chest. I escaped saying, “I have to go.”

 

I moved around the area, trying the same alleys a few times, going into tinier alleys connecting narrow alleys. I also had a bowl of pho-ga-for-tourists and a bottle of Saigon Beer for dinner at a small restaurant. I met the lady one more time, who was smiling as if saying, “You, again.” I explained to her why I was walking around. When I said, “I came back after eight or nine years. So much has changed,” she said, “Eight years, too long.” It was the only conversation I’ve had so far this time in Ho Chi Minh City, which was in a way friendly and personal. I appreciate her for this short talk.

 

But I found “96, Room for Rent.” It was along Bui Vien, now its ground floor used as a bar. I have to re-correct my recollection. So it was the guesthouse I originally booked. And at the end of Bui Vien, I found a coffee shop which was closed during my first stay to the area, soon after the end of that year’s Tet. I took a Vinasun taxi on Pham Ngu Lao to return to the hotel. Before going back to the room, I bought three cans of “333,” a box of tissue papers (not found in the room), a small bag of pistachio, a bottle of water and shampoo.

 

Today: Day 2 in Saigon (October 22)

 

I went out of bed at around 9 am. Not knowing what to do, where to go and what to eat. I went back to bed and slept until late afternoon. Feeling I should eat something, I ordered a room-service rice and pork rib, which sent me to the toilet. I stayed at the room except for a short trip to two nearby stores to buy a pack of cigarette, a few cans of “333,” and sandwiches.