he hundreds of tailor shops in the town, and the narrow streets and French architechture make Hoi An a relaxing place to stop for a few days before heading to more hectic places, such as Hanoi. I have decided to spend one night here and then move on, because the accomodation here isn't exactly cheap, and, more importantly, I want to get to Halong Bay. This unfortunately means yet another gruelling bus journey tomorrow, but after that I don't have to do too many more, as most of the places I want to see are in closer proximity to each other. Hallelujah!After spending a couple days in Phnom Penh, where I witnessed the Killing Fields, I decided to take a bit of a breather and head to Sihanoukville, Cambodia's beach town, for a few days. To be completely honest, I have some very mixed feelings about Sihanoukville. The scenery is gorgeous: white sand beaches, rolling waves, and beach huts where you can buy fresh food. Even though it was a little windy on the days I was there, it was warmer than it ever is at home. The locals tended to disagree - they were all bundling up.
The negative side of Sihanoukville started with the hawkers who invade the beach and will not leave you alone, no matter what. I tried smiling and shaking my head, ignoring them and reading my book, getting stern, and even pretending to be asleep. No dice. They offer you manicures and massages and so on, and if you refuse, they say that they'll come back later. And then they try to get you to pinky-swear that you won't let anyone else "help you". Could there possibly be anything more annoying?
Hell presented itself in the form of a particular hawker who more or less jumped on me as I came to the beach. She offered me a manicure, pedicure, massage...all the while, I shook my head and said "No, thank you." She then said she would find me later, and not to let anyone else do it. I ignored her, thinking she would get the picture, and annoy another one of the hundreds of people on the beach. Wrong. Maybe a half an hour later, another hawker came up, and asked me if I wanted a manicure. Getting a little exasperated, as I had just gotten to a good part of my book, I told her no. Well, that wasn't good enough for her. She grabbed my hand, and started doing my nails. I continued to tell her - in so many words - to bugger off. Unfortunately, she became selectively deaf, and wouldn't leave me alone, even as the other woman approached, and started shrieking at me in Khmer. She then pointed her finger in my face, and said "You no good. You leave Cambodia right now!" I guess refusing a manicure is worthy of exile. She then threatened to gouge my eyes out if I didn't leave right then and there - to prove her point, she held a pair of scissors about an inch away from my face. I decided this was as good a time as any to move over and sit next to an older English couple, who agreed to watch my back.
Oh, and did I mention that little children will come up and try to grope you and even pull your shirt down? It happened to me twice, and I had to resort to yelling at them. If I were in a group, I may have enjoyed Sihanoukville a little more, but as a woman travelling alone, I wish I had spend my last couple of days in Cambodia elsewhere. Being threatened, ogled and groped can ruin even the most beautiful places. For this reason alone, I would say that Sihanoukville is worth a try, but I think that there are better places to see.
After two days in Sihanoukville, I couldn't wait to move on. I bought a ticket to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon to the locals). I was expecting another sloppy, disorganized border crossing, but I don't think crossing from Cambodia to Vietnam could be any easier. We handed our passports to an officer who checked our visas, gave us an entry stamp, and let us have our passports back! We then had to walk through a scanner (like at the airports), and if we were clear, we were able to get back on the bus! The landscapes of Cambodia and Vietnam are, once again, completely different. Vietnam is greener, and the rice fields and palm trees are picturesque, and reminded me of Forrest Gump. On the bus to HCMC, I couldn't help listening to a playlist including Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, Bob Dylan, and other hits from the Woodstock era. All in all, it created the perfect ambiance.
HCMC seemed like a different world from the dusty streets and old buildings of Cambodia. It was dark when I arrived, and the neon signs and chaotic traffic completely embodied my idea of an Asian city. The people were all so friendly, and I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap everything was!
The next day, I quickly discovered that there's an art to crossing streets in Saigon. When traffic lights and signs are a mild suggestion, and hundreds of motorcycles and the occasional bus
are coming at you, surprisingly, the best method is not to timidly step out into the street. No, the best way to get across is to boldly step out into the traffic...miraculously, they steer around you!A must-see in Saigon is the War Remnants Museum. I'm not a huge museum person, but this display was actually quite amazing. It gives a history of the war, as well as adding some of the Vietnamese perspective, which, of course, are not often heard about in North America. I was impressed by how unbiased the displays all were. I also learned that there were protests all over the world, advocating the Vietnamese people. I knew that this was a big issue in the US, but I had no idea that all over Europe, Asia, South America and even Africa, groups were marching in protest of the war.
The most disturbing part of the museum are the pictures of the birth defects caused by agent orange exposure. Babies all aroung HCMC were born without legs, without eyes, or with curved spines. Most of the aspects of the Vietnam war didn't make sense to me...the torture of innocent citizens, and especially the My Lai massacre were hard to believe, and even harder to understand. However, before visiting Saigon, I didn't really know anything about the war, and I feel like I understand more about the contry's history.
There are tons and tons of other museums to see in Saigon, but to be completely honest, that was the main one that I wanted to see. I spend the rest of the day walking around the city, seeing the amazing buildings and watching the people - and of course, dodging motos.
After HCMC, I decided to spend two days in Hoi An, and then continue to Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa. I had heard great things about Hoi An, and while it's definitely a gorgeous, laid-back town, there are definitely places in Vietnam that are higher on the must-see list. One day is enough for me. Tomorrow I'm going to catch a bus to Hanoi, and from there I'm going to head straight to Cat Ba island in the World Heritage site of Halong Bay. After that, I'm going to spend a few days in the hill-tribe village of Sapa, and then onto the long-awaited Laos!
Questions? Comments? Criticisms? I'd love to hear them all!
the-wanderingjew@hotmail.com
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