Matt and I will soon be fluently in the language as we start Vietnamese classes tomorrow! Ha ha! We have one lesson a week for about 30 weeks i think. I think me and Matt will get on well with it because we try to speak Vietnamese to bar tenders etc as much as possible. They appreciate it. Also they assume you live here and people who live here don't get ripped off like the tourists! I shall explain...
...the Story of the Vietnamese Football Shirts.
So the market lady was like 'you buy!' when Matt was looking at football shirts. We then got on to the conversation that we work here at ILA blah blah blah. The lady then said quietly 'oh you sit down'. She gave us these kid sized stools to sit on (don't think normal size stools exist here). She then said 'because you live here we give you good price'. For ages she wouldn't tell us how much so we were thinking oh she's having us on. She then showed us the price tag. It was 650,000 Dong for one. So for 2 that would have been over 1 Million Dong. She then got here calculator and she typed in for 2 - 280,000 Dong!!!! Tourists get charged around 5 times the price!!!!!!!! It's crazy. So if you ever come to Vietnam be sure to haggle! And start LOW.
Another bad thing for tourists is that they are targets for theft. My friend's had her bag snatched twice now and Matt's had his wallet pick pocketed. They're so sneaky! I usually have a weapon of some kind like an umbrella or bottle of water I can wack them with if they try to take my bag. They never attack you it's just the bag they want so if you don't mind losing it, I say just give it to them! We heard a story though at work that about 6 years ago this started happening and the police found out who it was. They got the 6 people, took them down the river and SHOT THEM! The muggings apparently stopped over night!! CRAZY TIMES! Vietnamese do not take any shit!
On a nicer note, two friends from Bingley Grammar school came to Saigon. It was really cool to have some familiar faces. We used this as an excuse to go to a posho hotel bar - The Majestic. It has a view of the river. We also had a nosey around the hotel and it's pretty lush. I would like to live in a hotel! We then moved onto a fresh beer place where we got speaking to some guy who had an awesome accent. For ages I was like who does he sound like then it came to me...EMINEM! Yes he was from Detroit. Love that accent.
Me and Matt took a little trip on our day off to a beach near Saigon called Vung Tau. It's 1 hour 45 mins away on a hydrofoil (a boat that goes bloody fast). We had a nice little spot with a sun bed and umbrella right at the sea front. Not to forget our coconuts! The sea was so warm, I've never felt sea that's just like a bath! Early afternoon some fishermen came along and nearly caught me in their net! We also forgot that we were nearer to the equator so me, Matt and Kelly got burnt to a crisp. Matt peeled worse that a snake shedding it's skin! It was crazy. And we out sunblock on!
Vang Tau Beach.
The Jesus statue that's on top of the mountain in Vang Tau. You can go and sit on his shoulder apparently.
Posing!
The fisherman on the beach.
Another view of the beach.
The ice cream man!
Look at the little crabs! There were loads of them!
This photo reminds me of a clip from Baz Lurhmann's Romeo and Juliet.
Teenagers playing football on the beach.
The beautiful view from the Lighthouse.
The moon reflecting of the sea. View from the Lighthouse.
In the evening we went up to a lighthouse on a hill. The view was so beautiful! I've added a couple of pictures for you to see. We then partied the night away playing pool in a 'hooker' bar (this is the name we give to bars that have lots of scantily dressed women in all sitting around chatting up western men. We beat the hookers at pool as well! Ha ha.
We don't have anything planned as yet for the next few weeks. We get paid Friday so hopefully we'll sort something out! I would like to hire motorbikes and go off somewhere for a drive. Keep you updated soon. Miss you all xxx
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