Missed Saigon...
Saigon, Ho Chi Min, Saigon, Ho Chi Min... this is the place where:
I GOT MY CAMERA STOLEN!
so, that sucks. In fact, when I am on the homestretch of my trip and heading into Cambodia, where a camera is really necessary, it sucks times two. Luckily, because my mother forced me to, I renewed my travel insurance a mere three days before the big theft.
Saigon was a cool city and decidedly less hectic than its counterpart in Hanoi. Unfortunately because the five nights previous included two night buses and three nights of binge drinking in Nha Trang, we were all so exhausted that Saigon turned into the city that just didn't happen. It was "missed Saigon"! Get it? Sheesh, I'm great with the puns.
Anyway, We went to the Cu Chi tunnels and the war remnants museum, but other than that (and a night of aimlessly wandering lost on the streets at 2am), we stayed in our safe little hub, which became known as the Khao San Road of Ho Chi Min.
In fact, the most exciting part of the few days in HCM was filing the police report after my camera was stolen. All I can say is, after seeing a Vietnamese police station (in a nice part of town) I would be frightened to death of ever seeing the insides of a Vietnamese jail. Seriously. Not only was I yelled at (in Vietnamese) for losing my camera, but the poor, innocent internet cafe worker was hauled out of his work down to the station where they proceeded to really lean into him. We were both sent to the "back room", which was oh-so scary... but, also a little exciting because I felt like I was living on the edge or I had *actually* done something really bad, and that made me feel cool (until the policeman started with the verbal assaults). Then, it was just the not-fun kind of scary. I started to feel really bad when the poor internet guy started to tear up and shiver with fear. I tried to explain to the police officer that all I needed was a police report for an insurance claim, but he couldn't find the correct documents amidst the horrendous tornado of disorganization on the desk. That frustrated him. So, he yelled. Then he asked me to come back the next day. When I explained that that wasn't possible because I was leaving for Cambodia, he became extremely irritable. Then, his calm (and, when I say calm, I'm talking Christopher Walken-like calm) friend came in and took over. I didn't say anything to him as I was certain he was plotting my death for making him fill out the form and interfering with his TV watching time with the boys.
The tragic irony of the whole situation was that I would have loved to document the whole experience with some photographs.
So, that's the camera story. I would tell the tale of how the camera was actually stolen, but then everyone would know how dense I am, as it was literally stolen right out from under my nose.
I'm in Cambodia now. the busride was grand, with deliciously paved roads (despite all the rumours to the contrary). We did have to get out and push the bus at one time, but I am almost so accustomed to buses breaking down, that it was just fun more than anything. We just left Phnom Penh and have made our way Siem Reap, where I will hopefully see Angelina hanging out with Brad, Maddux and Zahara.
I'm home in a couple weeks!
I GOT MY CAMERA STOLEN!
so, that sucks. In fact, when I am on the homestretch of my trip and heading into Cambodia, where a camera is really necessary, it sucks times two. Luckily, because my mother forced me to, I renewed my travel insurance a mere three days before the big theft.
Saigon was a cool city and decidedly less hectic than its counterpart in Hanoi. Unfortunately because the five nights previous included two night buses and three nights of binge drinking in Nha Trang, we were all so exhausted that Saigon turned into the city that just didn't happen. It was "missed Saigon"! Get it? Sheesh, I'm great with the puns.
Anyway, We went to the Cu Chi tunnels and the war remnants museum, but other than that (and a night of aimlessly wandering lost on the streets at 2am), we stayed in our safe little hub, which became known as the Khao San Road of Ho Chi Min.
In fact, the most exciting part of the few days in HCM was filing the police report after my camera was stolen. All I can say is, after seeing a Vietnamese police station (in a nice part of town) I would be frightened to death of ever seeing the insides of a Vietnamese jail. Seriously. Not only was I yelled at (in Vietnamese) for losing my camera, but the poor, innocent internet cafe worker was hauled out of his work down to the station where they proceeded to really lean into him. We were both sent to the "back room", which was oh-so scary... but, also a little exciting because I felt like I was living on the edge or I had *actually* done something really bad, and that made me feel cool (until the policeman started with the verbal assaults). Then, it was just the not-fun kind of scary. I started to feel really bad when the poor internet guy started to tear up and shiver with fear. I tried to explain to the police officer that all I needed was a police report for an insurance claim, but he couldn't find the correct documents amidst the horrendous tornado of disorganization on the desk. That frustrated him. So, he yelled. Then he asked me to come back the next day. When I explained that that wasn't possible because I was leaving for Cambodia, he became extremely irritable. Then, his calm (and, when I say calm, I'm talking Christopher Walken-like calm) friend came in and took over. I didn't say anything to him as I was certain he was plotting my death for making him fill out the form and interfering with his TV watching time with the boys.
The tragic irony of the whole situation was that I would have loved to document the whole experience with some photographs.
So, that's the camera story. I would tell the tale of how the camera was actually stolen, but then everyone would know how dense I am, as it was literally stolen right out from under my nose.
I'm in Cambodia now. the busride was grand, with deliciously paved roads (despite all the rumours to the contrary). We did have to get out and push the bus at one time, but I am almost so accustomed to buses breaking down, that it was just fun more than anything. We just left Phnom Penh and have made our way Siem Reap, where I will hopefully see Angelina hanging out with Brad, Maddux and Zahara.
I'm home in a couple weeks!
posted by Mathew at 1:55 AM
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