Last night I felt like shit, and I honestly think it was because I ran around the city all day, and I shook my head "No" to about 200 vendors and drivers. It's racist I tell you. Just because I'm white they assume I have money. They don't bother other Asians, just single out white people. It's gotta stop. Today I felt better but I was walking, which meant I had drivers following me trying to get me to get a ride with them. I was only walking a few blocks so a ride was pointless. I wanted to go but they all ask where I go, where I'm staying, where I'm from, etc and now I'm just saying no and walk off haha. I'm beyond being nice to everyone but not losing my cool, just say no kids and move on. I've also seen other white people being bugged. An older man outside Ben Thanh Market, Saigon's busiest opened his wallet and had six people surrounding him asking him to buy. Vultures. In the market I saw a girl and she was asked. She said to nobody in particular "Oh My God it never stops!!!!!!!!!!!" and I let her know she wasn't alone haha.
So I walked around the downtown core, and I should have done that on my 2nd day as I found a million places to eat. I've mentioned I'm a picky eater, so while I was walking down the street and seeing a four story KFC I had to stop. Tasted just like at home! This KFC also served ice cream sundays and seafood as well. You order and go sit and have them bring it out to you and instead of a tray you get plastic KFC plates. Neat little cultural differences. I was heading back to Cho Dan Sinh aka American Market. I think it's just called that since it's full of tools and military stuff and they consider it American haha. I picked up a map last night on the way home thank god. Sadly my GPS thinks I'm still in London so all my mapping before the trip has been close to pointless which I have to figure out still and hopfully will tonight as tomorrow I'm taking a day trip out. Anyways with a map it already showed popular stuff in town and it was great. If I had the map earlier I could have just walked everywhere instead of pay moto's to take me everywhere. I made it to the market and the first thing I bought was a compass as the last direction I knew I was going was south thanks to the GPS tracking showing the plane's location coming to Vietnam haha. Long story short I bought a lot of Vietnam War stuff from gas masks to a claymore mine, patches and 4 rucksacks, 3 ARVN 2 pocket (which are small) and 1 3 pocket tropical ruck, but it's not in great shape. At least now I can say I have one of every US Army pack used which I'm calling an achievement for braging rights. I'm redefying hardcoreness while I keep creating it :)
Bartering is still kinda funny. After I bought something they gave me a chair and told me to sit while they dig though their surplus piles. The did the work for me while I said "I buy, no buy or too beaucoup dong" haha. One guy even grabbed me a bottle of water for free haha. The one girl was a collector too so it was hard to get stuff lower. It rocks when you find people who have no clue how much something is. The same girl gave me a $120 1960's parachute shourd cutter for $10 but wanted to sell me a $10 pocket knife for $40 haha. The other steal I've gotten is on ARVN rucks. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) at it's height had 800,000 troops so that's a lot of rucks. The market must be saturated with them as a useable one in average shape is $28 and a perfect museum quality one is $40. On eBay the cheapest I saw last night was being sold in the US for $145 but I wouldn't pay more than $60-$70. It's safe to say I got my share of kit, all that I could carry and ran low on cash, so I had to hump it out to an ATM. The closest one was a block from my hotel so I unloaded, Josh wanted a custom US Marine zippo so I took the order and headed back to the market for more. It got to the point though where I, myself knew I was buying too much haha. For the most part I only bought things that #1 would plan to buy, #2 things I knew were a steal and #3 what people in the group wanted. My compass and I starting going towards Ben Thanh market to the Zippo guy for Josh's order. I found a unit patch for him so luckily I could give that to the zippo guy and he could copy it exactly. I couldn't do the same for mine so I drew a shitty angel wing with bloody sword and in return I got an even more rough angel wing and sword haha. The good thing about that is that you know it was hand done in a little shop in Saigon and not some punch press in a factory in China so it's even more authentic ;)
On my way to the market I stumbled on a military shop. I checked it out and they had the normal stuff, packs and uniforms but they had US Marine caps which I've never seen for sale and Josh told me to get anything USMC related. They also had Green Beret's and since Sam is our resident SF Nammer I checked it out. The shop owner said he had everything from American War, South Vietnam, French military stuff, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. I tried to call his bluff and asked if he had packs with a metal frame. He sent his wife in the back and she came out with a never been used lightweight rucksack frame. To those who don't collect, the lightweight rucksack is the one item that divides the men and the boys when it comes to collecting. If you have a lightweight ruck you're just not in to Vietnam for a year or two. It means you're in it for realz like Sean, Sam, Kirshin, Tim, Josh and myself. I asked if he had the bag for the frame and pulled down a ball of nylon sacks, all belonging to the lightweight rucksack (LW Ruck as I'm tired of typing it all out haha). This is amazing because the LW ruck is rare. Since it's rare for a good one you're paying around $300 US. He was selling the bags for $45 each. The frames are rare but as Canada used them, there are a few still kicking around in the back of small, unknown surplus stores. A frame will cost around $40-$50 and straps you can buy off eBay for around $20. That means you can have a $300 ruck for around $115 US. If I had more cash I'd buy it all. Maybe I should check my Illinois Lotto Ticket? ;) I told him I'll come back and I got his card. He also said that when I come back home I can still contact him, he'll take pics of his stuff and ship it to me so we now have an international retailer with hard to find shit working for us. I also think he was in the ARVN during the war as he was wearing a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) shirt with with two M60 machine gunners on the back saying "All gave some, Some gave all" on the back and I told him that was good. If he wasn't ARVN or allied he'd have a commie Star somewhere . I left and hit the market, oh and I was also carrying 4 rucksacks on my back and other misc items haha. I came to Ben Thanh Market later than normal though and the engraver was gone, but tomorrow I can pick it up and pay him.
I found out Pho 2000 was across from the market which my travel book recommended and I checked it out. I had Chicken Pho which again is just noodles so it was like asian chicken noodle soup haha. It was cheap but good and I was working the chop sticks like a pro. Honestly don't try and learn from a book or online, experience is the key. I tried from a book and it's not practical for me. All you need to do is pinch the tips together and anyway you do that it's correct haha. Anyways I felt like a kind because of my chop skill. I checked it out and turns out Bill Clinton was in that shop in 2000 and had something to eat and they took a lot of pictures of him. Bill Clinton is seen as a bit of a hero as he opened up relations with Vietnam meaning Vietnam and the US could trade and work together again. I'm not sure but I think I heard that the US and Vietnam were considering doing military exercises together, as oppose to against each other, like 40 years ago haha. I left Pho 2000 and I had a Japanese kid ask me if I was a backpacker. Having 4 rucksacks on my back I couldn't fool him haha. He just got off the bus from the airport and was an FNG to the city. Well now after 3+ a few hours I was a seasoned pro and took him under my wing. He was hungry so I directed him to Pho 2000, asked him if he knew how to cross a Vietnamese street, how to deal with being harassed by vendors and drivers and the like. His 2nd question was if I was alone and 3rd was where I was staying. Could have easily been a con so I bullshitted him and said I'm meeting my friends back at my hotel. I just told him what district I was in and since there's 200 places in the area good luck finding me. Wait... there's someone at the door...
So yea, I had you thinking for a minute. Even while I'm in here, I have the door locked and a door stopper. Only way I'm opening the door is if I hear a sexy Aussie female accent and her shower isn't working muhhahaha. Anyways I headed back home, swung past a travel center and picked up my paperwork for going to Vung Tau. I think I mentioned it but Vung Tau was a resort centre for Allied units. Good sand, surf, water slides, golf courses and other stuff paid for by US tax dollars. It's also a jump off point for visiting the Australian former Area of Operations (AO) where I'll see Long Tan and Nui Dat, the Aussie's two biggest battles. The Aussie government actually has a monument on the Long Tan battlefield but you have to apply and pay a fee to access it as the VN government can profit from kids wanting to see where their relitives died. It was getting dark out so I headed for my hotel. Night time isn't bad in Saigon but I think it's more of a risk to be out. Just like in the war the US owned the day, the Viet Cong owned the night. After sundown it's time for the VC to take over. Other than that I had a shower, unpacked, took a picture of all my shit, got a craving for oreo's (half a pack for $.26 Cdn) so I headed out. I also needed water as I'm drinking about 4L a day. While I was out I saw my first whore! It was obvious. Vietnamese people are pretty conservatively dressed so seeing a girl in a red halter top and cut off jean shorts she's selling something, and I don't think it's Avon or girl guide cookies. I haven't been out at night as I haven't had time to be, but I checked out the local bars to see where people go. I can choose from Allez Boo Bar, Crazy Buffalo or Go2 and I was surprised that everyone was at Go2 so I might have a drink before I leave Saigon. I thought I'd be drinking and hanging out every night but I don't have time. If I was in Saigon for 49 more days then sure, but I got a country to dominate. Speaking of which I'm hitting the rack. Take care.
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