Teacher Trekker

As I mentioned my first few days in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) also commonly referred to by its former name Saigon had me spinning out of control looking for some sort of normalcy for me to grab onto. Not only was I completely alone in a completely new city half way around the world, but a number of outside influences in many ways negatively impacted my time in HCMC. Shortly after my arrival I proceeded to get sick from something I ate. Second, I was certainly jet lagged when I arrived in Vietnam, which took some time to adjust my body to local time. Finally, the World Cup was in full swing resulting in a few nights of minimal sleep. Despite these setbacks I had an amazing time in HCMC and would not have done anything differently. Although I may have been sick and exhausted during most of my time in Saigon I still managed to visit the majority of the attractions I had on my must see list by day. Additionally, I met countless new, friendly and amazing people from around the world to spend my evenings with wandering local streets and yelling at televisions while watching soccer matches in the dead of night.

Determining when, where and how I got sick took me some time. To be honest, I didn’t eat one single meal or at a specific location that destroyed my digestive track. I have a very strong stomach and rarely have any issues when I travel. Everything I ate in HCMC whether it was street food or in a restaurant was always well prepared and fresh. I have heard many stories about tourists who experienced travelers’ diarrhea upon their arrival to Vietnam. I originally thought that I was just adjusting to the new environment and food, but again the food was not giving me an upset stomach or bothering my digestive track. If it wasn’t the food then what was it?

Oh! I figured it out! Too bad it was my third or fourth day in country. The majority of Vietnamese coffee I drank the first few days had milk in it. I was not aware that it was sweetened condensed milk. I did not realize that the milk was bothering my system until I ordered dessert from a street stand one evening. I ordered two bo bia ngot, which is shredded coconut, sesame seeds, honey and condensed milk inside inside rice paper. In many ways it’s like a dessert roll that reminded me flavor wise of a marshmallow. Probably two minutes later I was running for my life to find a bathroom that I could use. It was then and there that I began to order everything without condensed milk, particularly my new found favorite dessert and the gallons of Vietnamese coffee I drank throughout my time in country. My digestive system began to feel better as soon as I eliminated the condensed milk so I warn anyone with any lactose issues to avoid food and drinks with the product. Once I managed to determine what the problem was my health only improved and this issue was a problem of the past.

While I was plagued by stomach issues my first few days in Saigon the World Cup was in full swing. More specifically the tournament reached the knockout rounds. Every night there were games the blocks of District 1 near Pham Ngu Lao Street was packed with backpackers running around wearing jerseys and carrying flags of their respective countries. There were also countless backpackers and vacationers who had no interest in soccer, but were there to partake in adult beverages and the joyous mood that the event provided. The bars were jam packed both inside and out. Many businesses provided outdoor seating on straw mats or small cushions, but had limited access to televisions to view the matches. Standing or attempting to find a stool or table inside was much more challenging considering the amount of people who were out. Fortunately, there were so many bars that if you walked around and kept your eyes peeled you could find seating that would suit your purposes. In general, the streets were packed with people rich with soccer fever making the backpacker district even more electric than it usually is. This was even more apparent upon my return to HCMC in August when the area felt almost abandoned compared to the energy that filled the streets during the World Cup.

Second, I was clearly jet lagged. New York and Vietnam are basically on a 12 hour time difference so my body was running on the exact opposite schedule. My body continuously wanted to crash during the middle of the day, but I was wide awake during the middle of the night. This in many ways accounts for why I was out and about during the wee hours of the morning watching soccer matches with strangers. It also is apparent that my body wan’t adjusting to the time zone difference considering I was spending my evenings watching soccer until basically sunrise. Over time my body began to adjust, but that was probably not until my tenth or so day in Vietnam and by that point I was long gone from the neon lights, blaring motorbike horns, dried squid carts and soccer matches that were my first few nights exploring the streets of Saigon.

Since I was traveling by myself it was quite easy to find somewhere to sit and watch the games. I was not limited by attempting to find seating for the horde like groups of young adult backpackers that stampeded down the streets. Usually within a few minutes I was chatting with complete strangers about the tournament and that conversation quickly evolved into a discussion about travel tips and suggestions in the process of making new friends. I was able to gain a great deal of insight based on the suggestions and recommendations of travelers that I met during my nights watching soccer in HCMC. There was however one hinderance that the matches posed and I would assume that I am not the only one who was impacted because of it.

Based on the time zone difference between Brazil and Vietnam the matches were aired live at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. keeping viewers awake sometimes as late as 8:30 a.m. if the match went into extra time and penalties. I am an avid soccer fan and had a great deal of interest in watching the knockout round matches. Since the games were basically taking place during the middle of the night I missed many opportunities to sleep and rest for my next day of exploring. When I did stay awake for the games it would always result in me losing a morning of exploring HCMC as I slept in the morning to regain some much needed energy. Fortunately, I was able to create a new sleep pattern that would allow me to explore local attractions and view the matches in the middle of the night.

One night in particular can better explain my whirlwind in HCMC. I left my hotel around 11 p.m. I first bumped into two Americans from San Francisco because they spotted my NY Rangers t-shirt and felt it necessary to heckle me about how my favorite team just lost the Stanley Cup Finals. We went to a bar where we bumped into some Swiss travelers that they met in a previous city. Two hours later we were at the Apocalypse Now bar, which was actually very disappointing. The bar closed the doors at 4 a.m., but I didn’t mind leaving as the place was packed with older Westerners and young Local Vietnamese bar girls. It felt like we were the only “regular” people in the place. We took a cab back to District 1 to watch the Germany v Brazil knockout round match. The game started at 5 a.m. and was a blowout within minutes. By 7 a.m. it was time to go to bed, but I had a tour I was going on and needed to be ready at 9 a.m. Regardless, I went back to the hotel, showered, grabbed a quick bite and slept in the van until we got to our destination.

Most other nights I would actually sleep from the end of the last match to roughly 11 a.m. or the beginning of lunch time. I would then get ready in the hotel, travel to my desired touring destination, go grab some lunch and wait for the building to open at around 1:30 p.m. Then I would tour some museums or major attractions until closing time around 5:00 p.m. Following this I would usually always grab a cup of coffee, explore local markets and what not on the way back towards the hotel, grab some dinner and then go back to the hotel to sleep for a few hours. I would wake back up between 11 p.m. and midnight, once again get ready at my hotel before hitting the streets for another night of World Cup matches and HCMC nightlife. Any day I did a full day tour I used the multiple hours of driving time to destinations like Cu Chi to sleep on the air conditioned vans and buses that transported us to locations outside the city limits. Despite my attempts to catch sleep whenever possible I was still physically exhausted, but I just pushed on knowing that all of this was a once in a life time experience and I would find an opportunity to sleep eventually.

Taking into consideration the previously mentioned information it is clear that I may have pushed a bit too hard during my time in HCMC. I was jet lagged, but I refused to let that slow me down. The condensed milk was playing games with my digestive system. It may have forced me into submission a few times, but never was I locked up in a hotel room for a full day praying to the porcelain gods that I would quickly adjust to my surroundings. I never let it ruin my day. Instead, it would only ruin at most a few hours of my day. The World Cup schedule pushed me to the point of near exhaustion, but they were also filled with moments of sheer joy and excitement as I watched games and made new friends. Despite the sickness and soccer schedule I still managed to stay standing and would not have done anything differently. I had some great days and amazing nights that I would not give up if I had to do it all over again. It was a hectic first couple days in Vietnam, but over time my body was acclimating to the food and time zone. There was so much more of Vietnam to see and it was soon time to start heading north.