Charlie don't surf! Questions about life in 'Nam
 

I'm in Saigon for a few days, and I'm looking for a cool places to go and/or people to hang out with. Unlike other countries where I've been able to blow into town and immediately find an English speaking cab driver who knows where all the hot bars and seedy trouble areas are, my first night here found me sitting in a crowded theme bar near my hotel surrounded by Aussies and Euros paying $5 for a 50 cent beer. Boring. Anyone ever been to or live in Vietnam? Any recommendations? Advice?

Any recommendations?


yep, catch the next plane the hell out of there.

http://www.smashbucks.com/gfy/charlie.jpg


Hehe.. Seriously.. watch this post tomorrow.. By brother spent months over there.. I'll find out from him :thumbsup

Actually, this place is quite beautiful, and when compared to where I was last week, Cambodia, Vietnam is a marvel of civilization and cleanliness. I just get the feeling that there is a lot of fun to be had here, and I'm missing it. I'm definitely looking forward to any info you can wrangle up, $pikes.

Cambodia is a SHIT HOLE but very fun if you know what to do. I hope you took the time to see Ankor Wat. If not, get your ass back to Siem Reap and check it out.

Cambodia fucking ROCKED. I stayed in Phnom Penh, but took a boat up to Angkor Wat my last day, where I got stuck at the top of one of the temples because their daily, afternoon monsoon struck and I had little confidence in my ability to scale down the thousand year-old stone steps while dodging horizontal raindrops the size of nickels. So I sat in the middle of the temple and smoked cigarettes with a buddhist monk until the downpour subsided. I suppose it was kinda darkly spiritual, until the monk asked if I could toss him a couple of USD's for all his wizened guidance. That was on top of the dozen or so cigarettes he bummed off me.

Back in Phnom Penh, I found a cab driver who took me to a shooting range run on the down-low by the Cambodian Army. There, I experienced the immeasurable joys of shooting an ak-47, an m-16, a tommy gun, an m-60, an m-79, a b-40 rocket launcher, and three hand grenades. Honestly, I was a little nervous about pulling the pin on a 30 year-old grenade, but, as a testament to the durability of US-manufactured military ordinance, I still have both my arms. Paul make things go boom. Paul become happy-happy.

Sounds like you found the fun stuff. :thumbsup I hope you didn't shoot the cow.

Man, I loved ankor wat... cant wait to get back there. I love taking black & white pics of asian temples so that was a wet dream. The boat is a great way to get to it fro PP. Sounds like you did Cambo right. :thumbsup

It's so dangerous to live in a place like Vietnam. what are your plans there?

My plans here are to enjoy myself and see a part of the world I've never seen before -- broaden my horizons, meet new people, and vomit in exotic locales. Sounds logical, right?