Saigon

Vietnam sucks.

No subway system, no supermarkets, no skyscrapers, no decent convenience stores, no advanced medical facilities. I think that so far, this is the crappiest country I've ever been in. It's on the lower end of the second world countries or the higher end of the third world countries.

I managed to see all that is worth seeing in Saigon (also know as Ho Chi Minh City) in about three hours. I'm not sticking around here too long. Tomorrow, I'll go in the tunnels the Viet Congs used to combat the Americans from. The day after that, I'll explore the Mekong river and a few of its swamps. That should satisfy my craving for Vietnam that was acquired through watching all these war movies as a child. Then, I'll move on to Cambodia.

I saw a certain amount of mutants of the streets. It turns out they are actual mutants who got birth defects due to the Americans' use of Agent Orange. I can't help but feel that the crappy state in which the country finds itself is due to the Americans. The communist government doesn't help either. Vietnam is decades behind Thailand or China.

Because of the poor state of development, everything is cheap here. I paid 20 cents to grab the bus from the airport to my downtown hotel. I got a haircut for 2$. I'm told I got screwed at that price as I could have gotten one for 1$. But, for me, 1$ or 2$ for a haircut makes no difference. I paid 5$ for my day tour tomorrow which includes round-trip air-conditioned bus ride, entry to the Viet Cong tunnels, lunch and service. Again, I could have gotten this for a dollar cheaper. But, in Vietnam, everything is so cheap that you simply don't even feel like bargaining. It would just be a waste of time.