Got back to Saigon on the evening of the 23rd and followed a pair from Australia to a hostel they said was a good deal. And it was; 10 dollars a night for a single room that was as nice as I felt worthy of. We joined another American and Canadian for dinner. I ordered 2 dishes, which confused the person taking my order. I tried to explain that the portions weren't enough for my Herculaean appetite. My mistake at assuming they teach Greek Mythology here. I bailed to my room after dinner instead of risk letting alcohol worsen my sinus condition.
My original plan was to go to Cambodia next and then Laos, but I was trying to meet Joe and Luke in Laos for New Years and didn't think I could make it through in time without being rushed into dislike of the place, so I thought I could just hang out in Saigon through Christmas and then fly to Laos. But there were no direct flights from Saigon and I wondered if maybe the weather up North would be better for my allergies, so I got a night train to Nha Trang, the beginning of a retreat back into the Communist lands.
My train didn't leave until the evening, and I checked my email later that morning and found my friend Roh from France that I met in Busan, South Korea was in Saigon too. We met up at a cafe in the morning and went to breakfast togethor. Then we met back up later in the afternoon at the War Remnants museum. This place did not make me proud to be an American. They only allowed pictures outside. Inside they had a terrible exhibit about Agent Orange and a nice hall explaining all the historical aggression waged on Vietnam, with heavy emphasis on how bad France and America treate them. I remember seeing a chart comparing all the major wars with various statistics. The one statistic that stuck out at me was that they Vietnam war was listed as lasting 14 years, which is not what our books list.
I took a taxi to the train station in the evening and the driver had a magic button that would increase the price on the meter whenever he clicked it. He kept trying to point things out to me in the city so that I would look away and he could increase the fare. I caught him doing it and had to stare at the meter for the rest of the trip so he would stop. I gave him half of what his meter said, which was easily twice as much as it should have cost and he didn't seem to object. Not very cool, especially from a cab company that is listed as the most trustworthy in guide books.
I got on a nice tourist train--the same kind I had taken from Hanoi. My compartment had 3 other Vietnamese guys in it though and their English wasn't happening, so I kept to myelf reading and watching Supernatural on my laptop. The train arrive in Nha Trang at 5 AM. Vietnam has some of the worst train arrival times. I found a taxi and took it to the city center, this time watching the meter the entire time.
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