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Money, money, money!
Aug. 7th, 2002 05:36 amToday was expensive. Really expensive. First of all, we decided not to move to a cheaper hotel, because the one we're at is very clean, quiet (except for some guy who started yelling up the stairwell at 3 in the morning last night), close to the market and the staff is really nice.
Then, we got totally ripped off by a couple of cyclo drivers, but it's our own fault for not agreeing on a price first. They took us all around town, and we ended up spending a good deal of time in a really slummy part of HCMC that has a dress-making warehouse of sorts hidden away in what looks like an army surplus place. We each bought an ao dai, which were expensive but we look damn hot in them.
The highlight of that, though, was chatting with the salesgirl, who spoke practically no English. M-P tried as best she could to speak to her, and we did manage to communicate a little, writing translations on a piece of paper and asking the cyclo driver, whose English was quite good, when we were stuck.
After spending all that money, we were pretty discouraged and went back to the hotel to have a shower and hopefully think of more pleasant things before heading out again. Instead, we ended up putting on a private fashion show, modelling our purchases and deciding that yes, they were a good buy after all.
When we finally headed out for supper, it was dark, so we ate quickly and headed over to a travel agency to book a city tour for tomorrow. We have to be there at 8:15 in the morning, but as I seem to be travelling with M-P the Early Riser (TM), that shouldn't be too hard.
After that we thought we'd go to the internet cafe, but got distracted by some dress shops along the way... So M-P is having an ao dai tailored for her, and I'm having a Chinese dress (with matching shoes!) done at another shop.
Today we had a few raindrops, the first I've seen so far, as well as our first bugs. And lizards scurrying around on the walls of the restaurant we lunched at. We also ventured into a different part of town than the one we're staying in. And we washed some of our clothes.
Exciting stuff. ^_^
Then, we got totally ripped off by a couple of cyclo drivers, but it's our own fault for not agreeing on a price first. They took us all around town, and we ended up spending a good deal of time in a really slummy part of HCMC that has a dress-making warehouse of sorts hidden away in what looks like an army surplus place. We each bought an ao dai, which were expensive but we look damn hot in them.
The highlight of that, though, was chatting with the salesgirl, who spoke practically no English. M-P tried as best she could to speak to her, and we did manage to communicate a little, writing translations on a piece of paper and asking the cyclo driver, whose English was quite good, when we were stuck.
After spending all that money, we were pretty discouraged and went back to the hotel to have a shower and hopefully think of more pleasant things before heading out again. Instead, we ended up putting on a private fashion show, modelling our purchases and deciding that yes, they were a good buy after all.
When we finally headed out for supper, it was dark, so we ate quickly and headed over to a travel agency to book a city tour for tomorrow. We have to be there at 8:15 in the morning, but as I seem to be travelling with M-P the Early Riser (TM), that shouldn't be too hard.
After that we thought we'd go to the internet cafe, but got distracted by some dress shops along the way... So M-P is having an ao dai tailored for her, and I'm having a Chinese dress (with matching shoes!) done at another shop.
Today we had a few raindrops, the first I've seen so far, as well as our first bugs. And lizards scurrying around on the walls of the restaurant we lunched at. We also ventured into a different part of town than the one we're staying in. And we washed some of our clothes.
Exciting stuff. ^_^
