Don't mess with the cyclo man.

Tonight is the first full moon of the new Chinese year and thus an important date for Vietnamese who pay their respects to their ancestors etc. They also flock to the fabulous pagodas that are dotted around HCMC and so I took the opportunity, with the assistance of my trusty cyclo man Dalat, to check out 3 of the pagodas and see how much passive incense smoking I could do in one morning.

The pagodas are amazing - incredibly intricate carvings and decorations with people carrying incense sticks absolutely everywhere. At the first one that I went to the door assistant gently thrust a bunch of incense sticks into my hands as I entered, which I then wandered around with feeling all warm and fuzzy until I copied the others and planted them in various bowls around the pagoda (I skipped the holding the incense to your forehead and bowing at everything in sight bit that came before).

I thought when I first went in that the people who looked like they were crying as they left were simply overcome by religious fervour. Turns out the incense smoke is so thick that your eyes start watering within seconds. The original plan was to visit 5 pagodas but after 3 I looked like I had been bawling for a week so I decided that 3 was enough.

When I left the 2nd pagoda I found my cyclo man in a full-on fist fight with another cyclo dude. This was serious biffo so I wandered down the road a bit and waited for my man to extract himself, which he did after a minute or so more. We carried on and he explained that the other man had mocked him...made mental note to never mock the cyclo man.

After my fit of religious enthusiasm I reverted to a bit of the old ultra-shopping. Hit the An Dong market which is mercifully free of tourists like myself (oh the hypocrasy! (and bad spelling!)) and cheaper again than the tourist areas. Bought a gorgeous wood chopstick box set for the magnificent price of $8 australian - and I was probably being ripped off. It's great to be in a place where even the tourist rip off prices are fantastic!

After that we headed to the Saigon War Surplus Market 'Dan Sinh' to pick up some obligatory American War remnants for my partner who is keen on that sort of thing. The vast bulk of the market comprises very (and some not so very) convincing replicas of war memorabilia ('american GI' zippo lighters that have been beaten up to look old, helmets, bags etc) that you can see the stall holders whipping up with their sewing machines. But if you ask the right questions and look carefully it is still possible to find some original stuff. I picked up 2 medals/badges from North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) and American Marine units as well as 2 American dog tags ($3US each). I am almost certain that the dog tags are real (I was offered both real and replica versions and there is a definite difference) so my partner and I will check their authenticity and maybe see if we can return them to their original owners.

I have been here for just on a week, and am very much in love with Saigon. I have long been in the habit of randomly smiling at people in the street - in Australia this usually results in a blank look but here you are repaid tenfold. Amazing smiles and 'hello's abound, especially off the main tourist strips :-)

I have also had the opportunity to see the extreme other side of Saigon, a world that I think many people don't know exists.

I caught up with a mate from 'Uc' (Australia) who, as it turns out, is one of Saigon's nouveau riche young elite. He picked me up and took me to his mum's place for drinks. For starters this was one of the most opulent private residences I've ever been to - and we're standing on the balcony overlooking the Saigon River when he points out the next house which apparently belongs to Ho Chi Minh City's President. To say that I felt somewhat underdressed in my cargo pants and t-shirt would be a monumental understatament. We then went for dinner with his cousins at a BBQ goat meat restuarant (thankfully not a dog meat one - had one of those, complete with dogs hanging in the window, pointed out to me by my every-helpful cyclo man the other day!) and then we hit the clubs.

The first place, the surreally named 'Apocalypse Now' had pretty good if slightly cheesy music, a mixed western/vietnamese crowd (complete with 2 bored looking 'ladies of the night' dancing with yukky overweight balding western men) and 2 security guards in full military uniform standing guard on the stage. A leetle bit of overkill I thought but you never know when a westerner riot might break out to the accompaniment of the dance remix of 'I will survive'.

At the 2nd place my mate's friends met us at the door and took us past the bouncers (I was the only non-Vietnamese there) and up the stairs to an incredibly plush bar/club. Beautiful young Vietnamese things were lounging around on comfy leather couches and armchairs, drinking diabolically expensive wine and spirits by the bottle. All but one of our party were studying in Australia and were back in HCMC for the holidays and made for very good company. It turns out that rich young vietnamese guys dance as well as gay white men - they were the ones standing up and dragging the girls up to dance! Much fun and drinking was has by all, and, as has happened every time I have been the guest of someone in Saigon, regardless of their income, I wasn't allowed to pay for anything. I think I have a lot of repaying of kindness to do when back in Australia.

So there you have it - one tourist's burblings about a very funky city. Can't wait to get back here later in the year :-)