Madam Cuk

When we arrived in Vietnam we had a few days to kill before our tour began. (I mean our group tourism tour, not our military tour). So we stayed in a part of town called the backpacker’s district, and through some weird cosmic coincidence we saw tons of backpackers there. Your traditional backpacker eats a lot of granola and very possibly will be white with dreadlocks. We stayed at a place called Madam Cuk’s. Wiz ze Germans.

This place was hysterical. There were these three young girls that ran the place. So nice, and so enthusiastic. The actual place looked like a storefront on a busy street, you’d go inside the small lobby and then there’s a stairway that leads up to a few small rooms, almost like a hostel, but with private rooms. Sadly our room wasn’t in the main building. We had to cross the street and walk through a small stand selling batteries and blank CD’s, and also offering to take your portrait. Past the stand is someone’s apartment. It’s lived in by an older man, and his giant hulking son who spent his entire days watching TV, but it’s important to note that the TV was never on. But he always gave us a big smile and seemed to be having a good time. His father was a very nice man and would open the door for us at night if we got back after the battery stand closed. Then he would lead us through to the stairway that led up to a number of rooms above. There were other people staying there too. Mostly Germans.

The room was pretty great. It was clean I think. And if you were picturing bright red sheets that had kitty cats on them with the year “2008” embroidered in big pink numbers. Well you’d be so right on. The bathroom smelled a little like poo, but in a good way. And the shower was just a nozzle coming out of the wall with a drain on the floor. No curtain or stall or anything. It was kind of right over the toilet too, so we’d have to dry it off before using it again.

This seems like it would be a very strange situation to be in. But somehow it wasn’t. Maybe we were just in the right state of mind. It worked. We were happy. The people were all nice.

Most Common Used Phrase:
-German tourists kind of suck