Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam is just amazing so far! On my flight to Saigon from Bangkok I sat next to Chou, a Saigon native coming back from visiting a friend in Thailand. We chatted and hit it off -- she's 28, she's also just going back to school after working for a few years, she also likes traveling alone. She offered to take me to the train station on her motorbike. I figured I already trust her more than I would any taxi, so I accepted. The train to Hanoi ended up being sold out for the next two days, so I had to figure out a new game plan. I met Chou's family and some of her friends, one of whom is an American ex-pat named Mike who was a war photographer here in the 60's and 70's. He was excited that my parents had also been here during the war, so he led me on a detailed walking tour of central Saigon, complete with descriptions of how things were, where and what important things happened, etc. I saw where all the journalists used to hang out and drink coffee. And the streets that used to be all seedy bars filled to the brim with GI's are now lined with luxury hotels, department stores, and Gucci shops. It was fascinating. I took lots of pictures.

Chou's family were immediately warm, welcoming and generous. One nice thing about traveling alone as a young woman is that people tend to take you under their wing. They asked a lot about my family and told me that since my parents were so far away, here in Vietnam I was as their daughter. We had dinner, which was a whole fried fish. Head with open mouth and eyes, skin, everything. I was brave and ate it. I'm such a brave vegetarian!

By the end of the evening, it was very clear to me that these were all wonderful, trustworthy people, so when they offered that I could stay in their spare room, I accepted. They all seemed quite worried about me spending money because I'm a "poor student". They wouldn't let me pay for anything, not food, not bottled water during our walk, not our pricey coffee at Rex's. They are so incredibly sweet. And as devout Catholics, they were excited to hear that I'm also from a Catholic family. Melissa left me with two San Francisco shot glasses, I gave them to Chou's family.

Chou and I stayed up late talking and giggling about breakups and relationships. She's in love with an American boy who "doesn't love her". I told her American boys are just trouble.

In the morning, Chou called a resort on the coast a few hours away from Saigon and bargained with the manager to get me a room for one night for less than $10. Chou is very charismatic, so after a few minutes, the manager agreed on an insanely low price and upgraded me to the "VIP Room". Pretty amazing! In the morning, we zipped around Saigon on Chou's motorbike. She said that she doesn't like motorbikes because they are dangerous; if Saigon had a subway, she would never drive. But you'd never guess she was afraid when she's driving around! It was really, really fun. I think Chou is one of the coolest girls I've ever met, in any country.

Chou got me onto the small bus to the coast, giving me a bag full of sweet rice cakes, bread, bottled green tea, and popcorn, in case I got hungry. I thought being in Ho Chi Minh City would be stressful, but thanks to my new Vietnamese best friend, its been one of the easiest parts of my trip!

The bus was interesting. The scenery was lovely, but the girl next to me kept alternating between eating fistfuls of caramel popcorn and vomiting into a (clear) plastic bag. The sight, sound and smell of someone vomiting usually makes me incredibly nauseous, but I was able to tune it out and stare out the window. When I got to the beach town, I bargained with a motorbike taxi to take me the 20 kilometers to the resort, and then we were on our way. I wish I could have taken pictures from the motorbike. We passed lots of animals, small fishing villages, scenic harbors with fishing boats, little boys trying to hunt birds with slingshots. When I got to the resort, it was really nice. My $7 room has not only air-conditioning (already a luxury for me) but my own yard with hot tub, big shower, free soap! I didn't know what to do with myself. I sat there for about 20 minutes deciding what I felt like doing. Luckily, Tonya called to discuss meeting up and Hanoi tickets, and that got me out of my daze.

The resort is nice, but it was quite clear that there was no one who spoke English around for miles and miles. Its sort of a strange feeling. People were very nice, but I felt pretty lonely. The beach was lovely, though. I'm happy that I am meeting up with Tonya tonight.

This morning I got a motorbike taxi back into the larger beach town and bought my train ticket. The train doesn't leave until 2:00 PM and its only 12:30, so I have some time to kill. I figure I'll wander around and find something to eat, then go to the station to read. Tonight I'm picking up Tonya at the airport, and tomorrow morning we head up north to Hanoi. Yaay!