Hello 4 AM, Tiny Planes, And Saigon

In December, I spent 17 wonderful days in Vietnam.  I have been too busy to even load the pictures on my camera, much less write about the trip day-by-day in my blog.  But, with our trip to Japan in a few weeks, I had to clear of my camera's memory card.  I finally got the pictures, all 11.6 gigs of them, on to my computer.  And now, with a twenty page paper due next week for my Masters course, there is nothing I would rather do then procrastinate by spending an hour or two remembering my trip and all the awesome, amazing, splendid, and sincerely eye-opening stuff that happened on this crazy journey I set out on.  So here it is: The first day in Saigon, as the locals still call it, or Ho Chi Mihn City, to the rest of the world.

The trip started bright and early at about three AM when I woke up and showered and left the apartment to meet up with my friend Rikki, who would be tagging along for the first five days of my trip.  It was a bit tough saying goodbye to Steven and Dash since I wouldn't be seeing them for two months, but it was made easier by the fact that they were both passed out cold when I left.  I stepped out into the freezing cold of five in the morning dressed only in a sweatshirt and long-sleeve heat-tech shirt.  Crazy, but Vietnam was going to be 80 degree weather, and I didn't have space in my backpack for a big, heavy jacket.

We cabbed it to the bus station, arrived an hour before the bus got there, and were accosted outside by a very pushy cab driver.  I have met a few that couldn't take no for an answer, but this dude kept insisting he could drive us to Incheon Airport for cheap, even though we repeatedly told him we were not going to Incheon and to go away.  We ended up hiding out in a fast food place till the bus came in order to get away from him.  By the time we got to Busan and Gimhae Airport, the sun was just coming up.  We got checked in, and got seats next to each other.  Rikki had a close shave with a lighter in her carry-on she had forgotten was there.  They took her to the back and shut a big door and I watched unsure if I should laugh or worry.  We had a quick snack, and after an hour or two of waiting, finally got on the plane and I said goodbye to Korea for two months.  Oh, almost forgot, we had to take a bus out to the plane.  I kinda loved it... Walking up the big steps like I was famous and had my own plane...

Anyway, five hours (way too long in the uncomfortable chairs) later, we landed in Vietnam.  Green grass, Palm trees, and 80 degrees.  Oh lordy I was so excited!!  We got through the airport, found a cab, and headed into the city to our hostel.  I had been told there would be a lot of mopeds, but I had NO IDEA how many there would really be.  The further into the city we got, the more we saw.  I can't even put a number on how many there were.  And they never stopped.  Traffic lights be damned!  Both Rikki and I were not excited about the idea of trying to cross a street, walking into all those vehicles and just hoping they would stop...  We got to our hostel, which was awesome and beautiful, only to be told they were having an electricity problem with our room and had put us up in a neighboring hotel for the night.  Less then thrilled, we followed the lady to a less impressive hotel down the street, then settled in and showered and rested for a bit until we got hungry.

We wandered out, and bravely crossed the tiny, empty street, and headed to the Chicken Pho place.  The food was good, but not as amazing as I had been expecting after Steven's month long tirade about how awesome it was.  The family that ran the place was very friendly and helpful.  It was interesting to experience this new Asian culture, so different from Korea. We did a little wandering, not crossing anymore streets, and just looked around this new, exciting country.

I discovered some awesome graffiti just down the street.  Rikki was entranced by the crazy number of mopeds.  Both of us were soaking up the sun and lovely weather.  There was just so much more LIFE in  this country.  Korea is beautiful, but there is this coldness there, a distance in the people.  This was such a different feel, I mean, there were birds chirping, and bugs, and lizards, and dogs.  People smiled and kids played with their families.  I love Korea, but this feeling of life was a great refresher.

After an hour or so of wandering, we headed back for a nap.  After all, we had only had a few hours of crappy sleep on a bus, then a plane.  we read, and napped for a few hours until it got dark and our tummies started to grumble.  Out into the night we went, but fully intending to not cross any more streets that night.  We walked around the block our hostel was on, checking out the nightlife and looking for someplace good to eat.  We made it almost all the way back to our hostel when I noticed a little cart in an alley with a sign for banh bo hue.  This was a soup that Steven had literally begun to drool while describing, so we decided to try it out.  We were seated in a little plastic chair in an alley, next to a tiny, wrinkled old woman who cheerfully greeted us and began to speak to us in surprisingly good English.  She told us about learning about America by looking at maps, studying where the cities are, and how she never wanted to leave Vietnam because it was her home.  Then, the wonderful bowls of soup were placed in front of us and we didn't say or think much for a little bit.  It was so good.  Even with the rats running around and the dirty water on the table, all that mattered was that food and that moment, there in the alley.  It was a truly surreal end to a pretty cool start to an amazing trip.