The airport was a mess and reminded me of the chaos of Korea. I
began to panic after 45 minutes of not seeing my bag and took relief in
seeing my fellow passengers also without bags. Eventually, with
backpack in hand, I headed through the departure gate to find Pete
waiting for me. Normally, I don't consider Pete particularly tall
except in a country where everyone is tiny. Even I seem tall, in
comparison. The drive from the airport to the hotel looked like
any non-European city. I could have been in Morocco, Istanbul or
Cairo- there was a strong visual resemblance. Our hotel is
situated in a Westerners alcove, which oddly is reassuring. All
the streets cater to the Western palate so no interesting food tales
yet to tell- except for the dried salted fish which was horrible.
We returned to our hotel around midnight but both of us had no
concept of time considering the journey here. We stumbled into a
bar/cafe with a heavy Western patronage. Many scantily clad
Vietnamese women were about and it was not hard to figure out what they
were there for. One lady kept winking at Pete and all I could do
was giggle.
In the morning, I woke up after only 4 hours
sleep and wandered into a local cafe for the BEST cup of coffee I've
ever tasted. It just had a rich texture that lingered on the
tongue- oh, it was lovely! So far, Saigon is a sensory
overload. I almost felt assaulted sitting in the open
cafe. My ears ring with the howl of car and bike horns.
And there is too much to look at- people watching is in
hyper speed. Shops are overstuffed4d with an array of merchandise
that is unrecognizable to my Western eyes. My nose is intrigued
by the vague sweetness lingering in the air but is masked by the heavy
petrol emissions. Smoke and rubbish stench also hang heavy.
I feel as if I should be in a hurry as I watch the bustling morning
traffic but I am content to just sit here and watch.
This afternoon
we took a 5 hour walking tour of the city. We hit the major sites
and saw great architecture. I'm too exhausted to report much
else. Tomorrow we're doing a day trip to the Mekong Delta and
Thursday we're flying into Cambodia. We've already reversed our
itinerary so I'll do what I can to keep you posted.
To be continued....
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