So I realize I've been absent for a while, but it's been so busy since I arrived in Vietnam. Since leaving San Fran I've technically visited four cities, though I'm not sure an airport stop-over counts. We (my partners in crime for the next 6 weeks, Meera and Christy - both class mates from Haas) all arrived in Saigon within a few hours of each other...Christy and I met in Tokyo and we then met Meera at the Mme Cuc hotel in Saigon; a hostel in the backpacker district. It's super cute the staff are super friendly and love to practice their English.
We decided to take it easy our first day and let ourselves gradually get used to the time change and heat. After a quick cup of coffee at the hostel (coffee with condensed milk...I'm pleasantly surprised by how tasty this is) we headed out for a day of exploring, but first we satisfied our hunger with what soon became our morning breakfast...streetside egg sandwiches with cilatro and chilli sauce on a baguette...so tasty! and only 10,000 dong (about 80 cents). We also found a cute smoothie bar called the Juice Box and discovered a wonderful drink called Sinh to (can't go wrong with fresh tropical fruits!)
During the rest of the day we made our way around the city visiting the Reunication Palace, the War Remnants Museum, the local city market (for a few local goodies) and the Notre Dame Cathedral; while doging motorbikes in the streets...this city is crazy...one tour guide told us that the population in the greater Ho Chi Minh City area is about 10 million and there are 5 million motorbikes...at times the streets are wall to wall with just motorbikes, forget about driving a car in this city. We soon learned that the bus companies allocate atleast an hour to leave the city.
After a whirlwind tour of the city we ended the day at the Vietnam Traditional Massage Institute, which was coincidentally a few doors down from our hostel. Little did we know the Institute is co-located at a school for the blind, so I just got one of the strangest massages of my life from a blind Vietnamese women.
Stay tuned for more from the first week (and I promise to post pictures)...Mekong Delta, Cu Chi Tunnels, Hoi An and Hue!!!
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