Tuesday November 6th, 2007

The flight to HCMC was quick. I found myself arriving before the scheduled time. My mom's plane had landed about a half hour before mine and I was beginning to think that setting an arranged meeting place may have been a good idea. She wasn't waiting at customs, nor was she hanging around the baggage claim area. As I was waiting in line to go through the final security check, who should I see on the other side of the window, anxiously looking in? I wondered if she was having the same thought as I.

It was a hug, a hello and a deep breath as we ventured into an unknown journey. We were quickly whisked away by three people looking to take us into the city. Having no idea how far the city really was or how much it should cost, we accepted a ride.


Traffic in Vietnam is insane. It is the worst I've come across in my journeys so far. Horns going all the time, bikes swerving here and there ... no traffic lights, no stop signs, no lines on the road to keep traffic to this side or that. The cars drive in the center, everything else seems to revolve in whichever direction around that.

It took us almost an hour to drive a not so very far distance. The thing I quickly noted about Vietnam taxis is that the meter doesn't move unless the car is moving. That is unfortunate for the driver, not unfortunate for the passenger. It was hard to judge the reason for lack of movement ... whether it was due to the mass amounts of motorbikes running around us or if it was the heavy rain that was pounding down on the windshield. Or was it that the time was coming close to 6pm rush hour ... probably putting those last two words mildly according to a chunk of the world's standards.


Upon arrival at our destination, a street I had picked randomly from a map and information out of the the Lonely Planet, it was flooded with water up to our knees. The driver didn't speak English, so I took off my shoes and starting rolling up my pants. What else was one to do?

The street was covered with small hotels and we found ourselves staying at the one we were left in front of. It was a cute room on the second floor with 3 beds, a balcony, a bathroom with a hot water shower over the toilet and a TV with satellite. All this for $12US a night, $15US if one were to want A/C. Having two fans in the room, we declined the air.


We settled into our room quickly, had a shower and then headed across the way to Bobby Brewers. It was here that we bought a bottle of Australian wine and had our first of many delicious meals that Vietnam has to offer.

We stayed in the room that night amazed of the noises the city had to offer. It was great to have a balcony to overlook the excitement. And just to think ... this was only the beginning ...