We're in Vietnam!

Sunrise arrival at Honolulu

We left Elizabeth and Sonny's house at 5am on the 10th to fly out of Kona at 6.  A quick little hop over to Honolulu for a 5 hour layover, which gave us time to get breakfast and a big mocha (thanks to Jullie for the gift card!) to help wake us up, before we headed off for a butt-numbing 12.5 hour flight to Incheon, via Korean Airlines.  What they lacked in seating comfort, they made up for by keeping our stomachs full and happy. We both opted for the bibimbap for our first meal, a tasty bowl of rice, kimchi, beef, sprouts, mushrooms, and sweet and spicy chili paste.   The second meal I went for a simple chicken and rice dish.  Korea looked beautiful as we flew in at sunset, and the airport was modern and lined with super high-end retail stores that we were able to admire as we hustled through the terminal to make our connecting flight.  Another 5 hours + (and a beef and pasta dish w/ white wine) added to an upset stomach from the turbulence and pressure changes, not helped by the untimely cold I hadn't quite got over, and that Venice was in the middle of. 

Upon landing in Ho Chi Minh around 22:50, raindrops dotted the little viewport window, obscuring much of the nighttime scenery.  By the time we cleared customs and claimed our one little checked bag I expected to walk out into a torrential downpour.  Fortune was with us as we spotted our driver holding a sign with my name on it, and noticed the rain had ceased.  Not saying a word, he helped us with Venice's backpack and led us across the parking lot to his car.  Driving from the airport, through major city streets to lesser and lesser side streets, we realized how lucky we were to have prearranged our pickup with the hostel and not to have to rely on a taxi, especially considering we hadn't secured any local currency yet.  We had been warned that taxi drivers often pick up disoriented travelers and drive them in circles for miles, racking up the meter and blackmail them for huge sums in order to get their bags back.

Our silent driver eventually pulled up along a park, helped us unload our bags and took us down a narrow alley.  Around a corner we came to what looked like a gated storefront.  I felt a little relief when I saw the sign above that read "Room for Rent - Vy Khanh" and I knew we were at the right place.  The gate opened shortly after the driver rang the buzzer and a little middle aged bob-haired lady greeted us.  She pantomimed taking off shoes and handed us some sandals to borrow before leading us up one flight of stairs to our room.  After opening the door, another wave of relief passed over the two of us as she waved in to the little room, taken up mostly by a queen sized bed.  We thanked her and she left us with the room key.  We then quickly stashed our things away and took showers before eagerly crawling into bed.

Already working the deals

The next morning we awoke a little early despite our exhaustion, too excited to sleep any longer.  We went down to the little lobby after getting ready and were greeted by a young Vietnamese woman with a long ponytail and a big smile.  She introduced herself as Ms. Vy, and spoke very good English.  After bringing us some cafe sua and bananas, we talked about our trip, our families and asked a ton of questions about the area.  She gave us a photocopied map of the district, with little handwritten notes of tourist interests, and pointed out the best place to get pho, massages, and the riverboat restaurants to the east.  We asked about cell phone sim cards and were quickly taken down the alley to a cart overflowing with typical quickie mart goods.  After securing sim cards and testing out our phones, we thanked Vy and set out to get some pho. 

The alleys were full of people with carts selling varieties of food and goods, people sitting around eating, talking, and passing through, and a good number of tourists wandering with their cameras clicking away.  Passing the first large street was an adventure, with scooters buzzing up and down, as well as a the occasional car and bicycle.  Venice just told me to stay close and walk when she walked and a game of Frogger ensued.  The important thing, she said, was to just walk consistently.  No quick starts and stops, so the scooter drivers would know what to expect.  And that's what we did.  It was like a leap of faith, trusting that the buzzing scooters would just avoid you if you were confident enough.  We watched for a break and cautiously started walking, and sure enough the scooters just zipped around us.

Pham Ngu Lao Street heading toward Ben Thanh Market

General Tran Nguyen Han statue in front of Ben Thanh Market

Keeping an eye out for would-be camera thieves

Downtown Ho Chi Minh skyline

Blending in

We were often solicited for sales of goods, politely saying "no thanks" or "co roi" (already have) as we passed.  We headed down Pham Ngu Lao Street to Ben Than Market, where we got to practice this phrase to excess.  We wanted to look around at all of the many doodads and foods for sale, but any shown interest on our part was greeted with hard sales tactics by the locals.  "Look! Look!" and "10,000 dong! Ok, 8,000 for you!" were often heard as we browsed.  We stopped through the Tax Mall, as noted on Ms. Vy's map, drawn in by upscale shops and the promise of civilized bathrooms.  We stayed and browsed it's four stories, though, because of the pumping air conditioning. We browsed lots more trinkets and souvenirs that we had no room for in our overstuffed backpacks, or budgets, and I felt bad for teasing the sales people when we had no intention of buying.  Oh well, the a/c was worth it.

Walking through Pham Ngu Lao Park

Back to our hostel

Turning down Nguyen Hue Street, we eventually came to what Venice's sister had told us was her favorite bookstore in the whole world.  We spent a while looking up and down the four stories looking for some maps, travel guides, and translation dictionaries, and finally decided on one two-way dictionary.  After this, we decided we were still jetlagged and needed to get back to the hostel for a rest.  We made it out for one more trip to find food, came across a place selling pork rib meat and rice that was quite tasty (and cheap!) before returning again and passing out at the oh so late hour of 6:30pm.