Day 1

We've made it to Saigon! After what seemed like an endless journey from New York, we dagged our selfs out of the airport last night only to walk into ngoc's sister's open arms. This was a relief to see because when exiting the airport all you see is a GIGANTIC crowd of people. I'm talking Beatles welcoming crowd... As you can imagine I was as smooth as ever and we quickly grabbed a cab with great help from his sister. I caught my first glimpses of the crazy motor bikes and lenient traffic rules. I am actually very impressed with the way everyone goes along. No yelling, no bumping, just a lot of horns and patience. The city is hot and humid. You see groups of people just hanging out sitting around the sidewalks eating, drinking, and having a good time. There is a sense of peace in the air that im not sure is my assumption based on my mood or what may be a very happy people. So, we dropped our things at the hotel ngocs sis had pre arranged for us ($15 a night for 2 queen beds). It is pretty low end, but there is a/c, hot water, and wifi. What else do you need? Though, there is no shower curtain and it's pretty dirty, ngoc has requested a step up for our next location :) We then went and had pho at a vendor on the street. Our mood was exausted, but the pho and beer went down happily. We made it back home and slept for about 4 hours. Waking up at 5 am this morning was rough. In new York it would have been 2 pm the afternoon before, which means our bodies actually felt as if they were having an afternoon nap. We were not too pleased, but we woke for our first big day. We grabbed me a coffee then went into the market to find someone to chane our us $$$. We found out that you actually get a better rate when you find a business person willing to do the transaction, so ngoc and I let his sister do her magic. After a very awkward and seemingly shady transaction, we had changed over most of our cash for vietnames dong, with the actual current exchange rate, and no fee! We then had pho and bun Bo hue for breakfast and took some great shots. After that we met a friend visiting from Oakland and walked around a very large market. I enjoyed being hassled and grabbed by the sales people, and did my best not to look like yet another dumb American. I thought I did well... After some leisure time in a park we hopped into a cab and made our way to the "lunch lady". We've heard great things from friends and seen her on Anthony bourdains tv show, so we gave it a shot. You will see a photo of her below. The curried chicken was amazing, finished off with a Saigon beer, it was a great way to end our morning. Now the 4 of us are back at the hotel keeping cool during the peak of the days heat. Later we will find dinner and check out the cities gay scene. We feel good and are starting out in style! So much more I could share, but I will leave something for ngoc! mệt qua!

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From: Ngoc <nbnguyen1030@gmail.com>;
To: Jamie Gorton <jamiegorton@yahoo.com>;
Subject: Day 1
Sent: Wed, Oct 19, 2011 6:12:51 AM