Travel pains

Today was a rough one!

We started out having our second seating at the best pho vendor in Saigon. We were not let down!

Then we boarded a ride to can tho (Mekong delta). Luckily for me, the numerous experiences on the Chinatown bus from Philly to NYC prepared me for this day. People pushing and yelling, confusion all around, and being squeezed into spaces that most are not used to was just the beginning of the fun for the day.

We made it to our destination and took a stab at a hotel we had been referred to by no other than our cab driver in Saigon to the bus depot. This hotel was NOT in the center of the city and they had a very bad attitude towards foreigners. I was able to talk ngoc and his sister into trying another option (which I found using google on the hotels free wifi(thank you iPhone)).

The second hotel was no 4 seasons, but it is on the river and in the center of the city. We have a patio and a restaurant connected that over looks the river. We took full advantage of this tonight with drinks and food while ngoc and his sis harassed the young male servers. I can't lie, I enjoyed watching them work away for us.

The city here is home to over 1 million people. It is the center of the delta for many tourist attractions, but there seems to be some depression that comes with the lack of any other real options for industry. We walked through the markets and streets during the day to find a depressed culture and no one even trying to make us feel welcome. We even had a 1 toothed old lady follow us for about and hour once we declined her offers for river tours. This led too a pretty stressed and somber mood for the afternoon, but we came around and rallied.

The night brought us great laughs, good and cheap drinks, wonderful seafood (much needed after the pretty shitty street food we had during the day), and a great first experience of a night market.

The city seems to have come alive once the sun went down and we are feeling the energy that has come with it. We've booked a 530 am pick up with a local that will take the three of us to the floating markets. Ngoc sis was a hard bargainer and got us the trip for about $7 per person. To put this in perspective, most tourist would be paying $30+ per person for the same trip, but I've got the viet connection!

After the market tomorrow we head back to Saigon to take a bus to vung tau, a beach town a bit north. We will have some much needed quiet time lounging in the sand and playing in the ocean.

We took about 100 photos tonight, but have narrowed it down to these few. Maybe if you're lucky ngoc will post a few extra later tonight.

Happy Friday everybody!!

J