After about 25 hours of travel, I finally arrived in HCMC. The airport was hectic. They don't allow people without tickets into the baggage claim area, so upon finally picking up my bag, I was confronted with a wall of humanity. This was originally a bit daunting, given that I was more than an hour late (on account of a flight delay and it taking forever to get my bag). Luckily, upon my second confused pass of the crowd, I saw Zane holding up a sign with my name on it. We took a taxi back to where I was gonna stay, dropped off my bag, and went to a restaurant where I could have my first vietnamese meal.

The foreigner district is kind of annoying on account of the touts and the women who sit in front of bars and try to lure you in with accented cliches ("Are you lonely?" sticks out in my mind as the most laughable). However, the foreigner district has the benefit of later hours for restaurants. We ate at a corner shop.


The Bo Kho (with Bhan Mi) was excellent. The meal consisted of a savory broth with beef and various vegetables. I was given a baggette as a side to dip into the broth.

I woke up early the next day, on account of my inability to sleep in past dawn. Zane was to meet me at noon, so I went out and wandered the streets for a bit myself. I wandered down a market street. Saigon is unlike any city I've seen - there is a restless energy and activity to it. It's strange - with the constant motion and sound and various smell, it seems like all of your senses are constantly engaged. You've got the merchants offering or cooking their wares right up to the street, people on various errands or lounging around enjoying an early snack. I passed who were having a cock fight in front of a store.

Traffic lines and signals are more guidelines than actual rules. Sidewalks exist not so much for walking, but as extended storefronts or places to locate your cart of wares. As such, pedestrians are forced to walk in the city streets. This isn't nearly as dangerous as it sounds - most of the traffic consists of motorbikes, who have as little desire to hit pedestrians as the pedestrians have to be run over. As such, it's a weird kind of system that has developed. To cross a street, you mostly just look for a break in traffic and rush in. As Zane says, you have to "let go," and just expect that traffic will flow around you.



I met Zane for lunch. We went to another stall that opened onto the street and sat down on hard plastic stools in front of a hard plastic table. We had Bun Thit Nuong. Rice noodles, marinated pork, fried spring rolls, fresh herbs, with fish sauce. We also had some sugarcane juice that was made in front of us. I'll admit I wasn't as enamored with this meal as the Bo Kho. The pork and the spring rolls were good, but the mint was a bit strong and overpowered the other flavors. Zane got coffee, and we had to duck under some umbrellas to hide from a sudden storm. Zane had some standing water fall right into his eye from the umbrella (and again from a tree, not long after). Undoubtedly it will become infected.

We picked up some bus tickets for me to head to Cambodia in ten days, then headed back to Zane's apartment using the xe om, or (something like) "hug ride." The most common taxi service you'll see are people who offer to ferry you places on their motorcycles. I'll admit to some initial anxiety regarding this prospect. However, when in Rome...



The trip wasn't nearly as harrowing as I expected, though it is not without its own particular craziness. Like I said, the traffic just kind of moves on its own. There were several points where we'd approach an intersection, and turn left into/ through traffic coming from the opposite direction. Again, everyone has an interest in avoiding an accident, and the speeds aren't that terrible (30-40mph?) Zane even commented on how that was pretty tame, as far as rides went.




Finally, we reached his apartment. It is on the 14th floor of a building and overlooks the city.

And, it is time for me to crash for a bit. We've got a plane to Hue to catch in about an hour and a half.