Ho Chi Minh City (Siagon), Vietnam

Rooftop drinks in Saigon

Tet! New Year Celebration- flowers and arrangements in the streets

 

Beachfront Drinks!

Jim & Marisa on motor scooter! Scary!!

Tet Celebration

It took us 30 hours to get from SFO to the Spring Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City but we finally made it! Customs in Vietnam turned out to be nothing like what the ticketing agent at SFO made it out to be. We just showed the guy our Visas and he stamped them and let us through. We don't think he even spoke any English... While waiting for our bags we could feel the humidity just waiting for us outside, it was a warm welcome to Vietnam to say the least. After our bags showed up we exchanged $100usd for just over 2 million Vietnamese Dong, which felt like a pretty good deal at the time but spends about the same. Just outside the terminal there were hoards of people waiting for arrivals, but we managed to find our pre-arranged driver holding a sign with La Campagne/Warnock on it. After signalling the driver he told us to follow him(in Vietnamese) and super sped walked us to his Toyota SUV, never offering to carry or load our bags. Next he took us on an intense 25 minute car ride through downtown Saigon filled with thousands of motorbikes (sometimes carrying entire families of 5), more honks of the horn than one hears in a lifetime in the US, and what appeared to be no traffic lanes. It was right in the middle of Tet(Chinese New Year) and most of the shops were closed and the people took to the beautifully decorated streets. There were so many amazing visuals of lights, flowers, and decorations during the ride to the hotel that it almost made us forget about the 2 long flights and the 8 hour layover. Once at the hotel, they only required our passports to check in and a bellman showed us to our room right next door to our travel companions Jim, his wife Maria, and Jim's brother Tom. They were excited and anxious for our arrival and only gave us 20 minutes to freshen up before taking us out on the town. The first thing we had to learn was how to cross the busy streets that almost never seemed to let up. We learned that the idea is to just walk slowly and predictably and the motorbikes will just go around you. We'll admit it was pretty scary the first few times but eventually you learn to trust that if you walk in front of the cars they will find a way to avoid hitting you. Think of a shark swimming through a pod of fish... Our first stop was a rooftop bar in the center of town with a great view of the Tet festivities. Next was an indoor/outdoor restaurant which was packed and running out of food, but we managed to get some good spring rolls and tender beef. Then we spent the next hour or two getting lost in the droves of people out for new years on a street that had been closed down to cars and filled with beautiful plants, flowers, lights, and decorations. It was the perfect start to our South East Asian Adventure. The next morning we had an early breakfast at the hotel and caught a cab to the bus station which took us to Mui Ne where we have been spending the last few days at a great little beach town. Almost everything on the beach had been booked in advance for the New Year when we got here so we spent most of a day arranging a 4 bedroom villa on the hill which far exceeded our expectations with most of the modern comforts of home.  We are both still exhausted and haven't really gotten over the jet lag from skipping a whole day ahead. We've taken lots of pictures and video and will hopefully get more of that online soon but we'll be traveling for the next few days as we make our way back to Saigon tomorrow, then to Can Taho the next day,  then we'll head into the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, for a day before going to Siem Reap where we'll spend a few days checking out of the ruins of Angkor Wat. So far Marisa has lost her travel towel and Denton has lost his pair of sunglasses while body surfing in the ocean, but the experiences have more than made up for them. Stay tuned...We miss you all... Denton and Marisa

Editors Note: Marisa has since found her towel and Denton replaced his sunglasses for $5.00USD.