Not much new to report, but making sure to post so those loved ones out there know I'm still alive and well. I've been wandering around Saigon a bit exploring and checking out the obligatory tourist sites yesterday and today. Nice but nothing too noteworthy, except that I got a haircut. Fairly decent, I must say. Ended up costing me about $6, which was more than they quoted but I wasn't in a position to argue. They kept trying to push me to get a massage and then seemed really annoyed when I declined. Oh well.
Saigon is remarkably clean, efficient, and orderly for a "developing" country. One of the bext examples is the crazy road traffic, which seems to just work. I took a video of some typical Saigon traffic - note how everything keeps moving, people constantly look like they're about to hit each other, but no one ever does:
The consequence of all these motorbikes is that the air quality is pretty poor. I woke up this morning with a bit of a sore throat and panicked that I might be sick, but then after getting up and feeling fine otherwise (even took my temperature) I began to realize that it's just from breathing all this crap in the air...
Tomorrow I'm doing the tour thing again, to the Cu Chi tunnels (used by the Viet Cong) and then some temple. Monday I fly to Da Nang ($38, was cheaper than the train) and then from there to visit Hoi An and Hue. I'm trying to plan a visit to Phong Nha Cave after that but it seems difficult to find information online - I'm a little wary of just showing up and trying to find my way over though I'll probably end up doing that. Then up to Hanoi and then Sapa and finally Ha Long Bay before heading back to Thailand. I've been in Southeast Asia for only 11 days or so now (out of a 70 day trip) but it feels like it's been longer!
yay...you are alive...have fun!
ReplyDeleteYou should rent a motorbike and see if you can make it through the intersection too!! Or don't. We'd like you to come home in one piece.
ReplyDeleteI definitely know the feeling of how much can happen fast in a trip like yours.
ReplyDeleteTraveling on a long but fast-paced trip is strange because things happen for you so much faster than they happen to your friends and family back home (you've visited three countries while I took exams, and I'm still sitting in the library in Cambridge, wishing I was traveling). When I was traveling last year, I could only describe it as being like stepping through the Wardrobe into Narnia, where years can pass, and when you return, everything is just as you left it.
That intersection is amazing! I could watch it all day and still be completely confused.
ReplyDelete