bits of Vietnam and getting to Ho Chi Minh City in just over an hour.
Our flight didn't leave until 21:00, so we had the whole day to kill.
Our first obstacle was the rain. Lots and lots of rain. Since I was
the only genius to bring a rain jacket, I went out to get us ponchos,
the standard fare around here, but where do they sell ponchos at?? I
found a small vendor under an umbrella with some pastel colored
packages hanging up and procured us two wonderful ponchos for 12,000d
total. Wriggling into the ponchos was more difficult than buying them
it turned out. They were thin and we didn't want to rip our only means
of leaving the hotel, so it took some time. Robot looked like an ogre
in a lime green plastic wrapper.
We went to vegetarian place for bun soup. Then bread of life for bread
and banana bread and black coffee and a splash of coffee in milk for
me, hot. Then we went looking for lunch... We got my quang, noodles
with a splash of broth, bad meat and bones and geh! Then we went to a
high volume diner and ordered off the menu - rice and steamed greens.
Then we went to Christies bar and sat on the second floor drinking
beers very slowly. Jenn got very bored. So much rain! Nothing to do.
After the rain abated we went on a walkabout, but it got old quickly
when there wasn't much new to see, just more bustling streets and
crowded sidewalks. Went back to the hotel and sat in the lobby for an
hour and a half, using wi-fi, the bathroom and their comfy chairs.
Jenns mood improved when she ventured out to get banh my sandwiches,
spelled with a "y" here. She ordered simply, but in Vietnamese and
they understood! Hai heo, two pork. It was a christmas miracle. And
the sandwiches were heavenly. Closest thing to the best banh mi in
Seattle yet. There was a return trip to get two more for later.
Taxi to the airport, wait wait wait in the airport. Turn down the
50,000 chocolate covered peanuts. Get on bus to take us onto runway to
board plane, two entrances! Fance. Man sitting in aisle seat, we
squeeze past, he realizes that he is actually marked as having the
window seat, despite taking the aisle seat before we arrived. We filed
out and he got his seat. Annoying man, thankfully fell asleep quickly
and completely.
In Saigon, the rightful name of the place, 10:30 at night. Ask another
couple to share a taxi into town. Bargain from 10$ us to $7, and we
then got to split the fare, not bad. They are new to traveling, so
they were astounded that we showed up without reservations. We walked
a bit of a ways off the very busy and lively strip to a small alley
and Kim Kim guest house. We had to wake up the family, but they were
still very nice considering. Perhaps we are not the first late night
arrivals they have had. They put new sheets on the bed, got us towels
and let us copy down information from our passports and we kept the
passports, good deal. Nice sleep!
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