I love the smell of DEET in the morning

Well, I’m in Vietnam. And once again, it’s raining. I swear this is a curse or something. It was nice though this morning, so I guess it’s not entirely a curse. We got into port this morning around 8 am, we’d been traveling up the river since around 4am to get to Ho Chi Minh City. As I said, it was really pretty this morning, and a nice humid 90 degrees.

Since we didn’t need our passports today for just wandering around, (just our landing cards), Jen, Hanna, and I were off the boat close to 10am to see the sights.

We started by riding the shuttle into the center of town and then began by trying to find a bank for Jen to get some cash. We found the local HSBC with an ATM and all seemed to be well until the ATM ate Jen’s card. Well, we of course freaked out and had to find someone who worked there to get it back for us. Unfortunately, they only open the ATM at night so Jen has to go back to the bank tomorrow with her passport and pick it up. Hopefully everything went well. It was a bit of a downer for the beginning of the day, but we figure it’s a great story to tell back home, “what did you do in Vietnam? Oh, I got my ATM card eaten by the bank.”

Next we made our way to the Ben Thanh market. It’s a lot like the Silk Road was in China, lots and lots of little stalls crammed into a huge building and people shouting at you and trying to get you to buy stuff. Everywhere you go people are calling out "What are you looking for madame? Step inside madame!" Since Jen didn’t have money, and Hanna and I were reluctant to buy anything on the first day, we just looked around. We had to avoid the meat isle though because of the smell. We then walked into a dress shop to it out. There are a number of little shops here where you can either buy a pre-made dress, or order one right then and there and it will be done in 24 hours, perfectly tailored to you. I’m considering having one made later this week when I get a few days off. Maybe I’ll stop by the market again and pick up some cloth and get one made, what do you all think? Any color in particular?

Our next stop was KFC, for some good western lunch after the upsetting smells of the market. We slipped up and had ice in our cokes though, so hopefully we’ll be ok in a few days! Hanna had found an internet café, so we stopped there for a few minutes to check our email and look up our next destination. It was a really good price too, 15,000 Dong for 1 hour (US $1). I might be back there later this week to save up some of my Internet time.

We then tried to find the flower market, but we had to take a taxi across town, and the taxi drivers are kind of shady here so we decided against it. Later we heard one of our friends got ripped off 300,000 Dong (about US $20) in a taxi. Instead we walked around this little park near the restoration palace and then stopped by a smaller market where I bought my first box of this trip. It’s really pretty! It was initially $6, but the lady at the market gave me a “special price” for it. I think I’m getting better at this bargaining thing.

While we were walking around, it started to rain. So rather than stay and get soaked, we ducked into the nearest building, which just so happened to be a movie theatre. They were playing Bourne Ultimatum, in English with Vietnamese subtitles. The price was only about US $3 so we couldn’t pass it up. We haven’t seen Western movies in quite some time, unless you count watching them on our little computer screens. It was pretty funny at first, to see the Vietnamese across the bottom of the screen, but you get used to it pretty quickly. I thought it was funny that the sound kept booming and then returning to normal, then getting really soft, and then going back to normal again. I wonder if that copy of the movie was bootlegged?

After the movie, we decided to brave the rain and walked back to the shuttle. We were soaked, but we had a good time. The rain actually felt really nice because it cut the heat and humidity that had hung around all morning. It was probably 10 degrees cooler by 4 pm. After a wonderfully warm shower and dry clothes, I did some laundry in my sink before sitting down to write this up.

**Later this evening** I went out with Jordyn and Laura to pick out dresses. We had heard that you could get a dress designed, fitted, and made within 24 hours or so at a really good price. Since we all want something pretty to wear to the Ambassador’s ball at the end of the term, and just want pretty clothes, we went out in search this evening. We found this really great shop to make our dresses which we will be picking up on Sunday. Mine’s going to be so pretty! Sapphire blue with black trim. And the price for these dresses? $50 bucks. AMAZING! I can’t wait to see the finished product!

The end of my day was spent at the Night market downtown. It was really nice, not as hectic or as cramped as the day market and a lot of fun just to walk around.

Tomorrow I visit the Chu Chi Tunnels for class. I can’t wait!

My first impressions of Vietnam are varied I think. Having been to China and Japan now, I’m starting to see the contrasts more and maybe not judge them so much against each other? At least I hope not.

The streets here are just as crazy to cross as in China, although there are a lot less cars and a LOT more bikes and mopeds. I’ve never seen so many before in my life! You have to be very confidant when you step out onto the street and not waver. The bikers usually just swerve around you. The best advice I think I’ve gotten so fat on this trip is to just watch the locals and do what they do. So we just follow them around a lot.

English is very prevalent here, maybe left over from the war, but I think the people here are just very conscious that English will help them get ahead and so most people on the streets and in the shops know a fair amount of English, enough to carry on rather lengthy conversations, I’ve found.

It’s hot here, like 90, and I think it stays hot like that most of the year. But most people here wear long sleeves. Its kind of funny to see all the girls all covered up in the traditional dress and then have someone walk by them in shorts and a t-shirt. That kind of crossing of cultures and dress seems to be very prevalent in the Asian countries I’ve been to so far, whereas I don’t think that would be quite as acceptable in the U.S. It’s too bad I think, it’s cool to see the mix of costume in every day life, not just for special occasions.