I can't believe I'm here...

After a full day of sitting on airplanes, I have made it to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!!! Things have really changed here and it's incredible! I don't have pictures to load right now as I don't have the cable on me, but will load some up asap...as well as a video of the road traffic!

My first flight, United from Baltimore to San Fran, was horrible. One hour sitting on the plane at the gate to wait for papers, a maintenance man, and then a food cart (WTH?)...then a really bumpy ride...then sitting on the runway after landing to wait for another plane to leave our gate. People are freaking out because they have connections to make and start yelling, I'm sweating bullets because I have an international flight to check-in = craziness all around. Well I've just gotten an email that I will get $150 credit for my next ticket, nice!

I check into my international Asiana flight (San Fran - Seoul - Saigon) and the lady tell me that my carry-on luggage that I took on the domestic flight is too big for the flight. And checking in the bag means that it's my third bag (46 lbs, 42 lbs, and now 22 lbs) which would cost $110. Oh craaaaap. I tell her that I checked the online website for checked-in luggage restrictions but there were no carry-on restrictions, and that I just had this bag on a domestic flight. Well I think she saw the sweat from me running across the airport plus my utter anxiety and let me check my bag for free. Sweeeeeet!

So it was just me and my 26 lb backpack...the 2 international flights are fine. I watched a lot lot of movies (Yes Man, HSM3, Twilight (x2), 4 Christmases, Bedtime Stories), got a good "night's" worth of sleep, and had 3 square meals. And the international flight was 20 minutes early!

The international wing of the HCMC airport is very new and big, and so there are more lanes and less waiting. And people are wearing helmets now on the motorbikes! (Though not the kids, ironically, and generally no kids will be wearing them unless a law is passed). Cafes have internet, homes have wireless, there are internet phones that can call make international calls for very cheap - it's all very incredible. So it feels very different than my last visit 4 years ago.

I am living with a close family friend (we have no immediate family members in Vietnam) and it is a very nice, comfortable house. Chu Dung, my host, has a driver for his car (mainly to park the car) and a housekeeper, and he has also hired me a xe om (motorbike) driver to take me to and from school every day. Nice set up, indeed!! I have a room, my own bathroom, and wireless internet set up. I will post pictures later tonight...

Meanwhile I am sitting in a cafe now drinking cold tea and an orange juice. It's about 95F here, very very hot and I think I have already tanned from riding around all morning. I already have a mask that covers my nose and mouth to protect from the dust, and I will probably be buying some long gloves to protect my arms from the sun. 2.5 months of riding, I'll have plenty of time to tan and don't want to get too dark too fast!

So life here will be comfortable for the next few weeks, I just have to get used to the area and get to learning some Vietnamese!