After a 26-hour journey, Tianne and I arrived safely in Ho Chi Minh City at about 9:30pm local time on Sunday, April 29th (or about 8:30am ET on April 29th). The three flights went fairly smoothly, but the journey from Chicago to Hong Kong was a very long haul (about 16 hours). To help us cope with the long journey, we had the foresight to buy some cheesecake in Chicago. Delicious! What I found interesting about the flight is that we flew directly north from Chicago, then up over the Queen Elizabeth Islands and Siberia, and then down to Hong Kong over Russia. It didn't seem to be a very direct route, but I'm sure there is a good reason for it.
I'm pleased to report that our luggage arrived with us in HCMC, which helped us start out on the right track. We hired a taxi to drive us into the city (about US$5). Being on the streets of HCMC -- in a vehicle or on foot -- is not for the faint of heart. And the streets are filled with people on scooters weaving in and out of traffic. I'm sure there will be more to write on this later.
We walked around the main backpacker area to find a decent hotel for a reasonable price. We ended up in a really nice hotel called Elios Hotel, which is less than two months old. And the cost? Less than US$17 each per night! Comperable rooms on the same strip are going for twice as much. It even has a bathroom, bathtub, free Internet and complimentary breakfast -- all of which are not guaranteed in this country. It is clear that Tianne's shrewd negotiating skills in Vietnamese are going to be very useful during this trip!
We just took a stroll through the backpacker district (District 1), and are about to turn in for the night as it's now after midnight local time. Tomorrow (Monday, April 30th) we are planning to take a walking tour of the City. One of the stops we will make is the War Remnants Museum, which has received critical acclaim and should be very interesting.
On Tuesday, we're planning to start our north journey up the coast to hit the beaches for a few days. Then it's on to Hoi An to do some major shopping... and likely some major damage to our credit cards!
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