We need more crap

We arrived back in Saigon! I am much more relaxed by this time and don't feel quite as overwhelmed as I did when we first arrived over a week ago. Nevertheless, this place is freakin' crazy! There is just so much noise, traffic, people, and more noise (worse than any city i've ever seen, including NYC, trust me).

The traffic still amazes me. There is no right of way, but rather a right to co-exist. Cars, buses, and motorbikes move almost effortlessly through masses of seemingly impenetrable traffic. The key is to move slowly and steadily. Don't stop short or dart quickly. I guess effortlessly is a bit of an understatement as more than 30 people die here a day in traffic accidents.

Anyway, Thuy dropped us off at our hotel at about 2 in the afternoon. We chose not to splurge and stayed in the backbackers' district. We're staying at the Giant Dragon hotel. The location works well, but it may be the worst place we've stayed to date. Just a tad too smelly.

We grabbed a bite at Lac Thien down the street, which is a carbon copy of a place in Hue, run by a deaf and/or mute family. Great stuff! The open beer bottles with a stick with a screw hanging out of it that fly the bottle cap across the room. We bought a couple to give as gifts.

We then went in to a Vietnam Airlines office to book our flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand! The next leg of our trip. We;ve been travelling with Katie and Mike as they wrap up their trip and I can't believe ours is not even half way done!

We struggled intensley over whether to go to Cambodia. We hear it is completely worth the trip, but we just don't have the time. We don't want to rush it. Rushing violates our travel philosophy of "taking it easy." So, we decided to head straight for Thailand. We'll get Cambodia on the next trip :)

We then headed to the downtown area tio hit a couple more shops because we always need more crap to put in my backpack. After over an hour of boutiquing, we stumbled upon a small shop that sells counterfiet watches. I picked up a Tag for myself and as a gift... Why not?

We spent the rest of the evening drinking and eating at the top of the Rex Hotel, with a spectacular view of the city. Afterwards we went to the Guns & Roses bar near our hotel because we just had to go. Talk about an american place. I even got change in dollars. We met a guy from Scranton, PA who is moving to Louisville! Small world. Jill hit the pool table, as she often cannot resist. There was quite a cast of characters, from germans to irish to Japananese...

[rk]