Saigon is dense. How dense? I was across the street from my hotel, literally across the street, and I could not find it. Had my phone out and it was telling me I was right where it was, but I still couldn’t see it. Steil had to come out and show it to me. Yes I was operating on four hours of sleep after 28 hours of no sleep, so I was cloudy, but still!

If you see the vertical sign towards the middle of the photograph above, left side of the street, saying “HALO HOTEL” you’ve found my hotel.

Storefronts are narrow, maybe 15 feet or so wide. The sidewalks are packed with motor scooters and bicycles and people selling their wares from baskets and carts. You frequently have to step into the roadway as you walk down a street because there simply isn’t space on the sidewalk. In fact, when there is room on the sidewalk, expect to make way for motorcyclists who have jumped the curb to avoid an obstacle in the road (especially during rush hour).

It’s a bit disconcerting to hear people honking behind you as you walk down the sidewalk wanting you to step aside so they can drive past.

I went to bed at about 1:30 am after arriving in Saigon. I woke up four hours later and at about 6 am decided I wasn’t going to fall back asleep so I headed over to Tao Dan Park to see the birds. I’d read local bird owners bring their pets to the park for fresh air. Kind of interesting.

It’s Sunday and I’m in Can Tho in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

The flight to Saigon was hellish. In retrospect, booking a seven hour flight two hours after a 13 and a half hour flight was not a brilliant idea. My butt, four days later, is still sore! I thought it would be my back, but it’s my butt. I’m old.

I arrived in Saigon about 11:20 pm. Went through customs easily. Bought 3,000,000 dong (about $150, BTW, I love the unfortunately named Vietnamese Dong, it makes for endless adolescent jokes at Herr. Steil’s expense) from an ATM and walked out of the terminal where there were probably a couple thousand people waiting to greet arriving passengers. Very strange. Four thousand eyes on me as I exited the terminal. I felt like a star. (I thought maybe there was something going on, but now I think this is just the norm.)

That’s probably the defining characteristic, in my mind, of Saigon. There are masses of people everywhere. That was certainly true of India as well, but Vietnam feels altogether different. Much more affluent. Vietnam is not a rich country, but it also doesn’t feel like a poor country. Very few beggars. In India it seemed we were constantly harassed by beggars. Here you’re much more likely to be harassed by vendors, though it isn’t oppressive. They give up fairly easily if you politely decline.

This morning we went to the floating market. Tomorrow to Ha Tien.

Buying my Tortuga carry-on backpack is proving to have been a great idea. I love skipping the whole checked bag thing and its size forces you to focus on what’s important and jettison the rest. Despite its carry-on size, it fits a ton. I love it.