Today was the day! Finally it was time to head off to Vietnam, but not before tackling a bunch of administrative type stuff. I had to go pick up my Vietnam visa, and see about getting some money out of an ATM. Apparently, US dollars are the best way to pay for things in Vietnam. Unfortunately, my card was locked because I hadn't thought to call ahead and let them know it was going to be used in far east Asia. This could be an issue...
A tram ride later, I was in Wan Chai again, almost at the Vietnamese Consulate.
Vietnam has a reputation as a horrifically byzantine bureaucracy, but I managed to get in and out in five minutes! It took me longer to get lost finding my way there than actually picking up the passport.
I will admit I was a little relieved actually get my passport back. Thanks to the US State Department, one of the things I am most paranoid about (and there isn't really much I am paranoid about when traveling) is losing my passport. So leaving it for almost a week at the Vietnamese Consulate took a little leap of faith for me.
Several agonizing hours later, I was ready to go. It was beginning to feel like Christmas eve! I hope I don't make a bad impression with my haircut...
I'm carrying such a large pack because the weather was going to be all over the place in Vietnam. High 80's in Ho Chi Minh City, rainy and 70's in Da Nang, and 70's and sunny in Hanoi, so I wanted to be prepared. I am a Boy Scout, after all.
I brought this book with me, as I've had it on my shelf forever. Seems like the perfect time to read it, right?
They never really announced that we should start to line up to board - the flight was supposed to take off at 3:20, and by 3:10 it seemed like a good idea to go stand in this line.
Sadly, there was to be no Soviet-era airplane. A modern Airbus instead. Pfft!
Somewhere in the clouds is my first glimpse of Vietnam.
Tan Son Nhut International Airport. Thousands of Americans have seen this airport, but from a completely different perspective. I've read dozens of books about landing here during the war, and it was a bittersweet thing to be landing here around forty five years later. My father joked with me that kids of his age had a free ticket to Vietnam, and while it was meant in a humorous tone, it felt a bit too close to home for me. I've studied the Americas involvement in Vietnam quite a bit, and coming here brings up many feelings, even though I'm far too young to even have any personal experience with it.
I was saddened that my first scent of Vietnam didn't evoke what I'd read in my books - it was diesel fumes mixed with the humidity.
Outside the airport was a mass of people, waiting in the heat. It felt and looked an awful lot like Miami International Airport. In fact, flying over Ho Chi Minh City as we landed, I thought to myself, man, this looks like South Florida.
My head finally gave up about half way through the taxi ride to the hotel. It was wave after wave of scooters, like rivers riding to and fro, colliding with each other but without any actual accidents.
Welcome to Saigon.
Side note: Saigon is the former name for the entire city, prior to reunification in 1975. Today it is used by many natives, and in fact still officially refers to the center part of the city. The people of HCMH are still refereed to as Siagonese.
