I
arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) on Sunday after a 9 hour flight from
Sydney to Taipei, a 3 hour layover there, and a 3 1/2 hour flight into
HCMC. I was met by the Roots of Peace Vietnam Country Director, Tucker,
and his girlfriend, Thanh at the airport--in addition to some sunny,
warm weather, a lot of honking, and quite a bit of congestion (people
and traffic). We had some lunch (pork!) and made our way to the
organization office/residence where I'm staying while I'm in HCMC.
After
taking a cat nap, I awoke to gray skies and faint honking below. I
opened the window and was assaulted by all sorts of smells--good ones
from food cooking and rain, and not-so-good-ones from the river being
dredged below. It was a real shock to my senses--exhilarating and
disorienting at the same time.
We
went out to dinner that night and I got to ride on the back of Tucker's
motorbike. There are SO MANY MOTORBIKES HERE. I know everybody says
that, but I didn't realize just how many. It's pretty cool--all these
bikes weaving in and out of the path of cars and other motorbikes, and
meanwhile keeping some sort of order in what seems to be chaos. There's
something darn exciting about experiencing the wind and smells and
noises on the back of a bike, as opposed to being holed up in a car.
Dinner was, of course, amazing. We had little shrimp rice pancakes (bánh khọt)--crispy
on the outside, but soft on the inside, with a big piece of shrimp on
top. You wrap it in lettuce or mustard leaf, throw in some mango, mint,
and who knows what other leaves, dip it in fish sauce, and munch. They
were, quite possibly, one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.
I'm kicking myself because I didn't take a photo. Wait, I'm here for
three months...I've got plenty of time and plenty of room in my stomach. |