Saigon... shit, I'm still only in Saigon. Everytime I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle... I'm here about a [day] now... still waiting for a mission... getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush he gets stronger. Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter.
Yeah, I would say that opening lines of Apocalypse Now sum up my first couple hours in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it used to be (and sometimes still is) called. Its kinda great to be back. After about an hour of walking around Pham Ngu Lau with all my bags through the sweltering heat, I finally decided on a hotel unfortunately called the Dung Hotel. $15 a night, AC, wi-fi, and a balcony, although the rooms smell like - you guessed it - cheap cologne. I aired out the place when I got in, thinking that would be enough, but realized they wash their sheets with chinese perfume, and the smell will just not go away. It might be a deal killer, as its almost making my eyes water as I'm writing.
Finding a hotel here can sometimes be fun. Oviously, you want a nice room, but I also try to go by the attitude of the person at reception. Most hotels here are family-run guest houses, where the owners live in a room in the hotel, so getting the right person can be key. The second hotel I walked into was called the Hong Kong, and the elderly women behind the desk had smeared lipstick and was wearing a motorcycle helmet. Definitely a good start, but the place kinda looked dirty. Still, the rates seemed good, and I told her I'd walk around to see other hotels first, but might come back. In order to seal the deal, she then takes out a worn out book of pictures of hot chicks, waves it around and says something about "massage" in my room. In a way, I'm curious what life would be like in a guest house run by a crazy old female pimp, but I have a feeling however it would be, it'd get old fast.
Last day in Bangkok was nice, walked around the city with my mom, tried to go the Grand Palace, but walked through chinatown and ended up at Wat Pho instead (the massage-teaching temple) then we met up with Nora and David for drinks at a place I think called Green Space or Beergarden. Neat place, on the 40th floor of an office building. Had chicken nuggets and french fries there, since I was jonesin' for some American junk food. Today in HCMC, I made plans to meet up with Phi for dinner at her dad's restaurant. I met Phi and her boyfriend last time I was here, going to Danang, and its always the best when you know people in a foriegn city.
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