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December in Japan means incessant lights, snow, and best of all, time to travel! Jeff and I decided to continue our world tour and head to southern Vietnam and Cambodia for our winter vacation. Unlike last year’s trip to Thailand, NOTHING was planned. Beyond our flight and place to stay in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC and Saigon), we were going to take it as it comes. We ended up with a full non-stop itinerary and I wouldn’t change a moment of our trip. It was phenomenal! Read the next few blogs to see what adventures unfolded….

Moto, Moto, Everywhere

Casey Lary
2007-03-10 17:22:15

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Like in Japan, Vietnamese donned the facemasks, except theirs had colors and patterns, whereas Japanese facemasks are just white. In spite of the atmosphere of utter chaos, there was some order to it all...and the cardinal rule that bigger always wins. Christmas was in two days so there were many people dressed up Santa suits cruising around. Even ladies in the big straw hats were driving motos! Definitely the trademark I will associate with Saigon.

Jeff and I survived the taxi ride and were dropped off at our lodging- a 3 story house with rooftop balcony and pet monkey. 5 star hotel? No! Shitty hostel? No! This trip Jeff and I decided to try out a new method for housing called couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org). You sign up with this organization saying that you will open up your couch (or in my case, futon) to travelers, and they will do the same for you. This saves money and also gives you immediate friends in the city who know their way around, cutting out lots of wandering time and often throws you right into the fun of the city. Of course, it could be a hit or miss if you get along with your host or not. After signing up I found surfers in Vietnam with the user name 'Vicarious Voyage' and the character description as 3 guys who like have a good time, own a monkey and three story house with plenty of room. Sounded like such a sweet deal, how could we resist. We arrived at their house knowing they would not be home. We were greeted by a plethora of Vietnamese neighbors. Jeff and I were skeptical to open their door with so many onlookers. Before we knew it their landlady was opening the door for us, turning on the TV, lights, and showing us to our room. Apparently we weren't the first to show up to their apartment equipped with large backpacks. The apartment was awesome and had a great location- 10 minute walk from the popular backpacker area Pham Ngu Lao. The street they lived on was amazing. Only blocks from foreigner-central yet so removed ...