The beginning of Vietnam

We've had a couple days now in Ho Chi Minh City... you wouldn't believe how different it is from cambodia! The people have a completely different attitude and the city is much much more developed. Phnom Penh was big, but totally undeveloped... aka no paved streets or order or any type. But in Ho Chi Minh (also called Saigon) it's really big as well as developed. All the streets are paved, there's a ton of shopping, even a KFC. I'm proud to say I haven't gone to the latter, though :) I'm trying to stick to the more traditional dishes. It was tough last night, though, when I ordered noodles with vegitables and there was some type of mystery meat in there... I'm thinking it was squid. A couple people thought shrimp though also. Maybe you can help me... long and spiral shaped with pink edges?? It mystified everyone in the group, so the verdict is still out.

Getting around town is so crazy! If you're on foot, you literally just walk out into the middle of the road as 30 mopeds are zooming towards you from either direction. I'm not kidding, either. Stop lights are great, because on either side of the street there are probably 8 or 9 mopeds lined up across, with 10 or 15 behind them. When the light turns green, both sides rush towards the middle of the intersection and they just collide and head in every direcation... it reminds me of a war scene in a movie or something. Geeky, I know. But it's impossible to explain how frenzied it is unless you see it.

I went to the market a couple of days ago... it was out of control. The people literally grab you and pull you into their stall or their store. One woman in our group had each of her arms grabbed by two store owners on either side of her, and they were honestly fighting over her, trying to pull her into their store! I discovered that the trick is don't make eye contact and don't look interested in anything! Or else they'll trap you! There were lots of neat things there, though. I wish I had more space in my backpack to bring some things home!

I went to the Cu Chi tunnels this morning with a few people from my group. They were the tunnels used in the Vietnam war... and they are ridiculously small! I don't understand how the guerillas ever spent more than 5 minutes down there. We had the chance to wander through a section of the underground tunnel also. It actually was more like squatting and trying to move forward at the same time. They were SO tiny! There was a woman in our group who said she was clostrophobic, but she went down anyways. I can't imagine how panicked she felt, because even I was more than ready to get out of there once I saw the light up ahead. I also wiggled my way down into one of the hide-outs fit for one person. It was a hole in the ground about 14"x 10". Then they made me cover the hole up with a wooden board, and it was completely pitch black! Needless to say, I popped out real quick after that.

Now that we've started the Vietnam portion of the tour, our group has lost a few members and gained a few members. Everyone is still great! We all get along really well, I honestly couldn't have wished for a better group. We also got a new group leader, his name is pronounced "We"... but he says there's an "s" in the front... we're all pretty lost on that haha. He seems great, though. He's Vietnamese and really knows his way around Saigon. I'm excited to spend more time with him and have the opportunity to learn about his culture.

Alright, it's time for me to get going. Tomorrow we're taking a 14 hour night train to Nha Trang, a beach city! Hallelujah!