I am not sure if my literary skills are up to describing our arrival in Ho Chi Minh. We arrived from Bangkok sometime after 3 PM Friday afternoon. By the time we took care of the all the official requirements it was about 4:00 or so. We went outside and negotiated for a cab and off we went. Off we went for the ride of our lives. There were at least a zillion motor scooters on the road. No exaggeration, there were hundreds at every intersection and thousands in each city block. It is impossible to describe the scene. Some with one person and some with two and some with 2 adults and one or two kids all driving like there was no tomorrow. Many mothers had infants that were one year or less standing in front of them and another behind them. There were cars and cabs and buses all honking and cutting in and out and driving in any lane no matter which side had been designated for them originally. It was amazing to see little toddlers calmly eating a snack while sitting in front of their parent who was cutting in and out of traffic. I almost forgot that mixed into all this, were bicycles and pedi-cabs too. Pedi-cabs are bicycles with a seat in front of the handle bars where the basket would normally be located. At least they drive on the right side of the road. We finally arrived at our hotel without killing someone or being killed. We are hoping that this was Friday night rush hour traffic and tomorrow it may be possible for us to cross the street. This makes Bangkok seem calm and Cairo seem quiet.
The immigration process was unique too. We set up our visa on line before we left home and had a paper printed out that we brought with us. We were also to bring two small passport type photos. When we arrived we went to the appropriate window where they gave us a full sized sheet of paper to fill out. After we filled it our and paid our fee they stapled one picture to the form and gave it to us. Passport control didn’t want it, so we took it with us. We didn’t need the other photo. The hotel wanted our passports which they keep until we check out. They didn’t want the paper either. Maybe if we are stopped for something or get killed in traffic it would identify us. Who knows?
Now we just need to figure out what we are going to do with our time left. We lost so much time getting here that we will have to curtail some of our more lofty plans. We will go to a travel agent in the morning and try to set up a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels made up of over 200 miles of tunnels and chambers below the city, that were hand dug and used in the French War in 1940’s and the American War in the 1960-1970’s. (Or as we called it, the Vietnam War.) We also want to take a boat ride on Mekong Delta.
The immigration process was unique too. We set up our visa on line before we left home and had a paper printed out that we brought with us. We were also to bring two small passport type photos. When we arrived we went to the appropriate window where they gave us a full sized sheet of paper to fill out. After we filled it our and paid our fee they stapled one picture to the form and gave it to us. Passport control didn’t want it, so we took it with us. We didn’t need the other photo. The hotel wanted our passports which they keep until we check out. They didn’t want the paper either. Maybe if we are stopped for something or get killed in traffic it would identify us. Who knows?
Now we just need to figure out what we are going to do with our time left. We lost so much time getting here that we will have to curtail some of our more lofty plans. We will go to a travel agent in the morning and try to set up a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels made up of over 200 miles of tunnels and chambers below the city, that were hand dug and used in the French War in 1940’s and the American War in the 1960-1970’s. (Or as we called it, the Vietnam War.) We also want to take a boat ride on Mekong Delta.
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