Sai Gon Oi!

I've made it, after nearly 24 hours of flying. I left on Tuesday night at 1am and ended up here on Thursday morning at 11am. I suppose I lost a day but my body can't tell the difference (thankfully).

I'm staying in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. I was going to take a taxi here, but my cousin in Saigon miraculously found me among the crowds of people, motor scooters and taxis. I'm not sure if I would've made it without Chi Ty, she even made sure to walk behind me so I wouldn't get pickpocketed. After receiving the standard warnings from her about theft and crime in the area, she let me rest for a while. We're going out to eat tonight.

Some interesting quotes I've already heard (without tone marks - for now):
"Loc co an pho khong? Pho o day het xay!" - Do you like to eat pho? The pho here is like no other!
"Day nguoi ta khong co dan vo, ho dan ban giao." - People here don't do martial arts, they fight with knives. (In the southern Vietnamese dialect, "vo" and "giao" are both sounded with a "y" sound and I thought it was neat that this note of caution was also a rhyme.)

I'm glad to know there are people here watching my back. I nearly dropped a brick on the ride here from the airport watching people on scooters nearly crash into, well, everything. I even saw someone with an entire desk tied to the back of their scooter, weaving through traffic.

Good grief it's hot here. I thought I would be alright after going to Korea two years ago, but it's MUCH hotter here, and more humid.

More to come...