Vietnam

Suddenly I am wide awake. I have spent the last 24 hours on airports and crammed between tiny airplane-seats with only a few minutes of sleep and generally not so much sleep during the last 72 hours. But now I am in Hoh Chi Minh City, aka Saigon. The black Mercedes taxi slips through the colorful illuminated streets of Saigon surrounded by a myriad of scooters. On my requests the driver cranks up the Asian house music that is pumping from the Blaupunkt stereo and I feel like a modern Jona inside a giant sperm whale gliding through a coral reef, surrounded by thousands of tiny, sparkling fish. (Sadly I did not take a picture. The picture is from my bustrip to Mui Ne.)

Happy New Year Vietnam, my day of arrival is the day of Vietnamese New Year: Ted.

The Vietnamese New Year starts (like the western) with fireworks. I can't believe I did not bring my camera that night! The streets of Saigon are already filled with such mad amounts of motorscooters but on the first night of Ted it is absolutely ridongulous! It felt like we were in a giant be-hive! It is really hard to put that in words, I can only suggest that you come next year and see for your self.I stayed in Saigon for a few days and had a lot of fun with the people I met at the hotel I stayed in. Including the daily drama of Mama, the Hotel manager, who every once in a while tried to scam some guest or had to make sure she wasn't scammed by others (Also, I think she fancied me a little). Altogether it was great entertainment. A house one block down from the hostel burned down on my first day, which was crazy: Vietnamese firefighters and people who would come on scooters with fire extinguishers (The fucking house was on fire?! Maybe they wanted to seize the opportunity and sell them?) and from the next day on there was a coffin in front of the house, which held the only victim of the fire. It stood there for several days while the family lived their live around the coffin on the sidewalk!

After a my days in Saigon (museums, motorbiketaxi rides, food, beer) I went to Mui Ne. But instead of staying in one of the guesthouses or resorts on the beach we stayed in the only hotel in the actual village of Mui Ne. On the second night we were invited for the 70ths birthday of the lady who runs the hostel (3 rooms, 8 guests max) and had a terrific time.

Now I am in Hoi An and have already visited the UNESCO World Heritage secured old city center and ordered two pair of custom made shoes (pictures will follow). So far so good.

Greetings
Jonas