Saigon Jane

I'm in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City to be exact. The former Saigon. The flight could have been horrendous considering it's a 14 hour flight from San Francisco but I slept for the first 10 hours so I'm lucky - - the flight flew by for me. In fact, I had to keep figuring and re-figuring the time vs. hours traveled because how could I have slept for that many hours in an airplane seat? And all with no aching neck or back, no swollen feet, no problems - - and with no meds taken to help make me tired and relaxed for the flight. That's what just plain exhaustion can do for a person, I guess.

Flying through Taipei, Taiwan was interesting. Typhoons in China made the weather rainy - - torrential downpours. But all moved smoothly along and everything remained on time. The flight to Vietnam from Taipei was just under 3 hours. Every seat on the plane is equipped with an interactive touch screen with cameras so we were able to watch the take-off and landing from the pilot's perspective due to a camera mounted in the cockpit. Or we had the choice of the downward view so we could watch what was below us as we flew. Very interesting. There's a large sign (see photo) in the Taipei Airport that reads 'Drug Trafficking is Punishable by Death in ROC (Republic of China)'... Hmmm...note to self...(see the photo).

In Vietnam Terry and Eileen, my cousin and his wife (residents of Vietnam), met me at the airport waving a huge balloon (see photo) - - that's so Eileen so I knew right away it was her when I saw the long balloon. After settling in at the apartment we walked across the park to lunch and had the following: 4 appetizers, 2 beers, 3 teas, 1 fresh watermelon juice, 3 entrees - - all for $250,000 dong, or $15US. Amazing! (see photo) My Vietnamese home will be in Ho Chi Minh City, near the American and French Consulates in a high rise building with a department store on the first level. Terry and Eileen live on the 18th floor; see photos of the views from the apartment. On the 13th floor is a pool and party deck on the top of one of the buildings. Did I mention there are massages available for $10US for 1.5 hours or $7US for 1 hour. This is craziness! More later...