Day 1

         Today we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City after over 24 hours of travel! We met our guide, Hao, outside the airport then got in a nice air conditioned bus and learned about the city of Ho Chi Minh, or as it's known by the locals, Saigon. We finally got to the hotel at around 11:30AM and after getting ready in our rooms, we met to go touring. First, we ate at a local restaurant and had pho and spring rolls which we enjoyed very much. Since we were very tired from the flight, Hao offered that we rest in the hotel for a few hours before going to look around Saigon. We decided to goto the pool on the top of the hotel to cool off, since it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside. This was very relaxing and soothed our legs which had been hurting from the flights.  At 4 pm, we met up with Hao again to walk through famous parts of Saigon.  We visited the Post office and cathedral which were both built by the French in the times of the French colonial rule over Vietnam.  After that, we went to the Rex Hotel which is famous for the press briefings during the Vietnam War.  All of this walking required some street crossing, which can be fairly frightening at times, however if one maintains a steady pace, it seems the drivers of motorcycles, of which there are a great number in Vietnam, adjust themselves to the pace of the pedestrians to move in front of them or behind them quickly.  We ate dinner at another restaurant which served a multitude of different rolls and rice with chicken.  These rolls were also very tasty.  We hope to have another fascinating day tomorrow, perhaps with slightly less fatigue from the flight.

-  Jordan and David



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