Welcome to Vietnam!

After spending a day on my own in Saigon otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh City, I was ready for my friend Tony to arrive. I had agreed to meet him at the airport but had not told him about how we would be making our way to the hotel. I really wanted Tony to experience Vietnam from the moment that he arrived. At the airport, I saw him through the window finally clearing customs after 27 hours of flying time. It wasn't hard to spot a 6'4" white guy walking amongst an army of small Asian men by any means so I quickly got his attention and welcomed him to Vietnam.

After fighting off the aggressive taxi and motorbike drivers, Tony and I made our way to the parking lot where our chariots were awaiting. As we approached the dimly lit parking lot, Tony asked where we were going. I said I wanted him to start experiencing Vietnam from the moment he arrived and I had arranged for the traditional form of transportation to get us to the hotel, motorbike taxis. Tony could only respond with an "Oh shit, are you serious?"

Motorbikes are the most common form of transportation in Vietnam. The streets always appear as if a race is about to begin as the motorbikes line up and fill up every inch of asphalt, not to mention the few free bits and pieces of available sidewalk as well. With our cheap plastic helmets buckled on, we off into the darkness. Leaving the airport, the traffic was fairly calm and spread out. This however didn't last very long. As we came closer and closer to the city, the weekend traffic was in full swing! With our drivers trying to keep up with each other, we weaved in an out of traffic, through red lights, over street corners and down narrow alley ways. Every now and then, we were riding alongside each other, both holding on for dear life but as we would look over, we couldn't help but laugh and enjoy the theme park like ride that we were on! When we arrived at the hotel safe and sound, Tony looked relieved to be dismounting his motorbike and getting his feet back safely on solid ground. I looked at him and laughed and could only say "Welcome to Vietnam!"