Where do I begin with this leg of the trip...? Well, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) yesterday afternoon. After managing to get a taxi that wouldn't rip me off, made it to the hotel. Got my stuff all organized and it was time for dinner. Found a restaurant on trip advisor that looked good. So, google maps to the rescue! It was close to the hotel. I started walking and I actually stayed on my google suggested route and didn't get lost. Found the street where the map indicated the restaurant was. There was nothing there but a giant wall. The whole length of the street. So I thought, as usual, I made a wrong turn. I walked back and forth, down two more streets and still no restaurant. Finally made my way into a travel agency and had two people trying to help me find it. After about 15 minutes the lady finally said she found it and I was at least 30 minutes away by walking. She didn't speak much English and tried to point me in the right direction through hand gestures. One more attempt and I was frustrated. So I ventured back towards the hotel. Found a cafe near it and I was done. Sat down and ordered some spring rolls, which I'm not quite sure the contents of said spring rolls, and a beer. One more beer to choke down the spring rolls and back to the hotel. This morning I had a quick breakfast and got ready for my scooter tour of Saigon. They calld me about 15 minutes before I was supposed to meet my driver in the lobby and said the weather was too bad and they had to cancel. But they thought the weather would improve today so they asked if I would like to join the night "foodie" tour instead. At the same price. I was definitely up for it! Did I mention that there was a category 2 hurricane headed for Saigon today? Yeah, there was. By the time it reached land it was downgraded to a tropical storm. But still, the entire day was torrential downpours and 50mph winds. So after deciding what I should do with my free afternoon I decided to venture out. Well, between the downpours, I made it to the market. It is a somewhat enclosed market with hundreds of stalls selling everything from food to jewelry to clothes. You name it, they probably had it. I could only endure it for about a half hour. Every stall I walked by they would physically grab you and try to pull you in and almost demand you buy something. I got really tired of that really fast. Plus it was the kind of place where you had to watch your belongings really closely as there are pickpockets and thieves everywhere. I was told this by a couple from England while I was in hoi an. The woman actually had a necklace ripped off her neck while there. So I didn't even take my camera. Just a few bucks. Left there and found another cafe close by and had another couple beers and a sandwich. Back to the hotel before the storm got worse. The scooter tour people called me about an hour before the tour was supposed to start and cancelled again. Way to dangerous to be on scooters in the storm. So, found another restaurant that I wanted to try. Went to the front desk and waited with the bellman outside for about 5 minuets to hail a taxi. Not much luck with a torrential downpour and 50mph winds. After 5 minutes he said it was too hard for him to get a taxi and I should just eat at the hotel tonight. I was a little irritated and asked if they could call one. He said no, just eat here. So I was stuck. Went to the restaurant here, just got my menu and the power goes out. Only for about 5 minutes. Fine, just get me some food and I will go back to my room. There were maybe 10 people in the restaurant. I finally ordered a beer, some beef wrapped in bannan leaves and pho. No problem. Easy order. It took over an hour and a half for the appetizer. Then the pho came and it was just all right. Then another power outage for a few minutes. Finally finished, got my check, and got the hell out of there. It took 2 1/2 hours for soup, basically spring rolls, and a beer. Not a good time. Now, I am back in my room packing for my trip back to Bangkok tomorrow. Early flight. I didn't get one photo while I was here. Between my plans for the tour(s) and the horrible weather, it just didn't happen. I'm kind of bummed. Saigon is an interesting city. Definitely a "new" city compared to Hanoi. It really could be any city anywhere in Asia, really. Not very impressive for the six or so blocks that I actually saw. They do drive on the sidewalks here. Which was a definite change from Hanoi. In Hanoi they would park their bikes on the sidewalks, but not actually drive on them. So, no photos in this update and I'm really sad about that. Maybe I will get some from the taxi on the way to the airport tomorrow morning. Maybe not. Who knows, I may be stuck here another day. I hope not. The plan is off to Bangkok tomorrow for about 14 hours, then my flight home! It has been a great adventure and I'm so happy I did this, but truthfully, I'm ready to go home. Maybe one more post from the road...