Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Update

Hi everybody,

I’m writing to you from my bed in Ho Chi Minh City. I was supposed to fly to Indonesia this morning, but I finally got food poisoning. There’s nothing like realizing it’s 3 a.m., you’re supposed to be up in an hour for your flight, and you’re violently ill!! Luckily, I was able to contact an agent fairly quickly to move my flight a day. I love a good customer service chitchat at 3:30 a.m.

Anyway, I’m feeling slightly better now, and it will only get better from here.

I had a surprisingly good day yesterday before I was bedridden. After a much-needed sleep-in, I meandered over to Book Street. Can you guess what’s on Book Street?!?!? Yeah, it was a fun street for me!

The main reason I made a quick stop in Saigon was to visit the War Remnants Museum. I spent about 3 hours there on an audio-guided tour. I’m usually not a huge history person, but I think spending time learning in each place you visit is essential. It’s really easy to just “go on vacation” without stopping to recognize the culture and history.

I then stopped at the Saigon Post Office, where I mailed myself a postcard with a little note to my future self. While attaching the stamps, an adorable 5-year-old Vietnamese girl, Monica, walked up to me, wanting to practice her English. I spoke with her for about 20 minutes, which was so cute! At the end, she brought me over to her mom for a picture and kept hugging me over and over! I’m not usually a huge kid person, but she was the best!!

After that, I went downhill. Silly me thought I wasn’t feeling well because I hadn’t eaten all day (a sign I should have noticed) and forced myself to eat dinner. The rest is history…

I laid in bed all day until I dragged myself out on a walk to the nearby coffee apartments. I had wanted to see them after last night’s dinner, but obviously, that didn’t happen.

That is the only thing I did today, hehe. I’m currently ready for bed (6:50 p.m.). Next time I write a post, I will be in Bali!! What!!

Your sickly girly,

Mahala

Oh, I nearly forgot. Here is the lantern I made at the lantern-making class in Hoi An. I can’t wait to put it in my new apartment in Denver!