***Note: Due to lack of internet and facebook being off-limits (communist country!) these posts are not from the same day posted)
The title of the blog is misleading because I actually don't really have an answer to that. Why did we choose to drive from Da Nang to Saigon to get ready for the cycling challenge when we could have hopped on a 1 hour flight? Uh...right. Oh well, we’re heeeeere! 21 hours, 5 ‘café Saigons’ and 2 well played cds later, Jen, Mr. Hoa (the driver) and I have arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, the city we will begin our cycling challenge in! Both Jen and I flew into Da Nang, the headquarters of GVN Vietnam and where many of the schools are orphanages we work with are located. Without thinking, I enthusiastically agreed with Jen that, “yes, driving down to Ho Chi Minh sounds great! We can catch up and go over the itinerary!” Helloooo understatement of the year! 21 hours gave me enough time to not only catch up with Jen but read an entire book, catch up on jetlag for the rest of my life and enjoy the 5 cds I made that actually turned out to have loaded all the same songs. 'You Shook Me All Night Long' played an unhealthy amount of times.
The title of the blog is misleading because I actually don't really have an answer to that. Why did we choose to drive from Da Nang to Saigon to get ready for the cycling challenge when we could have hopped on a 1 hour flight? Uh...right. Oh well, we’re heeeeere! 21 hours, 5 ‘café Saigons’ and 2 well played cds later, Jen, Mr. Hoa (the driver) and I have arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, the city we will begin our cycling challenge in! Both Jen and I flew into Da Nang, the headquarters of GVN Vietnam and where many of the schools are orphanages we work with are located. Without thinking, I enthusiastically agreed with Jen that, “yes, driving down to Ho Chi Minh sounds great! We can catch up and go over the itinerary!” Helloooo understatement of the year! 21 hours gave me enough time to not only catch up with Jen but read an entire book, catch up on jetlag for the rest of my life and enjoy the 5 cds I made that actually turned out to have loaded all the same songs. 'You Shook Me All Night Long' played an unhealthy amount of times.
 |
| 19 hours into our journey, stopping for lunch. Does Jen's face reveal her enthusiasm? |
Once we maneuvered for 21 hours through the “speedy” 40km/hr traffic (yes, really) we arrived at the Saigon Hotel and were once again assured we were going to have an amazing experience; thanks to Mr. Tuan, our cycling challenge Vietnam coordinator, we are staying at a nice hotel in a wonderful location in the city. Most of the participants are already here or will be arriving today and we bumped into 3; John from London, UK, Natasha from Canada and Steve from Australia so we decided to all head to lunch together, and for some, experience Vietnamese food for the first time.
Instead of going one of the the numerous tourist locations, we found a great small traditional Vietnamese restaurant and within 5 minutes of ordering, the food started coming out. Knowing we weren’t locals, Mama came over and showed us how to eat every single plate that came out. She went so far as to take our chopsticks for us and put the food into our bowls, seasoning it to ensure the perfect taste. The best part was when a soup came out and each of us were given small bowls to divide up the larger bowl in the middle. Everyone that is, except Steve. Steve is everything a Vietnamese man is not; tall, very muscular and pale. Mama Vietnam took a special liking to him and instead of getting a small bowl, he was just given an entire big bowl for himself! It was a great start to the trip and an opportunity to meet some of the participants for some good food and conversation.
I’ve met a few of the other participants by now and am getting excited for the trip that will have us completely exhausted but experiencing some of the most amazing and best parts of Vietnam. Vietnam Cycling Challenge 2011-here we come!
Caitie Goddard
Caitie Goddard
0 comments:
Post a Comment