Day 1

Well I’ve been here almost twelve hours now, where is my Vietnamese? Is it coming back or what?? Actually, all things considered I had a pretty good day. After about thirty of flight and airport time, I did get a room although it is not one I want to keep for a month, and I did a healthy walk around town. Crossed lots of roads and didn’t get run over even once. Sitting in a café watching the sea of motorbikes going past at a crossroads, I felt a bit like a rock on the edge of a river about to get sucked under. Only my sinh tố xoài (mango shake, that is) helped keep me upright. Maybe that was jet lag, hard to tell. Actually I was looking for the school I am supposed to be going to on Monday, and haven’t found it yet – it seems to have moved… But I’ll get there, no reason to do today what can easily be put off until tomorrow. Had dinner tonight in the legendary backpacker district, which seemed quite subdued compared to what I remember of it before, maybe this is slow season or something. The food was good though. And wandered circuitously back to my hotel through an extensive and somewhat confusing street market which rather changes the whole landscape – I walked right past my hotel once looking for it and didn’t see it because there are so many more distractions on the street than there were when I got here earlier today. Maybe that should be rectangularuishly, that would be more accurate, if nothing else. Well I will sleep tonight, I tried today when I got the room. I was exhausted, but couldn’t do more than just lie there and stare at the ceiling, so I went wandering instead. OK, chao, tam biet.