My Semester in Saigon: Busy weeks ahead!

First I'd like to finish talking about my weekend in Central Vietnam. I had booked a tour for Sunday, partially to avoid shopping and partially to see something new! I took a tour of the Cham Islands. When the bus picked me up at my hotel at 8:00am I was alarmed to see I was the only foreigner. Not that I mind being on a tour with all Vietnamese people but I had figured I would have some people to chat with in English. Traveling alone can be a little dull at times if you don't meet people and although I had met plenty of people in Hoi An, I figured the tour would be more fun with a new friend or two. I was nervous I had gotten on the wrong tour as they handed me a clipboard with a sign-in sheet of sorts in all Vietnamese. Luckily, the guy in front of me could translate a few words.

I double-checked with the driver that this was in fact my tour. I figured there would be more foreigners! We had a short 10-minute drive to the marina where we waited to get on a speedboat. They gave me two bottles of water, for some reason, and had me wait with just one other couple while the rest of the bus loaded a boat. I had no idea why we were waiting so I got a little nervous. I turned to the couple and asked if they knew why we were waiting. Fortunately, the girl spoke pretty good English and explained that that boat was probably full so we'd wait for the next one. Okay, I thought, if she's not worried, neither am I! The tour guide came up to me and informed me that I was a very special customer today because I was the only foreigner ... oh geez.

So we finally loaded a boat and picked up another group of about 6 more Vietnamese people. Then we took off for the island while the tour guide gave his speech to them - in Vietnamese. The tour guide was very nice and came up to me after and translated for me. We took a 25minute or so boat ride to the island. The ocean was super bumpy, I am amazed no one got sea-sick. If I had been hungover it would have definitely been bad-news bears. We approached this cute little island with mountains and little shacks and tons of fishing boats. It was beautiful! And as the day progressed I got to know my Vietnamese tour buddies - though only that one girl and the tour guide spoke enough English to really communicate. The guys were all very nice and friendly and took pictures with me (as you can see below!). All in all, the tour was fantastic and it was not lonely at all!

I got back to Hoi An pretty early, around 2pm after the tour. So I showered and hit the town again to pick up my dresses and jacket. Shopped a teeny bit more, ate a ton, and had a fresh beer while reading my book at a restaurant on the river. Such a cute town! I was able to stay in town for dinner as well (I had food at two different places, because it's so good here and hard if not impossible to find outside of Hoi An). Then I packed up at my hostel and got a car to the airport with two Canadian guys. They were typical backpackers, very nice guys (obviously, they're Canadian!). When we got to the airport we were basically friends. We were all early even for check-in for our flights, luckily. After the car drove away I realized I left my phone and money in the car. I freeeeaked out but easily called the hostel from an airport employee's phone and the driver returned my stuff 20minutes later. The guys waited with me and then we went and checked in together and hung out while we waited for our flights. Close call!

I didn't get back to my room in HCMC until 12:30am or so and had to get up for work the next morning (bla). But luckily, it's now Wednesday (I'm obviously not busy this week at work!) and tomorrow I leave early for Hanoi to meet the parents! They are currently en route and should be landing in South Korea in about 3.5 hours! They made it through 10 hours of their flight so far so hopefully it wasn't too painful. I know Kath was worried! Can't wait to tour Ninh Binh and Halong Bay with them! It will be a nice change from traveling solo. As much as meeting other backpackers is fun, they are all quite similar. There is a total backpacker stereotype that most people I meet fit. But don't get me wrong, their lives are awesome. I would love to backpack around SE Asia.

So I just need to make it through today and then the week is nearly over! Here's some pictures:

Cau Lao ... I'm obsessed. Delicious Hoi An noodle dish.

The chef

Also obsessed with lanterns.

People sell these floating lanterns on the street for about $1/each. They are supposedly good luck. I bought one from a kid.

Central market in the morning

Just chillin on the street.

I didn't want to pay to go into any of these pretty Chinese buildings but they were cool to look at!

Japanese bridge

Look from the bridge

This fruit lady was SO on top of it. As soon as I crossed the bridge she shoved her fruit and hat on me and said she'd take a picture. Then, I obviously had to buy fruit. From then on, when I saw a fruit lady I ran!