Hanging out with Legs and Mikey in Vietnam only confirms what I already knew—the only way to really understand/see a place is to live there. Or, if you’re interested in shortcuts, to visit someone living in that place who will show you around. Ho Chi Minh City has been pretty great thus far; it’s honestly more like Bangkok than Phnom Penh. And while it’s not yet as built up as Thailand’s capital, Ho Chi Minh City seems to suggest that Vietnam is definitely a newly industrializing rather than developing country. Traveling overland, I was struck by the juxtaposition between Cambodia and its neighbors. Obviously, I’m no expert on Southeast Asia or anything, but I think that by driving across these three countries, you can really see just how devastating a conflict can be and how far genocide can set a country back. I’m sure that that is too much of an oversimplification of a very complex situation, but it’s still something to think on.
On to less serious subjects, Legs and Mikey live in an amazing apartment a short ride away from the backpackers district. I swear, this place would run you at least a couple thousand in D.C. or New York City.
Katie and I have already taken over our room.
And this lovely poster that Mikey and Legs put up over our beds really made us feel at home. It’s supposed to help up have baby boys.
Anyways, we haven’t really done much sightseeing, which is honestly fine by me. I’m a little pooped. After a bit, temples, forts, and palaces all start to look the same, and the history is lost on me. Although, I do think that we’ll probably go to some war museums and see the tunnels. But for the past two days, we’ve just been hanging out, going to the movies, and eating. Tonight, for instance, we stayed up playing hearts until 2 am, and it was so hot that none of us were fully clothed. Legs, Katie, and I were pantsless and Mikey was only wearing a towel. Felt like we were back at Hamilton again, except this time around pants are bogus. New trend??
That’s all for now. We’re planning out adventures right now to a water park, Hanoi, and Halong Bay. So I promise more pictures and interesting stories to come.
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