Sunday, June 3, 2012

Ho Chi Minh City

I arrived in Vietnam on Friday. G and I explored the town a bit, buying some souvenirs and stopping in for some amazing pho and banh mi. It was a spot in the financial center but a lot of these places don't have names. There are a lot of open eating areas where you stop in and there are food stalls scattered throughout the space. Most of the food at these places are going to be delicious because that is where all the locals eat.

Yesterday I got my purse stolen from me, with my passport, credit cards, id, and about 5 million Vietnamese Dong inside. Two guys drove by in a scooter and the one on the back snatched my purse off my shoulder, literally breaking the chain. He then looked back and smiled. F-ing a-hole. I started hysterically crying but none of the locals knew what I was saying and no one chased him. We saw the guys drive into a parking lot of a cinema so we went inside. The lot was huge and there were a ton of people. I started speaking to whoever I could find and one lady who spoke English finally came to help me. She took me to the police station, where I filed a report but the police did nothing else. She then took me to the U.S. Embassy but they close on the weekends. Our flight to Da Nang airport (to Hoi An) was at 8 p.m. so I had to risk it and go to the aiport hoping they would let me on the flight.

Fortunately, I got on the flight and am now in Hoi An. My next obstacle is getting back to Ho Chi Minh, hoping they will let me on the flight from Da Nang. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that corruption does not get in the way.

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