Day One, District One

(posted by: Stacy)

We arrived Friday evening on a delayed flight, went through customs, and stepped into the city that we will call home for the next year.

Walking out of the Saigon airport is a little overwhelming. If you've ever seen footage of fans waiting for a celebrity to walk the red carpet, then you might have an idea of how the airport is set up. The first thing we were met with was throngs of Vietnamese crammed against the railing, trying to watch for whoever it is they're waiting for. Some are holding signs, some are asking if you need a taxi, and some are just, well, staring at you like you just arrived on a spaceship from Venus.

We were met by a colleague and waiting for another to arrive on a later flight, then hired two cabs (one for luggage and one for us). I wasn't able to see much out of our taxi windows as we took the 15 minute ride to our apartment, but what I did see looked very similar to Santo Domingo. The tall buildings, palm trees, weather, and traffic screamed Dominican Republic to me as I strained my eyes to see take in the city that night.

The next morning, we woke up, got ready, wandered to the balcony at the end of our hallway, and looked out over our neighborhood. Apparently, we're in the nicest district in town.

The owner of our building suggested that we eat at Black Cat restaurant, which is just across the street and over from where we're staying. We insisted on starting the morning in the most authentically Vietnamese way, as you can tell from the photos below.

After breakfast, our Vietnamese American colleague offered to take us into District One, which is the touristy part of the city. I took a few shots out of the taxi window on the way.

We were dropped off and set off on foot to explore. I, unfortunately, had sliced open my toe within five minutes of arriving at our apartment the night before. But, oh well, what's a little injury when there's so much exploring to do?

The city is really different from anything I've ever seen. There are so many different types of buildings and hundreds of little stores within this one district.

Oh, and, the power lines in this city are worse than any I've ever seen in my entire life!

Eventually, we ended up near lovely pond, then headed to Benh Tham Market, a famous market in District 1.

At this point, we were hungry from all of the walking and decided to stop for lunch. It wasn't the best food, but it was fun to try all of the different dishes. The smoothies were yum!

Later, we decided to go to the supermarket to get some necessities for the week. The market is pretty nice and clean, but I was a little shocked that they sell such cute fish for people to go home and eat. Sad.

The produce section includes large barrels of rice for people to scoop themselves.

This section also sold several things I've never, ever seen before.

They also had lots of delicious-looking fruit. The photo below is dragon fruit, which is apparently amazing. I'm looking forward to trying it!

All in all, our first day was pretty great! The city is very unique, although living in the hectic, tourist-filled District 1 might slowly drive a person mad.

Coming up: Day Two, Jade Emperor's Pagoda