First Days in Ho Chi Minh City

We arrived late yesterday evening and were met at the airport by An, Xuan, and chu Binh, employees of One Body Village. After a 20-minute ride, we arrived at the OBV office and housing unit in District 3.

Sans specifics--keeping the locations of OBV units is important for safety reasons--the housing unit is situated behind one of the many retail stores along our street.

We have to cross through the shop to get to and from our room. I've already had to pull Thuy away from sifting through the clothes and shoes in the shop.



This room is where we'll stay for the next week or so while we check out the other options for residency. It's actually a pretty nice room, and it's conveniently located a short walking distance away from places like the bank, cell phone stores, and restaurants.

So as to recover from jetlag quickly, we woke up at 7:00 AM and got an jumpstart on the day. Despite the early hour, it was still very warm when we took our walk.

An joined us as we searched for our first meal in Vietnam. We found a small place nearby that made and sold banh cuon. We sat on small plastic stools that you might normally see paired with a kids toy dining table.

With An's help, we purchased our own cell phones and opened up a bank account at Vietcombank. Better to have a bank card than a thick wad of Vietnamese money in my pocket. Slightly less conspicuous.



Walking about on the nearby roads is exactly as harrowing and jarring as I remembered it being back when I lived in Hanoi for a few months in 2002. This photo alone captures the everyday chaos right outside one's front door in this area.

The cacophony of horns, engines, chatter, and food being cooked means either walking in silence or yelling to be heard from only a few feet away.

Note the bird's nest of electric utility wires towards the center of the photo. I'd hate to try and troubleshoot that mess.

Tomorrow morning we will visit the actual OBV house. It's about an hour drive away. We're both excited to meet with the young women and staff at OBV and to get to work. Most likely we'll get started in a week or so, if not sooner if we figure out where exactly we're going to live.