Hello everyone.....
As you have all heard a million times before, I am sorry that It has taken me so long to update everyone on my life in Asia. The fact of the matter is that I had to go to work with in 12 hours from the time I arrived back in Taipei. After that I sort of fell back into my routine, and with my "promotion" at work I have even less time for myself.

Anyway.... Let me mention more about Vietnam while it is still somewhat timely. The photos above are more from the streets of Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh city. It really depends on to whom you are speaking. Officially it is Ho Chi Minh, but if someone is of southern heritage or displeased by the communist, they will call it Saigon.
The streets of Saigon are crazy in every sense. When I first arrived in Taipei, I was amazed by all of the traffic and the motor scooters. I used to joke that they didn't have traffic laws, but merely traffic suggestions. In Saigon they don't even have suggestions. It is pure chaos. Crossing the street is an art-form. You simply step into the traffic and walk slowly the Motorbikes will flow around you; If you are lucky. One of the pictures you see shows 3 adults on 1 bike. I have seen as many as 5 on 1 bike. On occasion you will see this in Taipei, but never to the extent I saw it in Vietnam. The other interesting thing about Vietnam traffic is the number one safety feature is the horn. I joked about what a drivers Ed class there might be like. I imagine that in all their classes they spend 75% of their time discussing how to use the horn. There is never a moment of peace. I was amazed by how loud it could be. I can't believe that the horn even has any effect anymore.

In the photo above you can see my travel companion, Blake, in a "Cyclo". These are bike-rickshaws that are everywhere you go in Vietnam. The ones we took on our first day in HO Chi Minh were a complete rip off. I had warned Blake that we need to get a rate before we got in. He assured me that it couldn't cost much, everything else in Vietnam is cheap. To make a long story short they got a lot more then I had anticipated.

Anyway......... I need to go to bed so that I can be bright and shiny for my students in the morning. This post barely scratches the surface of one day in Vietnam. Hopefully I can get the just of the experience on to this blog soon.
later.....Daniel James