"Saigon.... My home awa ..." a Ho Chi Minh City Travel Page by 34N118W

<FONT color=red>Monday, May 28, 2001</FONT>
I've been in HCMC for a couple days now, mostly just relaxing. I was supposed to stop off at Muine Beach on the way down from Nha Trang, but I slept right passed my stop. Sorry everyone. No pictures of beautiful white sand dunes adjacent to crystal clear blue water. I could hit myself for that! =(
Well HCMC sure seems to have changed a lot since I was last here two years ago. There's been so much development I almost don't recognize the place! Ok, ok, maybe not that much, but there are a lot of buildings and department stores where there didn't used to be. I haven't gone out to explore much yet, but I'll be doing that in the next day or two. In the meantime, I've been keeping cool at the local water park. It reminds me of Raging Waters at home with all the water slides. It was a blast, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to get out of the heat while in HCMC.

<FONT color=red>Thursday, January 31, 2002</FONT>
Well I've been living in Saigon for the last 6 months. If you're visiting, there are certainly more interesting places in Vietnam to see. There aren't many things for tourists to do in Saigon. It's mainly a jump-off point for the rest of the country. You start to discover Saigon's highlights when you've stayed a while. There's a huge expat scene here, and they all love to get together for drinks after work and on weekends. It's a great city to meet other worldly people. I've been teaching conversational English to support myself. The work is easy to find if you have a bachelor's degree or a TESL certificate. If you plan on staying in Saigon for a while, there are plenty of places to rent ranging from $80 to $2000 US a month. Most places average about $200 though. Getting around is pretty easy. There are always a number of moto taxies around. If you're brave enough to take on the traffic yourself, you can buy your own reliable moto bike for about $1000, less for a Chinese model. Feel free to contact me if you need more info.

<FONT color=red>June26, 2003</FONT>
It's time to say goodbye to Saigon. My wife has been promoted at work and is being sent to Hanoi. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I welcome a change. Part of me is burnt out on Saigon and all it's pollution and traffic. But still, I feel so settled here now. I know where everything is and how things work, and I've made a lot of good friends here.
I'm gonna miss it.

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