So Long, Mate

We’ve left Australia behind and begun the final chapter in our odyssey - Southeast Asia.  After an uneventful flight from Sydney to Saigon we were met at the airport by another of Gully’s globe-trotting friends and his Vietnamese girlfriend.  We were ecstatic about that because, once again, we had neglected to do even an ounce of planning before we arrived in a completely foreign place.  We didn’t even know how to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and we definitely had no clue where we were going once we arrived.  This is how you know you’re a seasoned traveller – you’re just too lazy to make any effort anymore.  But Tuzi got us all sorted out with getting cash and getting a taxi to his place, which is in the ‘real’ Saigon, not in the backpackers neighbourhood.  He had his spare bedroom all set up for us, and it was the first night we had not slept on an air mattress in over two months.

We’ve been here for less than 24 hours, but I’m already thinking that Vietnam is going to be an exciting adventure.  It was a little hard for me to leave english-speaking society behind, but it was much harder for Gully as it meant having to ditch the surfboard and get his land legs back.  The last week in Australia was a frantic race to get in as much surf time as possible.  Luckily, we spent the last few days staying at the place of yet another friend of his, who was as surf-minded as he was.  Mornings began at 5:30 am, in order to get in a good surf session before Dan had to head off to work.  From what I’ve heard, pre-dawn is also shark feeding time, so needless to say I consider myself lucky to have gotten out of Australia with all of my boyfriend’s limbs intact.

-E

One last walk to Manly Beach

Everyone should be very familiar with my airplane outfit by now....

Our first motorbike traffic jam

Gully says I look badass.....

And here's a little taste of our first full day in Saigon.  If you can’t tell, I’m on the back of Linh’s motorbike.  I love how she is confident enough to point out interesting things to me while calmly making her way through the craziness that is the streets of Saigon.