We're in HCMC

We came to Ho Chi Minh City Saturday, so we've only been here for about three days. Our first day here, we weren't thrilled with the city. We spent the first night in a cheap hotel near the HCMC University. It was very noisy and crowded, with no escapes -- no quiet restaurants or cafes. Now, we've found a nice guesthouse to stay at in District 1. It's in a quiet neighborhood a little ways from the main streets, but close to the heart of District 1. We've done a little sightseeing, and have been trying to figure out the bus system. We like travelling by bus -- the buses are air-conditioned and the safest way to travel in the city.

There a places in District 1 that are very much different from anything we saw in Vinh Long. We went to the Diamond Department store yesterday, which is very much like a high-end department store in the US -- it even has a bowing alley and modern movie theater.

We started our language class this morning. It took us a while to figure out how the classes are set up and what they cost, but eventually we figured out that they would open a class just for the two of us and charge us the group rate instead of the private instruction rate, which is a good deal. Our instructor this morning was great -- we started at the beginning, studying the alphabet and the tones. She forced us to be more exact in our pronunciation which we needed because we have trouble getting people to understand us when we attempt to speak Vietnamese. We're planning on going to class for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. We'll probably continue this for 4-6 weeks, then travel.

Tom