Day 1/Day
2
Adventure began
today! I caught the flight to Frankfurt and after a couple of hours there I
was. Big airport with two things on my mind: find my gate to the connecting
flight to Bangkok and try to change 20 USD in smaller bills so when arriving to
Ho Chi Minh City airport to pay the visa wouldn’t have to wait for the change.
I see an information point with a security man and I ask him where should I go to check my gate and even if he didn’t talk English he looked at my ticket and says “Z62”... yeah! Foolish me! It was already written in the ticket and I didn’t even check it.
I start walking and
walking and walking until I see a Money Exchange counter. Two nice men were on
the other side of the glass, when asked if they could change me the Money they
tell me that they can’t change a single 20 USD into smaller ones but they’re
nice and in the end they change it to one 10 USD and two 5 USD. Perfect! When
paying the visa no need to wait for the change. Small talk over here, small
talk over there, lots of laughs and I go on my way without promising when I’d
be back I find them to tell them how was my adventure. =)
So, I continue
walking and walking and I pass by a McDonald’s and I walk and I find my gate.
No one’s there and I feel alone and the thought of going to Vietnam starts to
settle in. In one week, I was invited and decided to go to Nam, bought a ticket
and was ready to spend a couple of months there.
4 hours of waiting
ahead, a couple of TV show episodes and a burger in my belly for dinner and I’m
ready to get the connecting flight.
Seating on the plane
for 1 hour, learning the flight is delayed and that after 11pm there’s no
planes departing or landing from Frankfurt airport, it’s a crap. But at 11.05 pm
we get a special authorization to depart. It started snowing and by a moment I
thought we were being attacked by some aliens ‘cause the cold had settle on the
wings of the plane and some weird machines with red lights started defrosting
the wings with hot steam.
Dinner comes at 1 am
and off to sleep, as the flight is more than 10 hours. It’s morning, I feel
dirty and I wanna brush my teeth, my hair and dress clean clothes. Men are
changing their shirts right in the middle of the cabin and the ladies are queuing
at the toilettes. Breakfast and we land in Bangkok.
Get out of the plane,
get the transfer ticket, walk and walk and pass by the police and the x-ray
machine, and walk and walk so I arrive the same gate I had leave when getting
out of the plane. 40 minutes before boarding it’s what I have to change shirt
and socks, wash my mouth, put a bit of make up and let the parents know I’m ok.
Temperature: 30 degrees
Ok, last hour of
flight and I’ll be in Ho Chi Minh City! Quick flight and I see myself in the
line to get the visa. It took around 30/45 minutes, no money on my cell and a
sweaty Inês, before I could leave. The hot is overwhelming and there are so
many faces outside that it’s difficult to find the Ribeiro family.
I see Carlos and then
Thach Thao and Phuc run towards me. I kiss and hug Xuan and we’re ready to go
home.
Have you ever gone to
Rome or Naples? Do you think Italian people are crazy driving?! Try to drive in
Ho Chi Minh City with millions of motorbikes, thousands of cars, people walking
in the middle of the street and a chaotic sense of driving laws.
At home, I meet Chi
Mai’s son and Xuan’s sister in law and her son. Dinner is ready and so off we
go to eat steamed rice, beef, shrimps cooked in coconut sauce, vegetables and a
sweet mango to finish.
After dinner all
family goes to centre of district 1 to see the celebrations for the Chinese New
Year and to meet one of Xuan’s brothers. There’s an organized chaos around me.
Never saw so many people in the streets, everybody is happy and it’s difficult
not to get lost in these colourful way of celebrating. I try their version of
rice pudding and cross the streets showing no fear, not looking to motor bikers
eyes and just praying inside for not being run over. Yeah... even if there’s a
green light to cross the street there’s still motorbikes everywhere. Forget the
zebras and the lights and just cross the street! That’s how you role in Ho Chi
Minh City.
After a bit we meet
Xuan’s brother, Mr. Truong, and his family and for the first time I experience
the curiosity of young people who want to speak English. They ask me what’s my
name and where I come from and I answer and smile and take pictures. My camera lens
hasn’t stop for a couple of hours.
I’m tired, Thach Thao
and Phuc are tired, everybody is tired. So lets rent a motor biker and his bike
to take the kids and Xuan’s sister in law home and we’ll go walking. Yes there
are 4 people in the same motorbike but that’s completely normal, in fact, the
average is 2.5 people in a motorbike.
Yellow is the colour
for New Year and there’s so many flowers being sold and the streets are
beautiful. While Xuan and Carlos negotiate to buy some trees, my photo camera
continues to shoot. Little children are wonderful to shoot, their faces are
amazing and their expressions beautiful.
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