In Saigon

Hello gang! We arrived late last night in Saigon. We flew through a lightning storm which delayed us some. We got to our hotel just before 11:00 pm. The taxi ride to the hotel was a death defying stunt orchestrated by a madman of a taxi driver. Although the streets are far less packed than those of Bangkok, the number of small cyclos (aka motorcycles) is far greater. No one seems to exhibit any fear besides us foreigners :) We managed to sleep fairly well considering that we are on the complete opposite schedule and are grateful that we did arrive at night as it made going to bed seem the natural thing to do. We woke up feeling much refreshed and breakfasted together in the hotel lobby. Our breakfasts were good, especially the great Vietnamese crunchy bread. We just got back from walking to the Vietnam Airlines office and were disappointed to learn that the airline tickets to Pleiku (were Jess lived for a few years as a child and Gail and Irene's base for many years) were sold out. However, we are instead going to leave Saigon today and have "chartered" a van to drive us to Pleiku, for the low price of 3.5 million dong. (about $225 US). It will be an adventure I am sure! I have to run now as the van is here to pick us up!