HCMC or Siagon: Same same, not different

  Renee and I flew into Ho Chi Minh City from Siem Reap, which took a little over one hour from takeoff to landing. We flew Cambodia Angkor Air, which seemed safe enough and they gave us a sandwich box for our effort. We flew to HCMC on June 20, instead of taking a bus or boat because we wanted to meet a friend in Vietnam and the $220 seemed like a good idea at the time.

Brother Nam, Renee, Brother Hi

  We were lucky enough to stay with one of Renee's friends from college who was visiting family in Vietnam.  Therefore, we got to stay rent free with an in-house tour guide.  The kicker: 5am mass because it was in a seminary.  The brothers were very friendly and more than kind to us as we tried to learn their daily schedule so that we wouldn't interfere with them while we were on a vacation.  The head priest was our friend's great uncle and he tried to be as joking as possible whenever he could.  On an interesting note, he was also anti-communist and was more than happy to share his misgivings about the Party with us and any other visitors to the compound.

Extended family with us

  Beyond the brothers, we were also able to spend a fair amount of time with Renee's friend's closer, non-ordained family members.  He has several aunts and uncles that were also very friendly and more than happy to entertain us with a dinner or sight seeing trip.

  Those 3 days spent in HCMC were some of the cheapest days we have had so far.  Not only was room covered, board was provided if we asked or were invited to a dinner.  Now, we did try to pay for what we could, and were always refused.  So we bought breakfast one day, beer another, or side dishes for a meal whenever we could/were permitted to.