“Chuc Mung Nam Moi”- Happy New Year of the Horse.

I haven’t written in so long that I feel that a recap is in order. I started this diary a little over two years ago in December 1999 when I was living in the United Arab Emirates. In February 2000 I went to study in Australia for a year and I continued writing La Dolce Vita on and on-again, off-again fashion (sometimes almost daily, sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly) during that time.

I’ve been in Vietnam for almost year now, but writing in this diary during that time has been sporadic at best. If I were to reread the entries I’ve made over the past twelve months, I’m sure that my piecemeal impressions of Saigon would present a very incomplete picture of this vibrant place. If you would like to read a good book about what it is like for a foreigner to live in this country, I would highly recommend The House on Dream Street : Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam by Dana Sachs. Although it is set in Hanoi instead of Ho Chi Minh City and it's from a female perspective (as opposed to my motorbike-obsessed male one), I thoroughly identified with many of her experiences.

Having just come back from a two week holiday in central and northeastern Thailand (more on that in future entries I hope), I can only say that I’m very happy to be back “home.” I had a good time in Thailand, but I missed the people and the food of Vietnam- and yes, even the motorbikes.

Thailand is of course a more affluent country by comparison. Almost every high school girl I saw had a mobile, and the car to motorbike ratio (maybe 20 to 1?) is the reverse of what it is here. It scares me to think of what the traffic might be like here in 10 or 20 years once more people can afford cars. Traffic in Bangkok is every bit as horrendous as they say: it took us over two hours to get from the northern bus terminal to Banglamphu in the central part of the city. After that introduction to Bangkok traffic, I stuck to the Chao Phraya express river boats, walking, and the sky train to get around. And for just 5 baht (about 12 cents U.S.) I took the train to Don Muang Airport rather than mess with the bus.

When we first arrived in Bangkok, in fact, we did a very smart thing by bypassing the city altogether and taking the train from the airport straight to the former capital of Ayuthaya, 86 km north of Bangkok.

Next entry: Ayuthaya and Khao Yai National Park.