Some interesting statistics from the November 17 edition of The Saigon Times Weekly:

As of January 1, train fares for foreigners and Vietnamese will be the same. Currently, foreigners pay about 40 to 50% more.

Overseas Vietnamese are now allowed to buy houses in Vietnam. No word on when foreigners might be allowed to do so- indeed, foreigners are not presently even allowed to own motorbikes.

In 1999, 500,000 motorbikes were sold in Vietnam. In 2000, more than 1.8 million were sold. In the first three quarters of 2001, some 1.4 million were sold (I bought one!), and there are no signs of it slowing down in the near future. Authorities are talking about investing on public transport to ease the congestion, but I think it’s a bit late for that. There are already at least 2 million motorbikes in the streets of Saigon.

Last year, overseas Vietnamese sent home 1.76 billion dollars in remittances to relatives and friends. Approximately 1 billion of that came from the 1.12 million Vietnamese living in the U.S.

It’s usually arranged at least six months in advance, but we booked a restaurant for our wedding reception with less than three and a half months to go. Two friends had recommended Blue Ginger to us, and although the name sounds a bit sleazy to me, it does have a nice atmosphere with an outdoor garden. I found the food a bit overpriced as far as dinner for two goes, but it was tasty and the prices for a wedding banquet are reasonable. Luckily, they were still available for our chosen date so we put down a deposit.

It all becomes more real with each passing day.