Good Things Take Time

I arrived in Saigon on late Sunday night after a grueling 10-hour journey.  Flew China Southern Airlines from Beijing to Guangzhou, then had a 3 hour layover before embarking on the next flight from Guangzhou to HCMC.  The journey was a smooth one - I didn't experience any major pains, but it was still tiring.  The flight from Guangzhou to HCMC was delayed by more than an hour, so I didn't arrive in Saigon until 11 pm at night.  I knew my family was waiting for me, so I tried to rush through customs as quickly as possible.  The visa process at the HCMC border was painful - we had to wait over an hour for the officials to process my visa.  As I was waiting, I was starting to lose patience and almost blew a gasket when the Vietnamese official looked me dead in the eye and said, "Ma'am, good things take time."

Finally, at around 12 midnight, I exited the airport and met my cousin Bao Bao and her daughter Ling for the very first time.  Both of them jumped up when I came out and gave me a hug.  They were really sweet and helped me with my bags, brought me to my hotel, and even asked if I was going to be okay staying alone in the hotel all night.  I laughed and told them not to worry, and we chatted for about 15 minutes, trying to get to know each other.  Then we agreed that Bao Bao would come to my hotel the next morning, bright and early at 8 am to pick me up and take me on a tour of Cholon. 

My room at the An An Hotel.  For $36/night, it was quite a steal.  Room wasn't fancy, but clean and comfortable.