My Travel Adventures

Today was so rainy that I only realised mid-afternoon that my sunglasses were useless. The surface had been destroyed by yesterday’s rain showers, which blurred the view by wearing down the polarised coating in uneven patches. Luckily, I found a big mall during my wanderings through the centre of Manila and bought new sunglasses there. Taking a gamble, I decided to pay for them in cash, as I am almost halfway through the trip and I have not spent anywhere close to half of the quantity I exchanged. Still, I do feel a bit nervous that I might run out of cash in the middle of nowhere at the most inconvenient time.

We spent the whole day today in Ho Chi Minh City, and I have to say it is quite different from Hanoi. Hanoi feels smaller, calmer, and more rigid, whereas Ho Chi Minh City is – as my dad put it – “what Bangkok was twenty years ago.” It feels distinctly more southeast Asian: the roads are busier and crazier, and the streets seem much more alive. Ho Chi Minh City is to Hanoi what New York is to Washington D.C. or what Hong Kong is to Beijing.