Vietnam.

Telling my dad I was going to Vietnam was like telling him I bought Giants season tickets or that I hated the Beatles. Except for the fact that I really was going to Vietnam. His answer? "You are paying to go to Vietnam?" You see he got a free trip there, well technically he got paid to go there, just not very much.

Yes, I was headed to Vietnam, not only Vietnam but their two equally communist neighbors, Cambodia and Laos. No, I didn't go to China, what do you think I am, a jerk? (Definitely going to China, eventually.)

First stop, Ho Chi Minh City, better known as Saigon, more accurately described as Moped City.

It is a city swollen with sweat, choked by smog, littered with history, and filled with delicious food. Pho, it's all the rage right now, well I am happy to report I had the best Pho, ever, at a food stall in Saigon. I am also happy to report that my pronounciation of Pho, shockingly enough (not really I am always right) is the correct pronounciation of Pho. http://www.lovingpho.com/pho-opinion-editorial/how-to-pronounce-pho/

The old US Embassy in Saigon makes any red-blooded American nostalgic for the days of colonialism. History smistery, all I was thinking about while we were exploring the place was the wild parties that undoubtedly went down in the old building. It is a beautiful, open air structure, reminds me a lot of the buildings of another colonial conquest that we manages to hold onto, Hawaii.

I felt claustrophobic in the Cu Chi Tunnels, I felt scared out of my wits riding on the back of a moped in Saigon traffic, I felt shady as hell buying oregano in a back alley, and I felt damn happy to head to Nha Trang for some beach time...