Orange Cat

Last day in Saigon for now, thank goodness. Spent yesterday out of the city, on the seventh floor of the Caravelle Hotel - poolside and yoga-ing at their gym. I recommend it to anyone who has already experienced the day or two it takes to see ALL anyone ever wants to see of this city. (sorry, city). Finished the Hemingway, and mind is racing with his page-long reveries on the joys of beer-drinking and nonsensical bickering with a lover, among other things. Such a joy to read something both succinct and utterly full at the same time. GREEN HILLS OF AFRICA for any of you who might care...aside from loving the prose, my whole heart leapt toward the continent: smells, colors, textures. Perhaps that's why I'm slightly uncomitted to this place - too much time book-wise spent in the Arctic, Africa...and, now, again. Onto Shackleton piece tucked into my bag before I left.

On postive note, I have managed to find a delicious glass of avocado juice. You all know how much I care about that...still struggling to convey 'vegetarian' to the streetsellers of other things. A bummer, as that's the best food - but, I fear finding hunks of pork or....well, something else. Orange cat? NO.

Saigon, Again

Arrived last night in a weary, dreary mess after almost a full-day of travel on various Thai Airways flights, through Bangkok's endless shopping mall of an airport (miles and miles of shops). Took a cab directly to the hotel, same area as my stay before. It's a tourist-driven area, full of Westerners - young and old - in various states of warm-weather dress, some with backpacks others a bit cooler with smaller bundles. Had breakfast in one of the many cafes promising eggs....ordered. Remembered bird flu break-out I read about a week ago in Vietnam and promptly tasted it in the scramble, rejected plate and went for fruit instead. Experiencing the displaced feeling one has immediately upon arriving in such a distant land...out of touch...far-off...irrelevent. Letting it wash over and pass, embarking on long walk and generally settling my body into the different tempo of travel.