O hi, Asia!

Here’s a side-by-side of the original Long Hostel, where I stayed the first night, and the current Long Hostel where I am now. My private room is $16/night (includes breakfast.) Two people in there would pay $10 each ($20 total).

I met these two German girls walking around the other night. They’re both opticians in Berlin and took 3 weeks off to roam around Vietnam and Cambodia together. This Wednesday they’re going on a 3-day boat trip along the Mekong Delta and I decided to join them! This is Grit (for Margrit) and Yvette:

My German’s a little better than their English, so we’ve been speaking German most of the time. Too much English actually gives Grit a headache; after a half hour or so she’s done.

We were sitting at a restaurant when a woman came up to try to sell us one of her many books. In this area, people are constantly coming up to you trying to sell any number of things: sunglasses, books, trinkets, lighters, etc. The books look brand new, but the insides are basically xeroxed. I know because a few days ago I bought this one that had been recommended in my Lonely Planet guide:

It’s fine for $3, but just don’t judge the insides from the outsides, as it were. The woman is all smiles here, but just a few seconds later wasn’t so chipper when Grit was doing a bad job of getting rid of her. See the video here.

Gekko! While Grit, Yvette and I were waiting for food, we spotted a gekko crawling down a backlit partition near the entrance. Look at the cute little hands! (He’s only about 3 inches long. Not a foot like he looks in this picture. I don’t know how I know he’s a boy, I just do.)

Water. I’ve started saying “water” like a British person (“woa-tuh”), since no one understands “wadr”, like I normally say it. As soon as another American hears me, I’m sure they’ll raise an eyebrow, but at least I’ll be the one with the water.