Day 1 - Ingathering of the Exiles

When I tell people that I am about to embark on a 10 day tour of Vietnam
with 8 of my oldest friends, the usual reaction is a mix of admiration
and jealousy. And you know what? They're right. I feel very privileged
to be part of this trip.
OK. Enough of the mushy stuff. And on to the fun. And the first day was everything it was meant to be.

The Australian contingent arrived a day early and the 3 Israelis dribbed and drabbed in throughout the afternoon. We were like schoolboys on their yearly field trip. Jittery with excitement, eager to have a good time and get up to no good. We shpatsed around the nearby central market, where I insisted that there was no way that I was going to start a trip to Vietnam without a steaming bowl of hot pho. That satisfied, coffee, more walking, more talking and more fun. Simon and Harry had massages (all legit, don't worry Gilly and Janine), Kron tried to find àn ATM that would agree to give him money and we dithered around the hotel until dinner time. Yoni and Garry hadn't arrived yet so the 6 of us trundled into a taxi to a place I'd been recommended called the Architect's House. I can't even start to describe the beef, chicken, fish, squid, prawn and other things we were served.(Harry and Anton don't eat pork for reasons of kashrut. Good thing they have kosher squid, prawns and other stuff here). Let's just sày that the unusual, fascinating decor, the food and the comeraderie made for an almost perfect first night. Almost perfect, because Garry and Yoni had not yet arrived and Phil, who seeded the whole idea a year and a half ago, pulled out because of personal reasons. They were all missed. Yoni and Garry will be up to speed already today. We'll keep a chair, Eliyahu Ha'Navih style, for Phil, who will definitely leave a hole in his absence.

But our night was not over. In the taxi ride home we noticed that a night market had set up next to the day market. Garry had arrived at the hotel, so we swapped some Polish-Australian members of
the group for Fav and went out to explore. Simon had to restrain me from having a 3rd meal in 8 hours, especially after the fantastic meal we'd just had, Garry suggested a beer instead. A much better idea. As we sat at the local sidewalk restaurant (do not imagine Paris) sipping our 5th beer for the day, Yoni strolled down the street, finding us as if he had sonar to track us down in the middle of Saigon.
And so ended our first day, relaxing, drinking beers together on a dirty, noisy Saigon street that bustled with S-E Asian life. I imagine that this won't be the last.