COVID-19 and Vietnam: Masks Up... the 2nd Wave Has Arrived

COVID, COVID, COVID! 

A brief update on the virus situation here, for my friends and family abroad.

So 2020 sucks big, greasy dolphin butts, as I'm sure you're all aware. I'd planned to try and travel a bit somewhere else early next year, but that's looking increasingly unlikely. America is falling apart at the seams (just horrible to watch, good lord). Russia says they have a vaccine (probably BS). The UK is trying to deal with Brexit AND COVID, and kinda failing at both of them (also not surprised).

Europe is doing pretty good at the moment; still not recovered. New Zealand is setting a good example and is virus-free for the moment, but still had some deaths.

And then there's Vietnam.

I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been caught here, of all places, in these tumultuous times. The government, while not always transparent about news the party feels threatened by, have prioritized public access to knowledge about the pandemic and have achieved something of a miracle: 450 total cases as of July 30th, 2020, and zero deaths. And in a country of 95 million people, sharing a land border with China. That's not just good, that's downright AMAZING.

This is, hands down, exemplary. Every country should take two key lessons from this:

1. It doesn't take a rich country to battle a virus, just swift and decisive action ('Act Now, Act Fast'), attention to science, citizen responsibility, and transparent dissemination of information,

and

2. If you don't want your economy and business growth to come crashing into the red like that astroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, care about your citizens first. The evidence is clear that no economy is safe, let alone able to grow, until the virus is contained.

Of course, we've got a second (third? News reports disagree) wave on our hands now....

Get Your Dim Sum, and Then Some, in Saigon

Dim Sum is a great way to enjoy a ton of different tastes and textures, and there are more than enough options in Ho Chi Minh City to satisfy every steamed dumpling lover.

These are some of the best dim sum places I've personally experienced in Saigon. Some are best for takeaway (looking at you, Mr. Hao), while some are best enjoyed in the ambience of the restaurant (Baoz and San Fu Lou are both delightful and downright luxurious).

All are worth investigating with your food hole. Just don't forget to pack that wallet before you go - dim sum can rack up a bill reaaaaaal fast, especially if you're ordering for more than two people!

Click through for a list of my local favorites!

A Weekend at Giao Diem Homestay, My Tho

Last weekend I needed to get out of Saigon's traffic and get myself into a quiet, green area, stat. Fortunately, Sieu's colleague broke his leg (I mean, that part's not great, obviously), and he needed to deliver his work computer and materials to him at home in My Tho for extended work-from-home. Opportunity buzzer sounds!

We packed up for three days and two nights to travel to the closest city southwest of HCMC and set about looking for a place to stay, eventually landing on Giao Diem Homestay, which has a big ol' garden and DOGS. While it isn't very close to the city of My Tho proper (about 8 miles/14 km), that was just dandy for me. I generally subscribe to a more isolationist, and decidedly lazy, view of vacation. Going out and doing things? When you just did things all week?? That's how they get you, man.

Click through to learn all about Giao Diem Homestay, My Tho!

Life Update: Welcome to Tan Dinh, My New Neighborhood!

It's that time again, folks - I've moved! And I have to talk about it! And lots of other things! Because I can never shut up!

I have a great new place with a big ol' room for my kitties and a lot of exciting street life, restaurants, and cafes for us big two-legged bipeds. And hence... the itchy typing fingers have got ahold of me. I'm all out of video games, I can't stand to read the Stephen King book about a magical pandemic (!!) that's been hanging out on my nightstand since February, and I'm sitting on a thousand or two pictures that need sharing.

Before you ask, you might notice that not only have I abandoned Facebook posting, I've also now left Instagram (itself Facebook-owned). Sadly, social media is not great for my mental health, and pursuing those little dopamine hits easily spirals out of control for me, personally. 

My new neighborhood is Tan Dinh, a smallish area surrounding the eponymous market and home to a lively and engaging space.

Click through for all the details!

The Golden Loop Motorbike Ride, Central Vietnam

Haha, funny hair on Adam. lol At the Da Nang beach before we set out on our motorbikes.

This past February brought one of my all-time favorite adventures in Vietnam! One of my absolute best friends from High School, Adam, joined me on a motorbike tour nicknamed The Golden Loop, courtesy of super-indie-traveler Tom over at Vietnam Coracle, an indispensable source for Vietnam travel.

It was a vacation for the ages, truly! Let me take you on our trip, step by step, ending with New Year's celebrations in the historic UNESCO village of Hoi An!

Life Update: 2018 in Pics and So Much Text

Saigon at night, with Landmark 81, the newest, tallest building in Vietnam.

Hello folks!

It's been a crazy 2018 over here!

(To be fair, it's been an even crazier year for the rest of the globe - man, am I glad to be outside of America right now. What a dumpster fire my country is right now! As I tell my students, half-jokingly "We're just going through some things right now... we'll get better... I hope...!")

So I guess I'm typing again, and communicating with the rest of the world from Vietnam. Like I said, it's been a year of big changes on the Vietnamese homefront. Let me get down to business with what's happening in my world!

Lots and lots of text today, so please enjoy some photos from the last year as well!

Click through for all the news!

Ba Be Lake, North Vietnam

The best trip I've ever had in Vietnam?

Definitely the Ha Giang Loop in the North. Spectacular views, uninterrupted beauty, crisp air... and only a few dozen kilometers through 6 inches of mud (can't believe I didn't wipe out in that junk, what a miserable stretch of construction). 

My cuzbro Chris and I went in the off season, so we had a day of miserable rainy driving and a few scattered downpours over the rest of it. Still... it was the ride of a lifetime... so far.

My cousin and I took a rather unorthodox trip around the Ha Giang Loop, in that we were riding clockwise from Hanoi to Dong Van to Ha Giang to Sa Pa, without a guide (my favored way to go on motorbike trips, now that I can speak a little Vietnamese).

Check it out after the jump!