I tried to go into town from the mini hotel we were staying in. A cyclo driver approached me and asked for US$20. My first impression was that the price was too high. Before coming to Vietnam we were told in the preparatory meetings that lunch, for instance, should not be higher than 50 cents of a dollar. After much bargaining we came down to US$1. Later, I heard that it was fair enough. Anyhow, the cyclo driver was quite communicative and all of a sudden told me that in 1997, four years later, I will come again to Vietnam. He spoke full of confidence like if he was a prophet. Well, after all, I did not visit Vietnam then.

During the time I was in Ho Chi Minh City I met a Vietnamese girl and we talked friendly about our jobs and how much both of us earned. When I told her that they paid me 800 yen per hour in Japan she was full of surprise: "it was her weekly salary in Vietnam"!

Vietnam is a paradise for all kinds of worms and mosquitoes. I spent a very exciting time in the slums of HCM City. The family I visited invited me to drink a glass of fresh water. Both the glass and the water were muddy. I remembered the advice not to drink water and I worried much about what to do. On the other hand, that water was precious to people in the slums. Looking at their smiling faces I felt rude of worrying about the matter. Later in a Church they offered us some banana wine. I worried again because in the bottom of the glass I could see small green caterpillars. The wine was delicious and I finished everything.