Back in the HCMC

A little teaser of what is to come...The Gobi Desert

After 17 days in Mongolia (12 of which were spent in the Gobi Desert being nomadic, smelly, hot, parched, and stared at), I’ve arrived back in HCMC.  I can’t say that I’m happy to be back, but that’s how life goes and I had to come back and finish work here before I could totally succumb to the nomadic life.  However, I did have at least two offers to stay in Mongolia and become a Mongolian herder wife which I considered for a bit and then decided that pizza delivery in the desert might be too hard for me!

After 2 1/2 weeks of being off the ‘grid’ completely I now have a mound of writing and photography editing to do in order to present to all of you the amazing country of Mongolia; you will be impressed – I can guaranteer that.  I can hardly wait to show you the Mongolia I saw; vast, strong, empty, and so peaceful that I could hear the sound of birds flying overhead.  In addition to the peacefulness, I was also able to experience the culture and stayed with local nomadic families.  This of course led to me eating lots of food that was not very enjoyable, being put to work milking goats and camels, running from sandstorms, and playing games with animal bones.  So – please be patient with me as I wade through thousands of pictures that need editing, many videos that need uploading, and 12 days of stories that need to be parred down.  In addition, I actually secured a paying magazine gig that I need to deliver on regarding my Mongolia travel so my to-do list is growing!

In the meantime, I’ll do some other posts to keep things interesting and until I can get the Mongolia info online!   I will also be dealing with my culture shock of going from the least populated country in Asia with the lowest population density in the world to the 9 million people crammed into HCMC.  My first big hurdle is to get back on my motorbike after 3 weeks of being out of the Vietnam traffic.  I feel like I’m starting back at square one and my maiden voyage is during rush hour tonight as I ride to work; of course it will probably start pouring rain at that time too just to give me the proper ‘welcome back’.

Thanks for all of the comments and well wishes while I was away!

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Filed Under: Ho Chi Minh City

Tags: culture shock • Gobi Desert • landscapes