“I left Hoi An on a 90-minute flight and landed in Ho Chi Minh City. This was a different Vietnam, this was Saigon.” This is the final entry for this trip. Check out Part 1 & Part 2

I took a cab to Da Nang and boarded a flight to Saigon. The takeoff had me white knuckle gripping the armrests. It felt like the plane wasn’t going fast enough to leave the ground and then it seemed like it was flying too low over the water for a long time, but eventually we gained altitude.

Once I landed, I caught a taxi into the heart of District 1, smack dab in the middle of the backpacker area. I checked into my room one block from Bùi Viện, Saigon’s infamous walking street. Bright lights, loud clubs and nonstop energy.

What saved me from the party noise was a park a few blocks north. Big trees, open paths and a public calisthenics setup with pull-up bars and dip bars — everything I needed. I started going every morning to work out.

The vibe was great. Shirtless old men grinding out dips. Teens boxing. Everyone doing their thing.

After one workout, a group of five schoolgirls in uniforms approached me to practice English which i gladly did. I chatted with them for a bit and they seemed to be having a good time.

I didn’t want to sit in my gloomy room and practice guitar, so I brought it to the park. I found a bench out of the way and started plucking around.

About 45 minutes in, some guys came over and wanted to practice English. They asked if I could play their favorite songs. I hadn’t heard of any of them but we hung out and I strummed anyway.

Soon, a small crowd formed. Expats and locals. A guy named Rick from New Jersey showed up. He could play every classic rock song from the last 40 years. He’d been living in Vietnam for six years and was teaching English.

Then came Foong, a Vietnamese fingerstyle guitarist with a damaged fretting hand from a drunken scooter accident. Still, the guy could play quite well. He hated that I used a pick and insisted on teaching me traditional fingerpicking technique which I tried for a while, but couldn’t make a habit of it

We passed the guitar around and it was a whole scene with people coming and going. This place is called September 23 Park and it is a very social place which is perfect for introverts like me, because it forces you out of your comfort zone.

At one point, Rick and I gave a two-hour guitar lesson to a young Vietnamese kid named Bill. He spoke great English and was completely focused. I think Bill comes from a household of strict discipline. His parents were there too and they seemed like nice people.

Bill wanted to learn how to play the guitar, so Rick and I took turns showing him stuff. Rick was an impatient teacher and would get vocally frustrated when young Bill couldn’t play exactly what he had just shown him. Bill was un-rattled and kept trying. Rick barked orders at Bill in a full-blown East Coast American accent while I played the calm teacher. Rick even said to me, “You got the patience of a monk, man. I ain’t built for this.”

For a couple of hours, I broke down some easy songs for Bill to learn and i have to say, this kid was probably the fastest learner I have ever encountered. I taught him how to play the song “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash and he was fascinated by the story in the lyrics. Months later, the second time I went to Ho Chi Minh, I bumped into Rick on the street and he said that Bill had been looking for me. Apparently, his parents had bought him a guitar. I imagine that by now, he is a virtuoso guitar player.

By the end of the session, Bill could play three songs! He was happy — and I was happy for him.

Eventually, I moved to District 4 and checked into a high-rise apartment on the 23rd floor that i booked through AirBnb. The host, Thao, was an Ashtanga yoga teacher. She lived there, rented out the guest room and used the big living room as a yoga shala. She is a very nice lady and greeted me with fresh coconut juice.

The view from her place is incredible and Ho Chi Minh is the biggest city I have ever seen. Through the windows of her place you can see out across the Saigon River and the view is breath-taking. Also, the traffic in Ho Chi Minh is unbelievably thick with motor bikes seemingly moving together in unison as if everyone is on the same wavelength.

The first morning, I got up at 5 am to get ready for the practice at 6:30 AM. There were six Vietnamese students, and me. All of the students were serious practitioners. The room had wood floors, sunrise light and no distractions.

Outside the building, though, it was a different world. The neighborhood was not touristy at all. There was no English spoken and no English menus in the restaurants. Food was everywhere on the street but I had no clue what a lot of it was. At the time, I didn’t know to use the Google Translate App. Duh!

Ordering food was an adventure. One night, I asked a teenage kid at a street stall to recommend something. He tried his best in English but I had no idea what I was getting. Turned out to be some kind of soup and it was pretty good.

I stuck to pho for breakfast because it was safe. I didn’t want to accidentally order chicken feet, unborn duck eggs or dumplings made from prawn paste. Nothing wrong with those items but I just knew instinctively that my palate wasn’t ready for it. At one stall, I watched an entire duck spin on a rotisserie, head still attached and staring straight ahead.

Even when I ordered coffee and asked for no sugar, it came with a pile of sugar. They put sugar in everything!

One night, I had a dream I was trapped in a high-rise building during an alien invasion. When I woke up groggy and looked out the window, I was high above the city, staring out at the glowing skyline. For a second, I wasn’t sure where I was.

And to be honest, walking around that neighborhood, I got many looks. Nothing hostile, just curious. It was I, who was the alien. The people of Vietnam are very kind.

I stayed with Thao for a little less than a week, then went back to District 1 by the park and checked into a hotel. Wanting to explore, yet not brave enough to ride a motorbike in Saigon, I walked for many miles all over the area in my flip flops. I went to the park everyday to workout.

At some point — I succumbed to the temptation of Bui Vien Street and started hanging out at the Corner Bar International. This went on for about a week or more (memory is a little foggy).

Here was my daily routine:

• Wake up and practice yoga
• Workout at the park
• Eat Pho or Banh Mi
• Back to the park with my guitar to hang out with the locals
• Relax in my room after dinner
• Go to Bui Vien Street and drink Heinekens at the International Corner Bar

I was having a great time!

On this corner you will meet people from all over the world. This is the place where I really started to learn about Digital Nomads. I had never heard the phrase before but I would talk to people and ask how long they had been in Vietnam. Many of them had been in the country for years. I would ask how, and what they did for a living. Some would reply, “I’m a digital Nomad” and I started thinking that maybe, I too, could live in Southeast Asia like these guys. To me, they were living the best life possible.

The seed was planted and little did I know that this seed would grow into an obsession. I had to figure out how to become a Digital Nomad.

I found a great barbershop called COC Barbershop. The owner actually lived in the U.S. for a long time and spoke perfect English. I learned from him how foreigners can live in Vietnam teaching English.

I started watching Youtube videos online and discovered Reborn Abroad, a company that offers re-location services to expats. Soon, i would find myself in the hotel room, spending hours watching nothing but videos on how to become an expat and live as a digital nomad. For a while, I was convinced that I needed to live in Vietnam but that was before I got to Thailand. What a world there is out there!

By now, I had been in Vietnam for about a month. One afternoon, I was sitting on my bed, strumming the guitar when I got the idea to look at flights. I found one to Bangkok for $50. I had no plan and no big reason except a sense of adventure. I have some Thai friends in Los Angeles from Muay Thai America Gym and was already somewhat aware of Thai culture.

So I booked the ticket and the next day, I left Vietnam…

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