Ho Chi Minh is saying goodbye to me by flying a few military jets over the city as I head to the bus station. Just a little gesture to acknowledge the impact I had on the city these past couple of days :)

Surprisingly on time, I lie down for the first time on a sleeper bus. These sleeper seats are definitely not made for a 1.82-meter-tall person. I open the email and—surprise—there’s a new release from Oddisee, one of my favorite artists.

The e-mail says:

Only the first single is available. I put on my headphones and press play. I gaze at the rice fields flowing past the window, blending with palm trees in an explosion of greens and yellows. “It’s a rare thing. To be alive, find peace and make time. ... It’s a rare thing. To have dreams, that come true and not die”

And then, this song goes next. The universe, again.

Six hours go by fast. I just listen to music and stare out the window, letting my mind drift, with the occasional glance at my phone. I leave the book in my bag on purpose—just letting everything pass by, outside and in.

I get out of the bus and I do what I’m getting great at: sweating. I open Maps and the first reaction is, “Shit, I’m practically in Cambodia.” I love when I have no real clue where I actually am. In Spanish, they’d say I’m a despistado.

As soon as I enter the hotel, I put my bags down, shower quickly, and run out to the street with the plan to catch a ferry to the other side of the river. But instead, I lose myself wandering into what seems to be the sketchiest area in town. That’s what I’m really great at: finding the sketchiest spot and walking straight into it. But, as often happens in these situations, the farther I go, the better the surprises. This time, it’s a shot of something with the people in the photo—you can see the drink on the left, the same one that ends up down my throat a few seconds later.

On the street, I get tons of “hello” and waving gestures to get my attention—even from people passing by on scooters. Now the pattern seems quite clear: the farther you are from the tourist area, the happier people are to see you. It’s definitely a different kind of welcome than the one we usually offer tourists in Europe, where they’re often the main reason behind the transformation of city centers into theme parks designed around their needs, and the rental issues that are gradually pushing locals away. But that’s another long-term project of mine.

By the time I’m walking out of this area, I get one of the photos I was most excited about—or at least, that’s what I thought until I uploaded it here.

Meanwhile, my friend Federico jokes that I might come back without a kidney—or at least I like to think he’s joking. As mentioned in an earlier missive, I’m noticing I take more chances when I’m traveling solo.

In the end, I don’t make it to the other side, but I happily walked through the whole town. Step counter says 14,468, while the camera counts 364 photos. Not bad for just 7 hours in Châu Đốc.

Till tomorrow,
— M