Viet nam

After 18 hours of flying from Chicago ORD en route to a 10 day bike and barge, I arrived at HoChi Min airport .  I am at baggage claim waiting for bicycle box and realize my phone is dead.  To use my time most effectively, I decide to plug it in and charge for 10 minutes while waiting for luggage.  I make a mental reminder to not forget the phone.Luggage arrives I get a taxi to the Grande Hotel in Saigon and 10 minutes into ride I realize I forgot my phone in the airport.  I am now absolutely beside myself.  No Cell Phone.  How could I be so stupid and forgetful.  When I plugged it in I said to myself better make sure you do not forget the phone. Now I am brainstorming quietly figuring out how to go forward. I am sick to my stomach to not have a means of communication while in a foreign country.  I even made sure to buy the extra cellular international plan.

I am now quietly brainstorming my next steps realizing the phone is probably already gone.

I mention this to the driver who actually spoke some English and he stops the taxi and pulls over and starts playing with his phone. He has Find my Phone app and visually can see the phone location and sees the phone move. He immediately asks me for my phone number and calls. Someone answers. In Vietnamese he explains the situation and they banter back and forth and this janitor agrees to deposit the phone at the JAL desk which is open for several more hours. I tell the driver to turn around and head for the airport. Get to the airport and I ask him to retrieve the phone since he speaks the language. Wonderously he has the phone in his hand. Let’s look at all the miraculous luck I encountered— 1-a Vietnamese cab driver who spoke English. Most Vietnamese people do not speak any English2-a taxi driver who was computer adept and can use find my phone app on an apple device and somehow get a visual3-creative cab driver who could figure out how I could retrieve the phone.

Thanks to this driver I can now load my bicycle routes for the next 10 days into Ride with GPS and not get lost cycling in Vietnamese Nam.

In these 2 hours I felt almost every emotion possible- fright, loss, anger,confusion, and last but not least Jubilation.

Oh, What a great country—oh I forgot I am in Vietnamese Nam now.