Today is my last night in Saigon. We leave tomorrow at five for Hanoi. I’ve heard Hanoi is a lot less vibrant. Fewer motorbikes, less friendly people, worse food. Tomorrow I will be able to compare for myself.

Saigon decided to say goodbye to us and hello to the torrential downpour that signifies that rainy season is indeed upon us. Every day since I arrived the rain has been getting worse. Today was the worst yet, coming down so hard that Ben Tanh market started leaking. It was so thick you couldn’t see in front of you. It was over as soon as it began, but of course not before we had to brave the downpour.

To celebrate my last day in Saigon I decided to walk back to my hotel from the War Remnants museum. Of course, as always, I had no map and no real clue where I was going or even which direction I should start walking in. Within moments I was lost – although really, I was never really found because I never have any clue where I am in this city and obviously, I have no sense of direction whatsoever.

The greatest thing about being in a city where you have no clue where you are is that you start playing games with yourself. Each time you stop at a corner you look around for anything familiar. If you see something you say, “Aha! I must be going the right direction!”. The problem of course is, that although you may recognize something, you may not necessarily remember where it lives in context to the thing you are trying to find so although you may strike off in the “right” direction triumphantly, usually in about a block or two you realize you still have absolutely no clue where the hell you are.

Luckily every street corner has at least one motorbike driver eager to take you where ever you might possibly need to go for about a dollar fifty. So I wander in circles until I’m too sweaty, thirsty, or tired to go any further and then I hop on the back of a motorbike (or into a taxi, depending) and realize I was going in the completely wrong direction as I am swiftly motored back home and deposited safely on the curb so that I can strike out into the city to get lost again later.