Saigon


Like Hanoi, Saigon is not for those seeking a bucolic holiday. 

Click for a larger version Saigon traffic

Though people obey the traffic lights, it's still not for the chicken-hearted. The contraption in the middle is a cyclo. Here it's hauling freight, but that's where the person(s) sit. Theres only one cycle in the picture with a single person.

Click for a larger version A family outing
Click for a larger version Beauty secret

If the woman on the left is beautiful, it's a secret. Many women cover up to avoid the sun, wearing hats, scarves and shoulder-height gloves.

Click for a larger version The only man in all of Vietnam who wears a helmet.

Doesn't he look dashing. Most other Vietnamese are more sanguine about their safety. Many car owners snip out the seat belts to make the ride more comfortable.

Click for a larger version Café

Next to our hotel. People bring their birds in the morning. When it's time to go, they cover them and get on the motorcycle.

Click for a larger version Pawnbroker shop

The name means "happiness"

Click for a larger version The famous Pho Hoa
Click for a larger version The empty Pho Binh
Click for a larger version Buddhist temple
Click for a larger version Inside the temple

One of those "mysterious East" Photos

Click for a larger version Also inside the temple
Click for a larger version Water puppets
Click for a larger version Street in Cho Lon

This is Saigon's Chinatown

Click for a larger version Chinese hearses
Click for a larger version Instrument builder's workshop

Against the wall are zithers

Click for a larger version Duyen (3rd from left), brother and family

After some utterly sumptuous dining at Quy Thanh

Click for a larger version Simon Says in the park

Wholesome, group entertainment. The last day in Saigon we took a walk in the park. They invited me to join, but luckily, I had a plane to catch.

Click for a larger version A miniature Cham tower

Also in the park. Like the water puppets in the museum, there for people who wouldn't see the rest of Vietnam

Click for a larger version Relaxation

Coffee, cigarettes and conversation on little chairs. What could be better?

Birds.

Click for a larger version Social occasion

Bird owners often introduce their birds to see what will happen.