Saigon (part 1 of 5 -- travels in Vietnam)

To take advantage of a 9-day break between classes, I headed to Vietnam for a little exploring of a truly unique country. I arrived safely in Saigon on Saturday (1/13/07) afternoon to begin my trek. I was set to fly out of Hanoi, approximately 1000 km to the north, in 9 days, so I knew I had to move quickly. My first stop was Saigon, captured below:

Literally, 1 minute after sitting down to enjoy my first beer in Vietnam, this cute girl came up to me offering to sell me some gum. I didn't want any, but I couldn't resist giving her 10,000 Vietnamese Dong (btw -- 15,000 Dong = $1 -- I felt like a millionaire there!). I had to resist this urge in the near future, as I soon had many street vendors interested in the new foreigner in town!


When I was at the airport in Bangkok, I saw the guy in the red shirt below wearing a Chicago Cubs hat -- I couldn't help but to inquire further. It turns out that he is a consultant in Chicago, and is looking to apply to B school very soon. He was traveling in Vietnam with an Intrepid travel adventure trip for 2 weeks, and we hit it off right away. We met these two Aussies early in the night, and enjoyed a game or two of pool.


They had never heard of Coors light! I couldn't help but buy them a round. The Colorado followers of the blog should especially appreciate this :-).


Shortly after leaving our first bar, my new Chicago friend and I headed around the corner, and who would be sitting there? -- why some old English friends that I had met in Koh Samui the week before. It's a small world....

This was a new member of the crew who I had not met before -- he was quite a character, and had many entertaining stories from his previous nights out in Saigon. One of them included being chased by a man with a machete! Thankfully, I never had the same experience.

I explored the city a little the next day. Saigon is a hectic place to say the least, but I was able to find some peace and quiet in this park below.

There was a nice flower garden at the end of the park.

Along the way, I made it into my first of many Vietnamese shopping markets, and immediately realized that the Vietnames concept of space, especially when it comes to the shopping experience, is drastically different than their Western counterparts. I found a few Nike things, and made my way out quickly, as shopping has never been one of my more enjoyable leisure activities.

Motorbikes are definitely abundant in and around the city center. The art of crossing the street is something to behold, and is captured in more detail at the bottom of the Vietnamese postings.

As usual, I was attracted to the local pool hall, but this place was more impressive than most. I saw a fairly small "Pool Hall' sign on a quite random street in town. I followed a dizzying set of hallways back for about 100 yards, and made my way into this huge warehouse-style pool hall, with ~16 pristine tables. Luckily, a fellow American from Boston came up to me almost immediately, and we enjoyed a few games. This was supposedly the hot spot in town for pool; my instincts seem to do quite well!

Not wanting to waste the entire day away, I finally slipped away from the pool hall (I returned a few times over the next several days :), and made my away to some of the more touristy attractions in town. Captured below is Reunification Palace, where the first communist tanks crashed into Saigon in April of 1975, to officially close out the Vietnam war between the North and South (...the US troops had exited two years earlier in 1973)

Though I was a bit hesitant, I had to make my way to the War Remants Museum, which vividly captures the atrocities of the Vietnam war, and especially gives a negative tone on the American involvement. I'm not sure if I have ever felt so bad about being an American, but I am glad I saw the story from the other side regardless. In one telling corner of the museum, the opening line of the Declaration of Indepence -- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness -- is highlighted next to several victims of Agent Orange, the vicious body-deforming gas used by the American army. I believe the headline of the exhibit was, "The Definition of Hypocrisy"

(the front of the exhibit is captured below -- I have spared the audience pictures from the inside)

A common intersection in Saigon. Amazingly, there are few stop lights in Saigon. Many intersections, like the one below, simply operate by calmly passing through, while somehow avoiding cross-traffic. It's truly a system to behold...

..another roundabout. Somehow, I've captured this photo with very few vehicles. Picture about 100 more bikes in the visible road area, and you can imagine the real chaos.

..another city street - this one more clearly captures the crowded nature within the Saigon city-limits

During one of my two days in Saigon, I walked out to the main river. It offered nothing special, but again, it was nice break from the chaos.

This statue on the riverside seemed to be important, and it offered a nice foreground for the buidings behind.

On my third day in Vietnam, I awoke early and jumped on a bus to Nha Trang. Though I knew the bus ride may be a bit long (i.e. 13 hours), I wanted to see the Vietnamese countryside, and I always seem to meet a few good fellow backpackers on such trips

Part of the road to Nah Trang.

..and the oceanside.