We arrive in HCM City, formally known as Saigon for just over a day and half. On our itinerary, it really is a stop over to capitalize on cheap airfare, so we didn't schedule much time here. As big as this city is... home to about ten million people, there really isn't much that Helen and I were interested in seeing. Here are many official buildings of the state, etc. But since we aren't all that interested in HCM's political culture, we ended up just wandering the city, including a massive market. Despite being housed in a huge warehouse building, the market was an inferno of body heat and sweat. It was pretty gross, but we made it out with a few bargains.
We did come across this guy:
He fed birds and invited them to sit all over him. Pretty fun to watch. But that was pretty much it for our day wandering around.
Oh! Since traffic seems to be a very central theme to our trip through Vietnam, it is worth mentioning that Saigon traffic is a little more organized than Hanoi, but about ten times more volume. We thought crossing the street was difficult. But here in HCM, instead of having to cross four lanes, we are now having to cross up to eight lanes, and through traffic circles. There is a slight sense of doom as I step off the curb and into the fray; followed by feelings of relief and pride once I reach the other side. Eye contact, keep moving, NEVER stop moving, eye contact, repeat.
Here I am as I make my way across:
Here is Helen making her way across:
Sorry about the poor quality of the photo. I had to take this one quick. Please note the two ladies to Helen's right. That's where the traffic is coming from. It may look like Helen is walking along with her fellow pedestrians cautiously through the traffic. But, what you may not realize is that Helen made sure she was on the other side of these ladies as the traffic came towards them. That's right people... Helen used a couple of older ladies as human shields. She is all class, isn't she?
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