Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was the last stop on my southeast Asian adventure. It is a HUGE city that makes Hanoi look small by compare. There is a lot to do in terms of shopping and nightlife, and I only had time to barely sample it.

We ate lunch at Pho 2000, Bill Clinton's favorite restaurant when he is in town, and we shopped the Ben Thanh market. Bargains galore! Then, it was time for some sightseeing.

Here is a statue of Uncle Ho near a former French government building. The statue came after the French left.

We saw the old post office, still in operation. It has maps of Indochina under the French regime which have been preserved as murals.

No visit to Saigon is complete without a trip to the War Remnants Museum, formerly the War Crimes Museum. It is a rather disturbing place. Unfortunately, the balance in how the war is reported is not exactly evident. But humbling all the same.

I saw the Hotel Majestic, where my dad stayed when he covered the Vietnam/American War as a journalist.

The last day, we had our farewell dinner. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, especially our great guide Mr. Loc. There was also a confession at dinner regarding some hijinks with Nigel's camera. Who would have thought...

All in all, Vietnam and my trip were amazing. I'm at home now after a fairly eventful 30+ hour journey, which included an elderly Chinese man dropping his pants on a flight after some confustion over a seat belt, and a Filipino woman undergoing a panic attack and having to be restrained by 6 flight attendants. Air travel is very overrated :).