Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City): January 18-19

It was pretty late when we finally got to Saigon. The roads were still crazy crowded, the neon lights were flashing, and every street has all kinds of power lines that look like this:

Vietnamese coffee brewing (delicious):

Soooo many people on mopeds allll the time:
In general, the streets and sidewalks were wide (sometimes dirtier than this though). The weather was gorgeous!:

Decorations for Tet (Vietnamese New Year) get a little crazy:

They can take up whole streets:

War Remnants Museum, serving to educate tourists about the American War:

Notre Dame cathedral:

Another street decorated for Tet:

The Opera House:

Pho for lunch at Pho 24 (a chain, but pretty tasty):

Avocado shakes are popular in Vietnam. They're strangely delicious:

More decorations for Tet. This one is a little creepy...


Beautiful old hotel in the French Quarter:


Danielle and me in a cab (yay it's warm!):

Jade Emperor Pagoda (so Chinese, even though it's in Vietnam):

SNAKE WINE. We didn't drink this particular wine, but it looked just like this. Not pretty like the picture in the guide book!

Ben Thanh market in Saigon. You can buy evvverything here:

This looks particularly delicious. We tried to go back and buy some on our second day in Saigon, but the market was closed for Tet. I smelled it though, and it smelled delicious and weasel-free:

And if you're on a diet...

Flavored rice on the street (the black one is sesame):

Ben and Jodi in the cab. Jodi has really light blonde hair, but she bought this awesome wig at the Ben Thanh market:

Mai Tai on the rooftop bar. Soooo tasty!


Saigon's name was officially changed to Ho Chi Minh City in 1976, but everyone there still calls it Saigon, so we just went with it.

TBC...