Saigon and Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam – 2015
Upon arrival in Vietnam I felt a sense of deep relaxation and wonder despite having some brief setbacks actually entering the country. As I walked out of the airport people were everywhere; it was dirty, crowded and full of a frenetic energy. I felt the hot air cling to my arms in a comforting way, like a friend’s grandmother taking my arm as we enter her house, her leading me to a seat. Actually I felt more at home in Saigon than I did in Taipei even though I was living in Taipei.
The city seemed to have zero pretension, just people living life in a crowded and extremely polluted atmosphere. Most people ignored us, some smiled; a much smaller number tried to scam us. These pictures are mostly from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, if you’re a communist) and Cat Tien National Park.
I will probably write more later because it was such a great experience.
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- Late-night humid arrival in Ho Chi Minh City. Confused and chaotic…a great beginning.
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- Taxi from the airport to our hotel. Buddha was facing forward, clearing all negative energy from our journey-path so we could reach enlightenment and enjoy complimentary breakfast in our low-budget spirit shelter.
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- Some guys chilling outside their restaurant. They started laughing at me when they saw me taking their picture.
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- My trip was complete once I saw the first lady in the hat but…this was like getting two Yahtzees in a row.
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- We tried to get into Bar’s BAR but it turns out it is exclusively a bar for elephants. I know, right?…Originally it was Babar’s BAR but the leading two letters fell off and they haven’t bothered fixing it yet.
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- The woman center frame sells her sad look, three for 10,000 dong, complimentary piece of steamed corn included.
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- This lady tries to unload all her rambutans and mangoes but nobody wants any. In my opinion, if she was wearing the triangle hat she would have sold more.
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- Motorbikes everywhere, Saigon is the gas-powered Amsterdam of the east. Noisy, dangerous, bad for the environment…I guess in that sense it is nothing like the Netherlands.
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- Pipi got a banh mi from this woman sitting in the street. I think the woman asked me if I want one and I didn’t want one but I didn’t want to tell her no and then I became socially uncomfortable and said yes, please give me a sandwich. It was like $0.50 or something…whatever.
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- Vector art propaganda for the communist state. The lack of gradations in the color is subtle nod to the lack of mercy the state has for dissent.
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- Typical zombiesque walk through the city, lit courtesy of advertisers who want to sell you 1) beer, 2) cheap plastic chairs, or 3) a motorcycle, the three most common objects in Vietnam.
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- Extremely effeminate boy mannequin tries to get sassy with me as I see if the female mannequin above him has anatomically correct breasts that include nipples. The woman in the shop just looks at me like I’m weird…YOLO.
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- A glorious jungle break from other humans. I wish there were a jungle with no people but that had electricity, wifi and a coffee shop with cute baristas.
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- The hike to Crocodile Lake consisted of minimal elevation change through dirt and unorganized trees. I think most would categorize it as more of an “unpleasant walk” than a hike actually. However, I enjoyed the unpleasantness.
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- Away from the city, chilling with Ian and Pipi in a recently-burned field next to Crocodile Lake at Cat Tien.
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- Crocodile Lake in a haze of exhaustion and underwhelm-ment due to our lack of ability to freely explore the area we hiked all day to reach.
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- This Buddha faces backwards–he is more trustworthy of the taxi driver’s skills than the Buddha of our previous driver.
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- Unlicensed watermelon peddlers stack their goods in a pyramid-like shape. Multilevel-marketing schemes involving large fruits became common in southern Vietnam after communism prevailed. As a trained journalist I was ethically unable to sample the ripe fruit I documented.
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- A sleepy probably upper-middle class neighborhood in Saigon.
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- I flipped out when Is saw this lady–she was the first lady I saw in that type of traditional hat. At that point I felt my life was coming together (later it was confirmed that that feeling was incorrect).
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- Courteous developers spared this young palm tree’s life when pouring concrete. Their mercy will go unnoticed over the next 20 years as the tree’s trunk and roots expand, breaking apart the artisan-laid concrete sidewalk.
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- In Vietnamese the graffiti says “Welcome Brian, we’re glad you’re finally here. Our finest females are behind this dirty alley.” I never went back there because, to tell you the truth, I only went to Vietnam to see dragonflies, nature and triangle hats.
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- A little boy in plaid shorts comes to greet us and tell us there is ample electricity in Saigon due to all of the wires neatly-arranged over our heads.
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- I followed this lady and her bread antics for a while until we were in a small alley and motorcycles were honking nonstop despite the fact that no one could move. I found the honking part of their culture extremely superfluous.
