Touring Saigon


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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City
November 1st 2006
Published: November 1st 2006
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Iguana (sp)Iguana (sp)Iguana (sp)

Saigon Zoo
Today I was up with the sun at 6am to trek into the heart of Saigon.

I was forced to stay close to my digs yesterday, well within striking distance of my bathroom. The dreaded viet cong revenge hit like a tsunami yesterday morning and i was not want to venture too far from security if you know what I mean.

I am not sick nor do I feel any worse for wear so thats a blessing. Am starting to feel better after two soft ice cream cones. The stomach is fine, its the lower half that gurgles and rumbles like a volcano.

So off to tackle the bus system of Saigon , yahooooooo.

12 cents buys you a ride on an air conditioned bus , the trick is finding out which bus you need to take to get where you want to go. People are most helpful if you have a map, otherwise just jump on board and let the bus take you where ever it goes and jump off when you see somthing interesting to explore. You cant beat 12 cents, cool, relatively unpolluted air and the security of a huge bus protecting you from
Chinese TempleChinese TempleChinese Temple

Temple on Zoo grounds
the thousands of motorbikes rampaging through the streets of Saigon. Pedestrians have no rights remember, might has right and the lonely man on legs is simply target practice for these guys on two wheels.

I jumped off about 1 km west of my destination and walked the remaining distance hoping to see something of interest before i got to the Saigon Zoo , The Botanical Gardens and History Museum which were all contained in a one block area of each other.

The Zoo was sparsely populated with tourists or even locals and it was easy to discover why. On a scale of 1 to 5 the zoo in Saigon would rate as a 1 at most. The plus side ? It had 4 bathrooms within easy walking distance in case I got caught out, hahaha. There were a few nice specimens but by far and away the attraction of the zoo was the Botanical Gardens that are incorporated into the Zoo.

The Gardens were first established by the French way back in 1864 and many of the existing trees are well over 100 years old. A fine collection of trees, shrubs and Japanese Bonsai plants can be
ButterflyButterflyButterfly

took me ages to get this thing to stay putin one spot
seen as you walk amongst the animals.

The History Museum was interesting, but small, poorly lite, and considering how old Vietnam is it doesnt have alot of artifacts. It seems the History of Vietnam centres around invaders trying to take vietnam over and the locals trying to keep them out.

I was sitting outside the History Museum contemplating some flowers and inhaling a can of pepsi to cool myself down when this westerner sat down beside me. I opened a conversation with him and found out he was a journalist from Israel. He is on assignment in Saigon and Asia for an Israeli newspaper. Many of you know I have spent considerable time in Israel so we ended up having a very interesting chat about present day Israel and Asia. Its experiences like this that make my journey interesting and always exciting.

I am now walking west into the entertainment district of Saigon and popped into this internet cafe to submit my entry for the day and hopefully upload some pics for you all. But alas, again I cant upload at this cafe, they are only using W2K operating system and my camera requires Win XP. Sorry
Elephant courtshipElephant courtshipElephant courtship

I caught these two making out (kissing)
gang.

Off to the War Museum now........


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Feeding frenzieFeeding frenzie
Feeding frenzie

Alligators doing what they do best
Vietnamese StudentsVietnamese Students
Vietnamese Students

Waiting to cross street and always ready to smile for camera
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My Digs

Guess which window is mine
Ice ShaverIce Shaver
Ice Shaver

Shaving ice the vietnamese way


1st November 2006

jealous as hell
Hey will , Your adventures sound fantastic , i'm reading this at work atm. I wish I could escape out of here and join in on the fun!. Stay Safe Kate
14th March 2007

May I publish your story in my web site?
Please call me 081/848-4767

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