Mr. Saigon

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

April 22 – 24, 2008

Ho ho ho! Portrait of Ho Chi Minh at Saigon Central Post Office

I know it’s called Ho Chi Minh City now, but just like the locals, I still call it Saigon. It’s shorter and rolls off the mouth more easily. It helps that it’s one syllable less and without that extra consonant no one knows how to pronounce. Surely, the musical Miss Saigon, with its stereotyped scantily-clad singing showgirls, further cemented its recall quality. But in another sense, Uncle Ho does embody this culturally eclectic city. I recently found out that Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese statesman this city was named after, had lived around the world. And many of the places he lived in have left their imprint on Ho Chi Minh, the city.

Me(kong), My (Tho), and I

My Tho, Vietnam

April 23, 2008

There are rivers and there are RIVERS! The puny Pasig in the Philippines belongs to the former, the massive Mekong to the all-caps latter.

As in any delta, the river splinters into many branches before it spills its contents to the sea. The Mekong River delta has 9 such branches, hence the area is called the Nine Dragon Delta in Vietnamese. The silt-laden waters are actually melted snow from the Tibetan Himalayas. The murk is composed of organic remnants of the countries the river cuts through: China (Tibet and Yunnan), Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and finally, Vietnam.

Mekong and Me

Saigon Street Scenes

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

April 22-24, 2008

Hell's Angel, Siagon Style

Every tourist should get out of the insulated confines of their tourist buses and walk the streets. It is on street level that a foreigner can feel the hustle and bustle, the soul and pulse of a city, amidst the chaos and its attendant dangers. These are some of the images I have captured with my Leica lens on the streets of Saigon.

Into Indochina

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

April 22, 2008

It was my first trip overseas in five years. I had always loved to travel, but financial constraints kept me off the road. This time, I finally decided not to let my poverty get in the way of my dreams. I convinced some colleagues to pool our meager resources and planned for a DIY trip. I was like a (travel) virgin all over again, overwhelmed by that strange combination of anticipation, anxiety, and awkwardness. In other words, the trip felt like a milestone, a turning of a page in my life. Indochina was a no-brainer choice of destination because of its proximity to the Philippines and we could do three countries all in one go, but mostly because it is serviced by a local budget airline. Beggars can’t be choosers, but who said they can’t be travelers? And so I went over the borderline, if you will.

 

A journey begins by looking out of the window. Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica from Saigon Central Post Office.