Guttentag Saigon

I said goodbye to Hue and on to Ho Chi Minh. Throughout my trip it has been very curious to me that half of the people refer to HCM as Saigon. Both seem to be ok as long as you are not talking to a government official. The younger people tend to say HCM which makes a lot of sense.

At the airport I overheard that first class was full. When I boarded the plain I was stunned to find first class to be full of nuns. It was an interesting picture to be sure.

On arrival I was immediately exposed to traffic at it's rush hour best. I have decided that of the 10000 scooter deaths 9987 of them likely happen in Saigon.

For dinner I went to a restaurant that serves street food in an upscale price 2-5 dollars an entree. On my walk there I noticed oktoberfest signs, multiple beer gardens, ads promising 4 days of halloween blow out bashes, and lots of vietnamese girls standing in front of bars in a variety of costumes. At dinner I was seated with a very pleasant couple who turned out to be German and they told me that 90% of the tourism in Vietnam is German (followed by "it's atrocious").

Pics: my complementary fruit, hue noodle soup (distinctly different from pho and other noodle soups, checking out the bell at a pagoda, the perfume river from my hotel.