Asia Photo Trek

So I have been in Saigon for 3 days now and starting to get pretty comfortable moving around the city.  It has also taken me a little bit of time to get over the "jet lag".

Perhaps the most challenging part of getting around the city is crossing the streets, which I am sure others who have visited other Asian cities will be able to relate to.

From what I can tell the city absolutely loves mopeds, as they are everywhere and used for pretty much everything.  Unlike North America, or many other countries, the traffic does stop long enough to really allow people on foot to cross the street.

So, you have to do like the locals and simply start crossing the street....mopeds and bicycles will just naturally flow around you as long as you do not make any sudden stops or move too quickly.

Cars on the other hand need to be given a little (lot) more respect, as they can hurt when they hit you :-) .

When it comes to transporting goods the mopeds in Saigon are king, closely followed by bicycles.  I have seen mopeds with entire families (5 people) riding on them, mopeds hauling cases of beer, livestock, building materials and way too much weight.  The same thing goes for bicycles...I have seen them hauling some interesting stuff.

For instance in the photo on the left, can you spot the person that is actually riding the bike?  No?  I am not surprised, as all I saw were the balloons.


The many images of mopeds I seen so far have inspired me to create/dedicate photo gallery to the power of modern moped transportation....it should be interesting and available shortly after I return from my trip.

The city of Saigon is a buzz of activity right now, as everybody prepares of the upcoming New Year celebrations.  Everywhere you look there are people putting up decorations, setting up lots of lights and preparing the streets for a very big party.  As each day passes, and 14 Feb (New Years day) draws near, the city gets a little busier.  I cannot imagine what it will be like on the actual New Years day.  I guess I will get a taste of the excitement during my visit to Phuket (13-19 Feb).

As expected, I am plan to get as many photos of the decorations in this city, as well as the other cities I visit in this trip, and include a special subset in a gallery for all to view at the conclusion of my journey.  Hopefully you will return to read this blog and check out the photo galleries that get created.

Day 3 in Saigon and I decided to go on a road trip to Cu Chi, which is basically park/site dedicated to the Vietnamese freedom fighters and their heroes from the Vietnam war.  The historical significance of the site and the amazing story behind the tunnels built/maintained by the freedom fighters was very impressive.  However,
the 90 minute drive from Saigon, and back again, were not so impressive.  Regardless, I believe the experience was worth the trip and something that others should add to the itinerary when visiting Vietnam.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me was that Cu Chi did not afford me much opportunity to get a lot of photos that I can include in my gallery of images from the trip.

I am going to wrap up this blog with a few details on the food.  I can say without a doubt the food is some of the best that I have experienced in my many travels.  There are way too many places to eat and, I am guessing that the odds of picking a bad place to eat is pretty low.  To date I have been batting 100% and have enjoyed all the small restaurants that I have walked into.  However, the restaurants that I have come to prefer are all Vietnamese (no surprise).  Halal@saigon for example serves incredible dishes at amazing prices.  The total cost of my meal being under $5.00 Canadian.

I have a few more days in Saigon, and hopefully a few more great restaurant names to share with the readers.

Asia Photo Trek

Day 1 of the photo trek starts in Burnaby, BC with me jumping on the Skytrain and heading to the airport. Unfortunately this is a two part train ride, Skytrain to Waterfront Station and then the new Canada Line out to the airport. Total travel time for the trip was only 1 hr and cost $3.75 (2 zones). Except for the challenges associated with luggage the trip was pretty much uneventful, and the new Canada Line very impressive. Thanks Ron for taking my photo at Waterfront Station.

My arrival at the airport brought the first excitement for the trip. Although I am usually very good with math it would seem telling time is an issue, as I really messed up the time that I needed to be at the airport and instead of being 2 hrs before the flight only arrived 51 minutes before departure. Yikes, I am outside of the 60 minute minimum and was at risk of not being permitted to board. I must have looked desperate, as the Air Canada quickly spoke to her supervisor and obtained approval for me to board......THANK YOU SO MUCH....I wish that I had taken note of your name.

With 46 minutes remaining I did a mad dash to/through security and then right onto the plane. Thankfully there was no line at security.

I am hoping today is not an indication of how things will be for the rest of the trip. As I would prefer my excitement to be about the great sights that I will see versus missing flights, trains, etc.

The first leg of the flight was uneventful, thankfully, and ended with me landing in Shanghai China.  The unfortunate thing about having to make a connection in China, at least for this trip, requires picking up your luggage, clearing customs, checking in at the counter (again), and then going back through customs.  Which probably would not have been that bad had I not been told that my luggage was checked through to my final destination by the Air Canada staff in Vancouver.  So after a little running around I managed to find my luggage, check in, and make it to my gate....only to realize that I had 5 hours to wait.  Thankfully I qualified to use the Star Alliance lounge at the airport, and a fine looking airport it is if I must say so myself.

After a nice rest in Shanghai I boarded the flight for Ho Chi Minh city (only an hour late).  The connecting flight was operated by Shanghai Airlines, and I must say that I was a little concerned with boarding the plane as it was a little rough.  Sorry, no pictures, or should I say that you are welcome.

Although I was about 90 minutes arriving in Ho Chi Minh the hotel driver was still there waiting for me to arrive.  Note that anybody visiting Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) for the first time should definitely pre-arrange for a taxi to pick then up at the airport, as I cannot imagine driving in the city.

My first day in Ho Chi Minh was spent checking out the city, capturing a few photos of the architecture, enjoying some great Vietnamese coffee and relaxing.  The first photo I captured was of the the city hall (better photo, without me, to be posted as part of the gallery being produced for the trip (at the end).  For now you have to be happy with a few photos that also include me.

In my first day I spotted several opportunities to capture some interesting photos (e.g. lot of mopeds and the things people carry, architecture, people, Chinese New Year celebrations preparations, etc).  Now I just need to get out to capture the images when the light is good (these images will also appear in the gallery that will be produced at the end of my visit.)