04 Jan 2012: SAIGON: SIGH, GONE #2 of 2

Vietnam has been a revelation. I expected a hard-working spiritual Asian country with a lot of history,  ancient and recent. I expected the cone hats, badly polluted water/air, and some bizarre food. All of that is here, and more. What I didn't expect was beautiful beaches, a lot of Russians, and Da Lat, a "hill town" more like Shangri-La with extra flowers. All of that is here too, and more. As friendly as Bali, the street energy of Manhattan, but intriguing all the way down its thousand-mile north-to-south treasure map. 

We begin our journey home tomorrow, via Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Vancouver. Saigon has been like a going-away party with endless motorbike mazes, in-your-face street vendors, and a swirl of nationalities mingling as if this were the Cultural Olympics. (Officially as of 1975, this is Ho Chi Minh City. --- Sai Gon is technically only the central district. But it's still all Saigon to the locals and travelers --- even the airport code is SGN.) 

We changed hotels to get a cheaper room ($15) that had better wifi, lights, and service. But we stayed on Tham street, like Grand Central Station / Mardi Gras / Food Fairway all combined. It's been absolutely energizing and mesmerizing at the same time. Grab a spot on any corner and watch life happen, as thick as the milk in your sweet Vietnamese coffee. 

One of the favourite pastimes is to figure out the nationality of the people around you. Language is the obvious tipoff, but check the shoes, body type, eye colour, choice of drink, and size of backpack. We have been guessed as Germans, Australians, Swedes, maybe South Africans, but we were gratified when a local guessed "You are not from North America!" It's been a great trip but we're on our way to our humble home ----- where was that again??