Ho Chi Minh City

Vendors taking their things from the market after it had closed

After living in Shanghai for three years, and having visited three other Asian capital cities, (HCMC is not the capital of Vietnam, but is the largest city) I was not expecting to be impressed with the city sometimes still referred to as Saigon. Thankfully my expectations were proven false and I ended up having quite a good time while learning a bit of history as well.

View outside our hotel window

HCM is a bustling city, just not on the same level as Tokyo or Shanghai, and not nearly as seedy as Manila or Kuala Lumpur. I saw no businessmen/women shuffling to and fro, or prostitutes asking me if I wanted "massages," or offering me Viagra. Most importantly the people seemed happy. I saw smiling faces everywhere I went and people who seemed to be enjoying life.

The King of Pop immortalized in blinds outside a cafe in HCMC

There were motorbikes, and they were EVERYWHERE! At first Zoe and I were quite scared to even cross the street, but we quickly got over it. Pretty soon we had fallen in with everyone else and did the dance of zigging and zagging while crossing the street to avoid being hit. It was good practice for Hanoi, which I've heard is even worse.