Bangkok Airport

The Bangkok airport was amazing.  There were 800 meters or 5/8 of a mile of duty free shops and restaurants.  There were all the high end shops we all expect to see in duty free.  All of the major Asian cusines were represented in the restaurants.  Everything was well kept and very clean. 

This image was taken from my table in a restaurant where I was having duck soup.  I was struck by the curious combination of high end acoutrement and fast food.

This island is a sushi bar.

I couldn't resist piggybacking on this posing.

Here is another juxtapositon of culture and haute retail.

Finally I have window shopped enough and stretch out for a nap.

A Final Thought

I looked it up on Wikepedia.  According to the numbers listed there, over 2,000,000 people were killed or missing in action in the struggle to keep the Communists out of South VietNam.  Both these images were taken in Saigon.  The image on the left is clear evidence that our sacrifice did not keep communism out of South VietNam.  The image on the right tells another story.  Taken at the Saigon Zoo on a Sunday afternoon it could be evidence of something we left behind.  Probablly not as a result of our military might and prowess.  Definitely not becasue we prevailed in that conflict in the classic sense.  More than likely what we left behind was a result of the one-on-one interactions that took place;  the associations and friendships that developed and the effect of a warm and caring western persona that surfaced in spite of all the strife that took place.  Was it worth the lives?  That question will hang in history for a long time.

Another thing, she is wearing that dress and apparently she is free to do so.  The communist party is the majority party in a number of states here in India.  In today's world, communism seems to have turned out in many places to be just another view of the world; not necessarily an inherent evil.  One could argue that China contradicts this notion.  It does, but I think the oppression there is more about their approach to government than a communisht ideology in its purest form.

Saigon Markets

When I travel I don't see everything.  I decide on a limited number of things in a place.  On this trip to Viet Nam I was interested in the food, the people watching and the markets.  Here are some images from a couple of the markets I visited.

I have visited the markets in Mexico and the markets here in India.  We have summertime markets in Kansas as well.  I like them all.  The Markets in Saigon were some of the best I have visited.  There I saw the largest selection of things in the smallest space.  Mexico runs a close second for variety but these markets definitely take that prize.  I saw wonderful lacquer ware pieces, bolts of silk, dishes, jewely, watches, and on and on.  Shown below is one of Saigons largest and most popular markets.

This lady met me as I got out of Hoi's bike rick. She was selling something.  I was so taken by her face I don't even remember what she was selling.  She is shown here as she was presenting her wares to me.

On the left a European woman is bargaining for a watch.  I bought a fake Rolex from this guy for $12.50.  I don't know how this lady came out.  These guys sell knock offs of all the big brands.  The knock offs have quartz movements which the Swiss poopooed in the beginning and now do their best to keep the prices up.  The reality is those quartz movements are reliable and cheap.  My $12.00 Rolex from Mexico has kept perfect time for three years now.

I was amazed at what is shown in these next images.  These market aisles were narrow.  Very narrow; and folks rode motor scooters up and down them.  Nobody hurt.  Just not what I would expect to see.

I included a close-up of this gal because it shows something my new friend Chris pointed out.  Folks in Saigon do not like the sun.  They cover up.  Long sleeves, gloves and face maskes.  All this in hot and humid conditions. 

More motor scooters in the aisles and scooter acoutrement.

More market scenes.  I just liked the way the one on the left turned out.  There is no particular story to go with it.  The image on the left is a coffee stall.  Now notice the moniker "weasel coffee".  I think I may have discussed this before but weasel coffee in Indochina is very special.  The beans are gathered from the jungle floor where they have been deposited by the marmots who ate them.  Apparently the enzymes in those little critters have a profound effect on the taste of the coffee.  I am quite sure this coffee was not "weasel" coffee in the strictest sense.  I think it was probablly the bean that is consumed by the animal or maybe just beans from that region but definitely not the "re-processed" bean.  I am sure of this because of the price.  It wasn't nearly expensive enought to be authentic.  Anyway I bought some, brought it home and tried it.  It was OK but not nearly as good as some premium blend I bought at another coffee shop in Saigon.

More shoppers.  I took this image to try to show one more time how confined the spaces were.  Definitely not "WalMart" aisles.

I don't know what this is.  I have no idea.  My guess it is expensive and religious in nature.

Tell me.  What do you see in these faces?  It was early in the day.  These ladies were sitting around in their market stalls waiting for the day to gain momentum.  They resisted my camera.  Their resistance was coy in a wholesome way.  Genuinely humble yet very friendly.  The memory I will take from my time in Saigon is how friendly and warm all the folks were.  To me these ladies are communicating that in their coy and bashful dance with my camera.  That memory will draw me back there.

The Streets of Saigon

I just can't get used to "Ho Chi Minh City".  I'm not the only one.  I heard the "Saigon" reference a lot.  The traffic in Saigon wasn't nearly as hectic as the traffic here in Bangalore.  The photo below shows my conveyance of choice, Hoi the economist, social scientist cum bike rick driver.  I have introduced Hoi an earlier post.  He was a likeable guy in spite of his high prices.

This is the view from the bike rick as Hoi makes a left turn into traffic.

Scooters or two-wheelers are a common conveyance in the Asian cities I have visited.  Must be mostly an economy thing coupled with how easily they navigate the congestion.  People push them far behond the bounds of anything the original designers ever imagined.  Here are some images from Saigon traffic.

I am also amazed at how kids are taken on these scooters.  I suppose at some point they are used to it but I see children on scooters riding in ways that could never happen in the west.  In the image below I like the contrast offered by the Nike swish on this little guy's hat.

The family that rides together......well something like that.

I love the expression on this guy's face and I have no idea what is prompting it.

Scooter as light hauler.  In the west we would do this with a Ford F-150.

Here are some images of Saigon at night.  It was hot and humid.  People tended to come out at night.  Good idea.

 

This was taken from the top of the Sheridan hotel.  It's a five star hotel in the heart of Saigon.  Randy Rose's son Chris lives and teaches in Saigon.  He and his girlfriend, Trinh, took me to a bar atop the hotel.  The band playing was from Cuba or at least some of them were.  Very hip place.  Good slice of upper middle class Saigon night life.

Can you spot the Cubans?

Theorem:  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Corollary 1: A pretty girl is always worth a picture.

We are all in a hurry.  I suppose it could be considered an artifact of our Anthropocene era. Whatever the theory I like some aspects of the Asian style as they go about this frenzy.  They always seem to make time, even if it is only an instant, to stop and eat or drink something.  This gives rise to all manner of street-side offerings.  Here are a few examples.

I was fascinated by this.  I don't know if these are phone wires or internet wires.  I am pretty sure they are not power although there might be some power lines in there somewhere.  If they are phone lines it makes a strong case for the sign in background.

Yes, we lost the war.  Here are some signs of that.

This is the Saigon river.  It flows into the sea not far from here.  It did not look inviting.

This will be the tallest building in Viet Nam when it is completed.  The work goes on 24/7.  Personally I would volunteer for the night shift.

The Saigon Zoo

I visited the Saigon zoo.  It was a good place to get some images of families on a Sunday afternoon.  Someone told me that it used to be a botanical gardens.  I think it was probablly a better garden than it is a zoo.  As a zoo it is pretty conventional and seems to be somewhat outdated.  The families that were there seem oblivious to that detail and were all enjoying themselves.

Here are some images of families.  I had a long lens mounted so I could get some detail from a distance.  It turns out I was able to piggy back on a lot of posing that went on.  The first image shows some families arriving on their scooters.

This image was taken from a distance she was blowing bubbles into a picture being posed.

Pretty old fashioned animal exhibits.  This tiger paced up and down in front of the barrier for a while then went back and sat in the shade with the other tiger in the exhibit.

These guys were working on an exhibit or maybe it was an audition for Discovery channel's "Dirty Jobs".  I never did figure out if that piece of equipment was stuck there or if that was on purpose.