in Saigon We were in Saigon at the beginning and the end of our trip.

View out of the lobby of Hotel Madame Cuc 127. We first blundered into an open market with meat, fish, fruits and veggies. We were constantly approached by men who wanted to taxi us somewhere... anywhere This is the in the Ben Thanh Market, a large indoor market. We were convinced by someone to try the Pho at this stand. Soup for breakfast! Saigon is the home of true insanity for scooter traffic. How easily their heads turn for a vintage Lambretta... Note the "no photo" sign in the upper right. Not sure, maybe a truck for some kind of Buddhist ceremony? If you look carefully, there's a guy carrying a KITCHEN SINK on a scooter! Scooter taxi. In Vietnamese: "Xe Om" which basically means "ride hugging". This is a cyclo (xich lo) which is the more traditional form of a cheap taxi. Chad appears to be having a blast. "Rider's" view. Note how nice people's posture is when they ride scooters. They park their rides very neatly in Saigon. Inside a pagoda. One of my favorite photos from Saigon. Waiting for the weasel-ass coffee to finish brewing... Uncle Ho, larger than life! 5 way intersection = insanity. View from a bar on "backpacker's alley", where most travellers seem to land up. This is Hanh, who works at Hotel 127. Note the Vietnamese drip coffee (ca phe). One of the nice girls at Hotel 127 took our photo. This was plate glass, raw cut, held with BARE HANDS. Wheel truing at your service. And I thought carrying a kitchen sink was crazy... Hmm, that's a strange sign... There's a little bit of the secret recipe in my noodle soop! We believe this is probably a Hindu temple. This game was like volleyball, but not. Not to be confused with candy... In the foreground: 1959 Lambretta. Neato. Rear view of the '59 Lambretta. They look really pretty, but do they run well? I'd get this one, because I was born in '69. Goodbye, Saigon.