I rather like the Pham Ngu Lao section of Saigon, though. Sure, you have do deal with the occasional ladyboy prostitute riding alongside on you on a motorbike on the sidewalk trying to get you to purchase his/her ... services. (Not only is this is a true story, it's happened many times.) But on the whole it's cleaner and more low-key than, say, Khao San Road in Bangkok or Thamel in Kathmandu.
I've been to Saigon four times and I always stay at the same place. It's on an alley street just off the main intersection. You can see the THANH sign on the right side of the street in the middle of the photo.
Also note how many motorbikes are parked on this little side street. The family that owns the hotel always remembers me, although I wonder if I'm not just getting the fake Southeast Asian smile. Ah, well, the price is right. Although I could do without the stairs.
Virtually every hotel I've seen in Vietnam is what we would consider a rowhome back in Baltimore, a narrow property in a block of identical properties. In the hotel in Saigon where I stay I can touch both walls in the stairwell.
They always put me in the same room. While it's undeniably sweet that they remember the exact room I stayed in, almost three months later, I haven't figured out a way to politely tell them (and allow them to "save face") that I would really rather not be on the top floor.
This is the view looking down the stairwell from my room.
Every time I return it's like doing the Everest Base Camp hike again! The ropes are a pully system they use to raise and lower linen, cleaning supplies, etc.
Just around the corner is an intersection of two major thoroughfares. Note how the traffic is moving in all four directions simultaneously. Also note the the name of the building in the background.
And I was worried about being an American in this part of the world...
One of the hardest things about traveling in this part of the world is dealing with children who are either selling or begging. There are women who walk around with baskets of household items like nail clippers, facial tissues, and so on in one arm, with an infant in the other. It's hard to say no to them.
It's even harder to say no when there is no mother, only a child of five or six with the basket of goods for sale.
Of course the scam here is obvious: No one buys anything. They just give money to the child. It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If you don't give the child money she gets in trouble. If you give her money it encourages her parents to continue making her beg.
My admittedly hopeless method to save footing on the slippery moral slope is to give the children money if they will let me take their picture. You have to be one hardhearted bastard to say no to this face.
One of the typically Vietnamese experiences is to sit at one of the impromptu bar/restaurants that pop up on the sidewalks at night. Some offer food but some just offer "fresh beer" or bia hoi, draft beer. It tastes almost as good as dirty dishwater but it's 5,000 dong per glass, which means you can have four beers and get change back for a dollar.
Usually the stools are about eight inches high with a surface area about the size of a paperback book. (I am not exaggerating to make a point!) This particular stall serves a full menu of surprisingly good food and has actual chairs.
Notice that the chairs are actually two chairs tied together. Apparently chairs here aren't built to withstand fat tourist butts. The table here is quite high for a bia hoi stand. The cart to the right has snails and clams for sale in the bowls, and dried squid hanging from the top.
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