Prior to leaving home, Tom had booked a
half-day photo tour with Mark Stennett, an Australian photographer living
here. Mark, along with three motorcycles
and three drivers, picked us up at 7:30, gave us a few safety and security tips
along with our helmets, and we were off!
Being on the bike gave us a different perspective on the traffic mayhem
than we'd had as pedestrians; now, we were on the offense! Actually, our drivers were very skillful and
we pretty quickly learned that being in an intersection full of what seemed
like vehicles hurtling toward us was perfectly survivable!
Our first stop was in a cafe in a park,
where Mark questioned Tom about his photography preferences and interests and
offered advice about techniques and approaches that would be useful for today's
street photography, using the scene around us to illustrate his points.
And, what an interesting scene it
was. We likened it to a dog park back
home, but here, men gathered around low tables and chatted over coffee and the
pet birds each had brought! They
arrived, carrying lovely covered wooden cages, which they unveiled and set on
their tables, on the ground, or hung from special metal racks. It was absolutely fascinating, but also
notable that no women seemed to have the time for such (in)activity!
There were other things to see and
photograph in the lovely park: ponds, a temple, people exercising.
One beautiful young woman was practicing what
I can only describe as back-kick badminton; Tom describes it as hacky sack, but
she only used a back kick. Her partner
pitched a shuttlecock to her, which she returned by kicking her foot back, all
the while holding her arms in a graceful circle above her head; she rarely
missed sending the shuttlecock back THROUGH HER ARMS!
Then, it was back on the bikes, headed
for District 4, across the river. There,
we rode through ever narrower streets into neighborhoods that are well off the
tourist trail. We drove for blocks
through a narrower market than we could have imagined; the "lane"
between facing vendors was barely wide enough for the bikes, let alone the
local shoppers and young children darting back and forth. Despite the close quarters, everything from
fish, fruit, vegetables, and meat to clothes and housewares spilled out onto
the street. In District 7, we got off
the bikes and walked around a market that had slightly wider aisles and a
possibly even greater array of goods -- just how many varieties of rice did you
think there were?!? Following Mark's lead,
Tom really got into engaging the locals.
Far from being remote, they smiled easily, laughed heartily, and
willingly agreed to/begged to be photographed; the camera fostered some real,
if momentary, connections.
We re-crossed the river, back to
District 1, where the main tourist sights and hotels are, and returned to the
Emperor Jade Pagoda, which we'd visited yesterday. Tom was interested in some tips that Mark had
had about shooting there and wanted to give it a try. The smell of incense and the smoke in the air
were so atmospheric and, again, it was so interesting to watch the worshipers
light candles, pour oil into lamps, make other offerings, and perform
ritualistic movements.
We bid farewell to Mark in the
courtyard of the pagoda and our drivers
returned us to the hotel. We'd had a
great morning and especially appreciated being able to visit some generally
unseen areas of Saigon. Motorbikes are
the only way to go and, their natural air conditioning is terrific!
After lunch, we wandered through Saigon
Square, an air conditioned market jammed with clothing and accessories of every
variety and label you might find in US stores.
Most of the shoppers appeared to be locals. After one more trip to the not air conditioned Ben
Thanh Market, we walked that neighborhood a bit and headed back to cool off.
Dinner
was at a restaurant that Mark recommended and walked from there to see the illuminated
People’s Committee Hall, one of the French colonial gems on our way back to the
hotel
_____________
Seen in Saigon:
* Traffic lights,
spotted infrequently, and occasionally observed. Where they do exist, there is either a
pedestrian signal, or a vehicular one.
Neither can be viewed by the other. Many of the lights have countdown clocks so the motorbike and car drivers can get started a few seconds before or rush through a few seconds after the light changes.
* Many curbs are
slanted, not for wheelchair access, but so motorbikes can get onto the
sidewalks, to park or ride!
* Businesses, too, may
have a ramp at their entry, as employees park their motorbikes INSIDE; even the
bank across the street from our hotel had several bikes parked indoors.
* It's not uncommon to
see hens or roosters on the sidewalks, and not only in market in the central city. They may or may not be penned.
* In this great heat
and humidity, we were amazed to see people walking around in sweatshirts and
hoodies!
* We've noticed
40-something year olds whose facial features, size and dark complexions
indicate that they are likely the offspring of war-era Afro-American soldiers.
* The vestiges of
French colonialism are obvious in many large and lovely parks and beautiful
architecture.
* Unlike Hanoi, several
American franchise restaurants are represented here, but not in great
numbers. We saw only two Starbucks, but
many Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf locations.
KFC, Burger King and Domino's are represented, but no McDonald's!
* Despite the insane
traffic both here and in Hanoi, there does not seem to be any road rage. Horns are typically used for signaling that you are there, not to remark on the stupid move someone just made. We'd heard that the Vietnamese were a patient
people; that seems to be the case.
* Did we mention the
heat and humidity?!?
