Sam and I are back in the States and getting settled in Los Angeles, so I suppose now is as good a time as any to get back to sorting through photos from the Asia trip. I’m going to start making these more brief, or else I’ll never finish. Today: Saigon.

After leaving Hoi An, we made our way down to Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City; the two names are more-or-less interchangeable). Our initial impressions of the city were very good. Saigon feels a lot like NYC in size, scale, and energy. Our guesthouse was in a great location – just far enough from backpacker central to not be obnoxious, and just off a street with a market in the morning and wonderful street food in the evenings.

We had some great times in Saigon. We picked well in terms of tourist attractions – the Lunch Lady’s food deserves its reputation, and the War Museum had an incredible, devastating photography exhibit. We even found craft beer (thanks, Pasteur Street). The biggest problem with Saigon is the size. Unlike Hanoi, where so much is so concentrated, Saigon is spread out. Without motorbikes it was tough to get around, and even though we spent a week in the city we saw a tiny part of it.