Kim and Kevin in Viet Nam, Part Four

This is the last of our pages of pictures of our travels in Viet Nam, including a couple of glorious days in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, and two nights in less tantalizing Seoul, South Korea. This is my first experience with a photo blog, so forgive the errors and the large web pages.

Friday, August 19, 2005

PART FOUR (FINAL) OF VIET NAM PHOTO BLOG
To reach Part One, click www.kimallen.blogspot.com.
For Part Two, www.kimallen2.blogspot.com.
For Three, www.kimallen3.blogspot.com.


THE SOUTH


Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City


Street vendor


Manicures for the masses


Kevin and I were outfitted with several pairs of new eyeglasses while in Saigon


A Kodak moment


Banh Mi -- bread, in the French style, available only in the morning. Most Vietnamese people have soup for breakfast. We have to admit that in Ho Chi Minh...we had peanut butter


Cafe owner and her cute kid

Excursion to Cholon
Once a separate city from Saigon, Cholon today is a vibrant commercial community. Historically Chinese, its inhabitants continue to exude a distinct culture.



Hats in Cholon


Interior of Cholon Market


Cholon resident. We didn't see very many "pets" in Viet Nam


A shop in Cholon


Sausages


Typical delivery load


Poultry baskets


Ice cubes


Coconuts


Market food stalls


Cholon mushrooms


Cholon street


White rice...we know a lot about it now


Cholon was a cornucopia of sounds and images


Grain market workers


One of our more fortuitous adventures. We were quite the spectacle


Avocado smoothie


One of the more delightful hours in Saigon


Naptime in the Cholon Market


Observations in the market


Chinese children of Cholon


Catholic church in Cholon


The Saigon Racetrack


A girl at the track


A boy at the track


The horses and jockeys show off...and yes, they are children


Sizing up the horses


Gamblers


More gamblers


Preparing for a race


Leading the horses out to the track


A young jockey in action (and a very small horse)


The race


Trying to record the sound of galloping horses. Here is the only time I shot with the Super 8


Race track girl

Last Day in Ho Chi Minh City


On the way...by this time, we had become adept at negotiating rides home on a Honda


Kevin looking very retro in his new glasses


Miss Loi's Guest House


Our favorite vegetarian Buddhist restaurant (we ate here three times in two days)


Last day in Ho Chi Minh


Miss Loi, proprietress of the guest house where we stayed in Saigon. Utterly charming, she only revealed her identity the last day...and ended up consenting to a deeply moving interview about her life. For reasons of security, her views are off the record, but she took great pleasure in hearing the playback of her own voice. She wept when the interview was over.


Monks from the Cao Dai Temple, who listened to our interview with Miss Loi and who were her close friends