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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2023 2:36:49 GMT
Ahhh. Thanks for the answer. I hesitated to ask, as a longed-for trip has so many personal overtones. And as I think all of us know by now, much of the romantic uniqueness of various places is being eclipsed by the modern world.
Regardless, your pictures are great & appear to capture the essence of the place. As to that last video ~ that was 38 seconds of me saying "ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit".
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2023 4:20:23 GMT
I definitely want to return to Vietnam before long, just not Saigon. And I would hope to go before tourism picks up, because it is still lagging all through Southeast Asia. Armed with my trusty new map, the next morning I headed for a specific destination. And I knew now that I needed to walk along the Expressway of Death (Dien Bien Phu) rather than crossing it as I did before. (If you wonder how I crossed it, there were actually a roundabout and traffic signals right at the end of my street, which is what made it seem like the logical thing to do on that first morning.)
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2023 6:03:17 GMT
On top of that, photography indoors is now forbidden. Therefore, please take a look at my old report showing the marvels inside the temple: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/3384/vietnam-emperor-pagoda-saigon-kerouac2I just sat in the shade outdoors to watch the goings on. I was quite surprised to see just as many young people bowing and praying as the elderly. Then again, people who visit temples often have religious proclivities. As for me, I inspected the neighbours' laundry hanging out to dry. This looked like the contents of an entire shop. A bit later, I settled into a tourist dive a Pham Ngu Lao to hydrate. The conversation of this Australian drunk with a German drunk provided mild entertainment. Pham Ngu Lao used to be a backpacker area with an interesting alternative vibe. Now it is just a cheap hotel and bar zone. I took a taxi "home" just as the bottom dropped out of the sky. It's easier to water the plants this way. (My place was full of plastic plants!) Just for the record, here was my local superette which had everything I needed. And the cashier spoke "cash register English."
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2023 15:27:19 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 28, 2023 15:36:44 GMT
Another day, another trip into town... The little slot of my alley was my best protection from the noise of the main street, which was often intense. I followed the same path again, now that I knew it was the most direct way to the centre. Was this a rocket ship? Since the path took me directly past the Jade temple, I went there again. Would it be as unbearable as on the previous day? Not at all... just never go there on a Sunday. lots of nice orchids in the courtyard I checked the laundry again. Warning! The music played constantly at the temple caused an earworm, which continues to plague me a week later.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 28, 2023 15:49:30 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 28, 2023 20:14:32 GMT
An excellent report Kerouac...are those adeniums in post #45 ? Theyre amazing Not a place I'm likely to visit, but interesting...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 29, 2023 12:05:51 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 29, 2023 15:31:54 GMT
This is the skylight of the metro hub at Ben Thanh and will be the centre of all six metro lines. It has a lotus shaped glass ceiling. Line 1 is fully built but not open yet. Why? It is because of insufficient emergency exits at Ben Thanh. How could this happen? It's because there are two skyscrapers (about 60 storeys) under construction just across the square... and construction has stopped, as often happens in this part of the world. And the missing emergency exits are supposed to be in these buildings. The government is furious and is looking for a way to create temporary emergency exits until the buildings are completed. The last estimation was for the metro to finally open in 2024, but the government absolutely wants an inauguration before the end of 2023, especially since the original date was 2021. As for the other lines, it looks like it won't be before 2030.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 29, 2023 15:39:12 GMT
Not to be insulting about the very first part of the report, but this section really shows why you wanted to visit Saigon. It's great getting to see life away from the insane traffic and the high-rise buildings. I love the "back into the hustle and bustle" photo.
Since I'm answering before Mick: Yes, Cheery, those are Adenium obesum. And Kerouac, those roots do that naturally. Mick convinced me to expose the roots on one I have. It's not as old & big yet as the specimens you show, but the roots are equally "tortured".
Those "decorations to celebrate the new metro system" look pretty big & solid. Do you suppose they're meant to remain as markers for metro entrances?
Waiting to see what you ate while there -- or did the heat keep you from wanting to eat?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 29, 2023 18:45:08 GMT
On my last trip to Vietnam, the only American fast food chain that had arrived was KFC. They're all here now. I visited this electronics store looking for a USB multiport since mine was not working anymore. I need one for my tiny computer when I am posting while travelling. While this store had equipment for less than a million dong unlike the first store I had visited, I still had a psychological block at the idea of spending about 850,000. That's only about 20 euros but it seemed enormous. I will probably regret not having bought it when I finally return to my normal store in Paris and discover that it is far more expensive.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 30, 2023 16:46:24 GMT
Have any of you had just a "decent stay" during your travels? I took this photo just because I stayed at this address two or three times when it was called the Mai Phai Hotel. The daughter of one of my colleagues stayed there too upon my recommendation when she was exploring Asia on her own. We both had the same mild complaint about the hotel. "That woman at the reception who insists on improving her French gets really tiring after awhile."
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 1, 2023 13:23:58 GMT
out on the street again the next day As already mentioned, no thought is ever given to the idea that people might want to walk here. safer to retreat back to my alley even safer to just perch on my balcony and listen to all of the amazing sounds of the city The sign on this hotel blinked on and off all night. It is engraved in my brain forever. And that's about it. The next day at the airport, I stared at the brewing clouds and the storm itself was incredible.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 1, 2023 14:29:53 GMT
This was a great report showing so much more than standard tourist views. Hope your plane didn't fly through that storm!
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Post by questa2 on Jul 1, 2023 15:34:31 GMT
My congratulations for including the "3 metre house block". If painted white they are called "Wedding cake Houses". Long and very narrow(3m), no side windows, they stand like books in a library stack. You have taken several photos showing them being built or knocked down, kempt and unkempt.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 1, 2023 15:54:21 GMT
Actually, my plane was already an hour late, and I was glad it was because that storm was tremendous. Can you imagine that sitting in the glass departure lounge, you could not even see the planes attached to the terminal because the rain was so intense? I know they're used to it, but they still stop operations at the airport for the necessary time.
In any case, I was very happy with Vietnam Airlines, which I have taken before a few times, but this time I felt that they outdid themselves on one small detail. When I went to check-in, I knew the flight was super full because the indication on my airline employee website was "deep red" which is supposed to discourage us from even trying. And in fact, I had also bought a ticket on Air France for the next morning, which wzs only "yellow." (We get full refunds on unused employee tickets, thank god.) But at the counter, the young masked woman just said "Oh, it's very full. Only centre seats are available." But of course, she couldn't give me a boarding pass yet. When a flight is full, we only get them after check-in has closed, if at all.
After years of flying with this unbearable stress, lots of people prefer to buy "real" tickets, because it can really be nerve-wracking in the long run. I have bought a number of "real" tickets myself when the precision of my travel dates was important. Anyway, she said to come back at 22:15 because the flight was rescheduled for 23:05. I had already been at the airport for hours, but I was expecting this.
I went to the relatively chic and overpriced pho place and had an acceptable pho ga. That's the less popular chicken version of the soup. Pho bo is what people normally eat. That's the version with beef. It was about 150,000 dong (a little less than 6 euros). Anyway, I chose that one because I was optimistic and was expecting to have a real dinner on the plane.
Much to my surprise, as I was finishing up, I saw the Vietnam Airlines agent come looking for me holding a boarding pass. It was only about 21:30. "Here is your seat," she said. "It is a very good seat." I thanked her profusely and went through immigration and security. I don't understand airports anymore. In Saigon, you don't have to take liquids out of your bag anymore (that is becoming normal in most airports due to more modern equipment). They still want you to take out laptops, and I also had to take off my shoes.
The departure lounge looked like a field hospital with comatose passengers spread out everywhere (taking up too many seats stretching out!). They turned out to be Australians in transit, at least 50% of the passengers. I guess Vietnam Airlines is offering much lower fares than Qatar or Thai (among others) to Europe because it isn't really the most direct route. I watched the incredible storm and then it was time for boarding.
I found that I had been given the #1 best seat in economy class. The very first row after Business and Premium Economy, on the aisle. It had double leg room due to the separator, something I almost never get. I had an annoying Spanish couple next to me, but they were easy to ignore and they had plenty of room to get up to pee without bothering me.
The meal was far better than Air France, except for maybe the dessert. I just cannot accept the idea of a dessert of red beans and lentils no matter how sweet it is. But they used a set of real metal silverware whereas Air France now only gives those awful (but very ecological) wooden utensils in economy class. And they pour the wine out of real bottles instead of handing out the usual miniatures. This allowed me to sleep quite well for a few hours.
We arrived in Paris on time in spite of the departure delay. When I turned on my telephone, I had an SMS from Air France. "Your flight has been rescheduled for a day later. Sorry for the inconvenience." I await my refund.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 2, 2023 0:31:45 GMT
That may be the nicest, most miraculous in evading all that could go wrong air travel story I ever heard. It even has a rather positive airport meal chapter, the Vietnam Airlines agent angel, and a happy ending!
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