yesterday we took a rather extensive walking tour of central saigon after moving into our quaint guesthouse, miss loi's, hidden down a very narrow alleyway. our tour took us north to the jade emperor pagoda in the da kao neighborhood of saigon. jade emperor is a taoist pagoda dedicated to the taoist supreme god… you guessed it, the emperor of jade. it was very special to be in a place where worship and meditation were being pursued, unlike many other well toured temples and pagodas. we quietly observed a monk that was at least 100 years old while he sat on the floor and meditated. he was amazing. afterwards our walk took us through a bustling neighborhood market, far off the tourist trail, where we bought a few tiny mandarin oranges and some ruby red mountain apples, more brilliant in color than any i have seen in hawaii (although not quite as sweet). we made our way to the binh soup shop for a bowl of pho bo. binh is historically significant as it was the former headquarters of the northern vietnam (vc) spies during the war. it is said that much of the plans for the tet offensive in 1968 were conceived right there as spies swirled around posing as waiters, serving u.s. soldiers the same noodle soup nearly 40 years ago. we also made our way to a popular local hangout that serves banh xeo, egg pancakes, cooked crisp over wok burners and filled with pork loin, prawns and bean sprouts. to eat, you tear off a small piece of the pancake and stuff it into a lettuce (bibb) leaf with mint, basil and shiso, then dip it into fish sauce with pickled carrot, radish and baby leeks - awesome, fresh flavors and alina's proclaimed "hands down favorite" food of our now 2 month journey… after a nice cool shower to slow the effects of saigon's stifling humidity, we made it into our air conditioned and ceiling fanned bedroom for a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep… until we awoke to one of the typical vietnamese 'alarm clocks.' instead of roosters (hana) or car/scooter horns (hanoi), we woke up to hammering. alina was convinced that it was the little old lady that cooks at the guesthouse, although i am sure that if she was trying to make that much noise in a kitchen she would have been trying to smash cow bones with a sledge hammer.
9:10 am - we made it down stairs to find the cook quietly peeling onions and enjoy our breakfast of pineapple, watermelon and tiny finger sized bananas with a baguette, homemade strawberry preserves, emmenthal cheese and a café sua da (coffee with condensed milk).
11:00 am - we stopped at the 'barber shop' at the end of our alley to get me a proper haircut. i must say that it was one of the best of my life. i guess barbers at home are scared of the straight razor these days. however, for my friendly vietnamese barber, the art of the straight razor has not been lost. he detailed all the way around my head, including the peach fuzz on my ears - yes peach fuzz - while i am sure that it will one day be gnarly old man ear hair - i am still only 30 years old and it is still just peach fuzz… needless to say, it was a good experience - the haircut, the moto drivers hanging around to watch, the neighborhood guy behind me sharpening the barb for the claw of his cock fighting bird in the bamboo cage just next to me and alina sitting there taking pictures and talkin' story with the small curious crowd that seems to often form around us theses days.
12:00 noon - stop at café zoom for more café sua da (iced) and a quick reprieve from the humidity and a chance to sit and watch the seemingly endless scooter parade, including a special appearance by a rare 5 passenger scooter, before heading to the ben than market, central saigon's liveliest and most colorful place for one stop shopping.
1:30 to 3:30 pm - during the afternoon we visited a couple important sites in saigon. first, a stop at the reunification palace gave us a firsthand look at what the palace was like only days before it was surrendered to vc troops in 1975. afterwards we walked a few blocks west to the war remnants museum - a vivid and rather gruesome depiction of the cultural, economical and physical void that the war left on the country. through photographs taken by 11 journalists that lost their lives documenting the war, we saw images of the death, destruction and mutilation inflicted on everyone involved. it was graphic and telling - one of those experiences that you don't want to have but somehow feel better because of seeing it.
4:00 pm - finally, lunch and something less serious to focus on. we decided to stop at an up market noodle shop serving (and named) bun bo hue. my version with vietnamese beef, hue style pork sausage and pig trotter was fantastic - garnished with shredded banana blossoms, limes, chiles and basil and seasoned with fish sauce and red chile paste - washed down with yet another café sua da (number three for the day) - it hit the spot. we also had a few small fresh spring rolls filled with rice noodles, greens and ground dried hue shrimp - dipped in more fish sauce and chiles, it made for a good starter and a nice departure from some of the flavors that have become familiar to use over the last three weeks in vietnam.
5:00 pm - on the way back to miss loi's we took a walk through he backpacker's quarter and stopped to buy some provisions (a bar of soap, a tomato-yoghurt facial mask and some tiger beers) before getting back to shower and relax for a while before heading back out in the evening for some more adventures.
8:00 pm - after a quick dinner of gui cuon (fresh spring rolls) and bun thit nuong (grilled marinated pork loin with rice noodles and lettuce) we headed to the cafe zozo for our last cafe sua da of the day, swearing that we will not allow a hardcore caffeine addiction to set in before we leave coffee country... maybe just one more tomorrow. -david
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