DAY 53  Saigon, Vietnam  (Visit #2  Day #2)

February 19, 2024

Today was by far the ABSOLUTE BEST excursion of the trip.  John was most excited and Leslie was very tentative about this one.  It was called "Saigon through the Eyes of a Local - The Back Alleys of Saigon" and was a day trip riding on the back of a Vespa.  After a coconut drink and some instruction we were off first to the busy streets in the mix with all of the other scooters, and then into some of the most remote part of Saigon.  It was Fast, Furious and Fun!  We made a few stops at some VERY local spots for walks down the alley, and then back onto the scooter.  We would ride for 20 minutes and then tour for 20 minutes, with a drink/food break in between. We were also given a chance to wander in the area that we stopped in.  

The pictures are really in a random order as we were all over the place - and taken from 3 different phones/cameras.

Strawberry coconuts.  Wonderful!



Below is one of the oldest alleys in Saigon.  The Chinese owner housed his employees here after they had moved to Vietnam from China.







The green door above  leads to an apartment about 5 foot wide and 2 stories tall in the old "gangster alley"



Grilled fish for sale.







The common outdoor neighborhood latrine.




Curious onlookers....










Selling juice sweetened with sugar cane.

The remains of the lunar new year celebration with a trashed out dragon and flowers!



We stopped in the "wet market" for some famously brewed local coffee with a recipe passed down for several generations.  He starts his day at 2 am when the market starts to come alive with wholesalers bringing in deliveries of fresh goods and fish.



We sat in an 8 ft wide warehouse and drank coffee while the locals brought in their goods to store overnight on hand trucks between the tables.  We also tried some local fruit that was very sweet and tasted like a combination of an apple and a pear.




We stopped at a temple in town.  We finally found out that the difference between a Temple and a Pagoda - we have seen so many of both.
A Pagoda is for the Buddha, and the Temples are where people go to worship multiple gods - giving thanks or asking for something.









You can see in the below pictures one home that uses ladders to go from one floor to the next as there is not enough room for stairs.














Last stop for a refreshing drink!


And back to the ship for an amazing dinner.

Escargot in a coconut ginger and lime sauce (with a bit of butter too)

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