Back to the big city. This time it’s called Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, depending on whether you ask the locals. Vietnam’s biggest city – more crowded than any other.

My first evening here, I found a restaurant with a bit of an Indian theme. It looked very full, but I was told to just go in and find a seat. The restaurant was a maze of tables, pink pillars, purple curtains, flowers and vases. I walked through one small square room after another, either with room for one big table or four small ones. It reminded me more of a palace than a restaurant. The ground floor was split into 2 levels, a half-covered one without a door and an indoor area. There was also a second floor, where I found a corner table in a peaceful nook. I nearly forgot there were around 100 guests spread across the whole complex.

The sun burns here in Saigon. Even if you escape it, you still have to deal with 33-35 degrees in the shade. On the plus side, there’s a really lovely warmth in the evening. The first evening I was out, I clearly recognized the heat from Thailand, from when I was a child. A good, strong heat, but without the sun to intensify it.

I’ve stuck to a small area in Saigon next to a city park. Even so, it feels like two different neighborhoods, depending on whether I’m out during the day or the evening. Daytime is flat and lazy. There are plenty of people, but the pace is slow. People sit in the shade, either of trees or buildings. I’ve learned to follow the Grab drivers at this time of day. They know the good oases.

I live right next to a bar street, and it swarms with people after 19:00. It’s quite a spectacle, where you’re both going deaf from music from giant speakers set out on the street and blind from beams of light, neon signs, projectors and spotlights. I’m staying at a small hotel in an alley behind the bar street, and incredibly enough it’s very quiet there. Aside from the drunk guests who come home at 4 in the morning, of course.

Just a Short Visit

I haven’t managed to see that much of Saigon. My head has been somewhere else. I need to move on from Saigon, you see. Actually, on from Vietnam. Briefly. On April 2nd I land in Japan, Osaka. I’m going to meet up with a friend from Aarhus in Kobe, who’s in the middle of visiting Japan. I’ll be in Kobe for a week and see a bit of the Japanese spring. Afterward I’ll head back to Vietnam to continue my trip.

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