Random Images

Just a few shots around town.


Backpackers' (Pham Ngu Lao and the surrounds) is full of bars, restaurants and deliciously tacky giftware shops as well as hotels and guest houses. It's not the most high class end of town but there are few things that draw us back. The Mumtaz restaurant, of which more in a later posting, and Le Pub's gin and tonics. Last night we shared our drinks with some friends, the focus might be off a little but that's understandable under the circumstances.



High on a wall, and a little earlier in the day I saw this image in the same part of town. I've always had a mildly voyeuristic side and love peeking in at other peoples' windows.



Elsewhere Saigon's Premier Woolly Hat outlet continues to puzzle me, I understand it gets a bit colder in Hanoi but surely not THAT cold.



There are many tall, thin, brightly coloured buildings in the city, this hotel may not be the tallest, thinnest and brightest but it has to be in the running for the title. (On Nguyen Trai)

Central Saigon

Central Saigon is a fabulous mixture of old and new and this has to be the shiniest brass plaque in town. The Rex Hotel is an amazing building, one of the older hotels in town and internally a palace of kitsch. This is famous as the gathering point for journalists during the American War. Even though it looks as though it's been there forever it's only been a hotel since the mid Seventies. We've had a drink on the roof but I didn't have the camera with me so I'll be forced to go back.

This part of town is home to the designer stores Louis Vuitton et al, the high end hotels and the trendy bars. It's very cosmopolitan and could be any successful city in the world, but look down any alley and you'll see a view like the one below.