"GOOD MORNING VIETNAM"

I saw everything possible in Saigon today, all via moto. I finished everything in the guidebook and more.

I got up really early to see everything, starting with the Emperor Jade Pagoda… which was really quite brilliant for my first pagoda. Now just a warning… this is my first pagoda, my first introduction to Buddhist temples and altars, and all sorts of stuff like that… so there are quite a bit of pictures…. In fact this whole day has a shit ton of pictures… b/c it was my first real day of being a tourist.

Me just chillin in the doorway.

Then there is my first Buddhist Altar

And creepy guard statutes with real hair

Here now is a many armed Buddha that was on the altar

And a really cool window design

This here is the main altar… its actually really creepy

And how awesome is this… A monk mid prayer

Here we have a woman praying in the background, as a candle illuminates prayers on the paper

And then here’s a close up of that candle

This was a side altar (there are lots of altars in pagodas) w/ Buddha in the middle and the good and bad soul collectors on either side

One thing that is really a bit of a shock to get used to when you’re here are all the swastikas. They don’t have the same negative connotation here… in fact they are an ancient symbol for I believe balance… but I have to admit this little guy has dictator written all over him.

Here is my first reclining Buddha… I’ll tell the story about him when we get to Bangkok

I developed an obsession w/ rooftops, and pictures of all the little ornate things they like to do to them… I want a dragon on my roof top.

Here is the shrine on top of the rooftop (yes we are still at the Emperor Jade Pagoda)

Next stop was the War Remnants museum. Take a wild guess what’s here. Ironically enough, there was a school trip going on at the time, and I ended up become the main attraction. Kids get a kick out of foreigners. The museum was mostly photographs, and everything was very moving… though it did give a bit of a slanted point of view of the Vietnam War, it was still very educational. I actually came here twice… the second time w/ my tour group, where I got to be the authority on Vietnam history… which admittedly isn’t my best history subject.

Anywho… the first picture is just a really neat wood carving in the museum

This one here represents a mother after a napalm bombing.

In the court yard, there were tons of captured US airplanes, tanks, guns, etc.

Then in the corner, not related to the war at all, were the “Tiger Cages” of Con Dao Jail... a prison used back before the war.

They had a few really kinda grotesque wax figures set up that were really creepy.

And then they also had the guillotine still up… really really creepy.

From here we moved on to the Independence/Reunification Palace. In all honesty this place wasn’t particularly spectacular. Though it does bring you back to 1960’s culture… most of the “stuff” you would expect to find in the palace had been removed by the Communists. So pardon me if the captions aren’t that exciting… I’ll do my best.

Here is the conference room… where they had conferences

Here is a fuzzy picture of a bust of Lenin… cause he was da man

It’s a pretty painting

This is one of the map rooms.

It had telephones

Here is the executives office… please note it seriously is lacking in decorations.

Now here is where I would stand if I were a Vietnamese dictator giving a speech.

This is the waiting room for foreign dignitaries

And then the indoor garden

This here rug has an awesome story behind it and is incredibly important… so important that you aren’t allowed to step on it. And the guide took like 20 minutes telling the story of the rug… unfortunately it wasn’t in English, so I have no idea why it’s so important.

Here is the game room… pool, piano, and karaoke anyone? On that note I do have to say the Asians seriously love their karaoke… most bars or clubs, are karaoke bars and clubs… its really weird…

On the rooftop, they had bonsai… BONZAI!

In the basement they had a bomb shelter, complete w/ another map room.

Bomb shelter or horror movie waiting to happen… you decide. But in all seriousness, not even I could stand wandering around these halls for more than a couple of minutes.

To give a better idea of the slantedness in propaganda and things here, this is just one of many anti-American quotes they have hanging in all their museums.

Seeing as this post is now getting really really really long... I'm splitting it into two posts.