Vung Tau, Vietnam

Okay, so I found a shop selling Nikon equipment.  Surprise surprise......In Vietnam, or ANY where in SE Asia, if you're looking for something, it's ALWAYS just the next shop away.  I love it.  So now, I can download a few pix.  The first pic here, is of a bowl of
Pho.  If you have never had it, make sure you do.  Again, I would recommend the Pho 99 behind Wendys in Sehome Village.  Same Same.

I left Saigon today, catching a hydrofoil through and down the Saigon river to a coastal town called Vung Tau.  I immediately rented a motorbike from my hotel, and all of a sudden - - there appears a guy who asks me what I needed?  I said "Nothing, I'm all good.  Just heading out for a drive".  He asked if he could go with me and show me some sights, so I said "Sure, lets grab something cold first".  As we pulled up to the first market, which was near the pier, here comes a guy and actually wanted to CLEAN my tennis shoes.  I just bought them 2 wks ago and they were perfect.  However, I'm a sucker.  I told him "If you really want to do this, then here you go."  He did a nice job! 

I watched them earlier, polishing leathers for some people, but this was the first for me!  Okay, clean away if you wish.  I paid him and he was happy.  A lot of SE Asia is like this.  Everybody has to make some coin any which way they can think of, so I try to entertain them all.  What strikes me most, is how happy they truly are.....We westerners have missed something right in front of our noses....

I had to add a picture of the lunch I had in Saigon earlier today.  Yeah, it was that good :-)

Guy was thirsty, obviously  :-)

Here is a really neat statue of the Mother Mary, holding Jesus.  This statue is immense.  If you click on any of the pictures, they will enlarge - though it will still do no justice.  Just a real neat piece of work.

Then I found myself at some tunnels the Americans dug into the hillside.  I wasn't too comfy being here. That war caused a lot of destruction, and I'm just not really into that sort of pain for people.  I'll leave it there.  There are lots of "tours" which will take you around and you can crawl through man-holes the Vietnamese dug in the ground.  You can even get your picture!  Not interested, its just me.  I still see the devastation from that war today.  It's sad to me.....Enough of that.....

Went through this garden today, and there were wonderful examples of bonsai trees.  I took lots of pictures, but here is just a sample.  While taking these photos, what struck me was how completely quiet it was.  I noticed that.........I couldn't hear anything, 'cept maybe a bird way off in the distance.  I sat for about 20 min and just enjoyed.......

I will add more pictures later, just wanted to add something as I finally found a data cable.  As I said, I am in a coastal city of Vung Tau.  I will be here for the next 6 days.  So, take care all you folk.  I cannot access my FB account here from Vietnam.  The country, for some reason, has it blocked.  I've tried going on private proxies and anonymizers, but no luck so far.  I'll be back soon.  Ciou!   XOXO