Our last full day in Sài Gòn. We have plans, although, despite this fellah’s best efforts, we did not intend going in the direction he wanted us to.
Trần Hưng Đạo was a Vietnamese royal prince, statesman and military commander of Đại Việt military forces during the Trần dynasty. He commanded the Vietnamese armies that repelled two out of three major Mongol invasions in the late 13th century.
His victories over the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan are considered among the greatest military feats in Vietnamese history. After his death, at the age of 71 in 1300, he was considered a saint and deified by the people and named Đức Thánh Trần.
My sincere apologies, Đức Thánh, for referring to you most irreverently as ‘fellah’. Joking aside, I would not dream of disrespecting the Thai, Cambodian or Vietnamese people, we have been shown nothing but the utmost respect everywhere, throughout our stay.
That said, and we have thought on and talked on this, there is a very distinctive way in which people move around here. It’s what I would call the ‘coming on through’ mode. It certainly could be mistaken for bad manners but we are siding on the ‘if I don’t I’ll be here all day’ explanation. Whether it’s traffic or pedestrians on the footpath or people moving in and out of buildings: no eye contact, just make a beeline for your target destination. So, in short, you either get out of the way, stand on the spot, or copy. We have started to copy but it doesn’t come naturally. It was a necessary change of tack because day would become night on a 100m walk if you did not. I only hope we can readjust on returning home or we might have a problem.
A little on last night and 7 Bridges Brewing Co Taproom Lê Thánh Tôn.
Vietnamese Craft beer at its very best. Great atmosphere, oodles of choice, and another top recommendation.
“Break walls build bridges”
Our next stop… Saigon Skydeck is located in the Bitexco Financial Tower (262m, 68 floors tall). The viewing deck is on floor 49 (178m up) and quite a view. The elevator travels at 7m per second. It does offer a view on the sheer scale of this ever growing city.
The information boards were very informative. Slideshow on ‘The journey from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh Gity, here…
Slideshow on ‘Lotus… A pure beauty! A wonderful worth! A noble spirit!
A good number of old colonial buildings have been repurposed in the city and they add a certain distinctive charm.
Keeping up with cleaning the new stuff…
We did return to 7 Bridges on this, our last night in Vietnam. Farewell Vietnam, you’ve been great!
“Break walls build bridges”
An iconic moment in my lifetime, the coming down of the wall. Alas, the penny doesn’t drop with us does it? History simply reinvents itself and comes back at us disguised in other, just as sinister, forms…
Shame on us! One of the greatest benefits of travel is that you discover that, actually, we are all trying to find a way, make a living, live our lives. We really are more alike than we are different, and this manifests itself in the many acts of kindness bestowed upon us as we move around, whether we are able to understand one another’s language or not.
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A Dragon Apparent 
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