Crazy Saigon!

A few nights ago I arrived by bus in Saigon, officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. The first thing I noticed was the crazy traffic! The huge city is home to 6,033,000 people, and I would guess at least that number of motorbikes. This is the noisiest city so far, but also my favourite so far of the big asian cities.

From the balcony of my room at night

And during the day

I'm staying in the heart of the Pham Ngu Lao, which is the main backpacker area of HCMC. Unlike other backpacker areas in some of the other asian cities I have been to, although it is home to a majority of backpacker hotels it is also full of Saigon middle class locals. It's a very welcoming area and the people are very friendly. I went and checked out a couple of big markets yesterday, with a french guy named Mathieu who I met on the bus, who I also shared a room with for the past few nights. Mathieu has spent lots of time in Vietnam before so I had the opportunity to try lots of street food, with a guide to tell me what I was eating.
Tomorrow I am doing a HCMC full day tour so I will get a chance to see some of the big attractions and lots more of this huge city!