Welcome to Saigon

When the Sergeant and I got married, we went to Telluride for a couple of days for our "placeholder honeymoon." After all the work that went into planning a wedding, we didn't want to deal with planning an elaborate trip, too.

And we really wanted to see Vietnam. Which we finally have. It's quite a long trip, via San Francisco and Taipei. We flew China Airlines and lucked out on the primo two-across seats at the back of the 747 (more room to stash your stuff and stretch your legs). I took Dramamine for its knock-out effect and slept much of the way.

We landed in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at 10 a.m. Sunday, after 26 hours of travel. Happily, a friend of a friend was there to meet us. Manisha had put us in touch with K, who took us to our hotel and then to lunch at a restaurant called Ngon or "Delicious." And was it ever.
This is a green papaya salad. In the background are spring roll fixings. We love love love Vietnamese food. It's one of the main reasons we wanted to go there.

K started us off right with Ngon, whose owner recruited some of the best street food vendors in the city and arranged them at stations around a central courtyard and hall. The menu is extensive, and you can wander around watching the food being prepared. Or just sit back and enjoy a beer, watermelon juice or iced coffee.

We went back there again because the menu was so diverse, and the prices were really affordable. So I'll post some more photos later.

After lunch we went back to our hotel intending to just nap a little. We slept until the next day.

Quan An Ngon
160 Pasteur St.
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Phone: 08-3827-7131.