Almost a Decade Later in Saigon (late posting from 2017)

It's been almost a decade since I was last in Ho Chi Minh City also known as Saigon.  It felt like a homecoming of sorts being back in a place that I hold dearly in my heart during my early 20's.

I've come to realize that city's change and grow just like the people and it's quite possibly very smug of me to say I grew along with it, but both the city and I are definitely not the same entities we once were almost a decade ago.

We met some amazing couch surfers that ran a motorbike tour company.  They were younger college age students, and they had such great outgoing personalities and as a group, showed us around Saigon on their bikes.

 ( Continuing blog from 2017 )

In the above picture at the cathedral, there was a makeshift eating area that was unsanctioned by the police so everyone had plastic stools to sit on and the cooking was done over small bbq or hibachi like setup.

When the cops showed up, they gave a warning siren when they parked and you will never see anyone pack up all their chairs and cooking set up so fast and run!

Since Harry and his crew were nice enough to show us around, we told them about one of our hobbies GEOCACHING and they were excited to try and help us find the cache. 

Needless to say, we found it and had a great time with our new friends.

I took a lot of photos on the bike so, you'll have to forgive me that they were all blurry and out of focused.

I had a greater time this time around with CS and we made a great friend that invited us to stay with their family during Tet.

CouchSurfing has changed a lot over the years and I know the community has shifted gears to a more AirBnB style but I will always remember interactions like these VERY fondly.

Pics from 2008 trip to Saigon

Sorry the formatting is pretty clunky.  Until I figure out how to better display photos on my blog, this is how it's gonna be.

2,500 Views! Whoo! Update in Thailand

Thanks for the 2500 views!

I've now been in Thailand 3.5 weeks and I'm in this weird state of feeling like home and still trying to make this place feel like home.  

I arrived home 1 am on the 23rd of December and spent 3 days checking out Bangkok - the nearest city-city to my little town - and have been feeling like I've been on vacation since.  Granted, I sorta am until I get a job but it's still a weird feeling.

On the 26th we made our way up towards Chiang Mai and stopped in Kamphaeng Phet as a halfway point before making it to our destination.

At Kamphaeng Phet, we stopped at this lovely restaurant before exploring the UNESCO World Heritage site just next door

So... as I mentioned before, if given the opportunity, take a bike and tour around to see the sites.  It's such a great way to see the site as well as explore the around around it

Many sites like this scattered around this particular UNESCO site and each one was fun to explore

I like looking around beyond the sites and seeing how nature has taken over certain bits of the park back

The structures were still pretty impressive after all these years and the government has been slowly renovating or replacing missing parts.

I was also testing out my new camera and had such a fun time trying to get used to the upgrade and all the new bells and whistles that came with it

I can't express how pretty this site is and the best part was that no one was really around so we had each temple or area all to ourselves to explore and geocache

Ta Ta for now and I'll be posting more about our trip to northern Thailand!
Thanks for reading