Rodney & Sheryl's Travels: 3/5-8 Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

What a wonderful time in Saigon! We were there for three nights, so had time to do a couple tours. The first day included a tour of the city, a stop at the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Buddhist temple built in 1909 in honor of the supreme Taoist god (the Jade Emperor or King of Heaven, Ngoc Hoang), and a stop at the beautiful Central Post Office, notable for its perfect combination of neo-classical European architecture and Asian decorations.

The second day was our favorite! We took an incredibly fun pedal cab tour. To put it into perspective, the traffic in Saigon is horrendous! With a population of 9.3 million people in an area of 809 square miles, most people drive motorbikes. Approximately 7.3 million of them! Add to that the .8 million cars and you are literally taking your life into your hands when you pop into a pedal cab. Needless to say, it was an adventure - and a ton of fun! Even though the traffic lights appeared to be just a "suggestion" the pedal cab drivers were awesome, and people, for the most part, did yield to them. After the exciting pedal cab tour, we went to the local (huge!) Ben Thanh Market and then had a yummy, authentic, Vietnamese lunch at Hoa Tuc. Truly a wonderful day and a very exciting experience!