Happy 2024, everyone! We welcomed the new year full of hope. 2023 has been a
great year despite some speed bumps along the way. Travel was the theme in
2023 and will be the same for this year. To start off the year, let me share
some of the photos I took during my recent trip to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City),
Vietnam, in November last year.
I visited this city twice. The last time was nine years ago. It wasn't part of
my trip, but I booked a ticket months before the trip. My colleagues invited
me, and I've already traveled with them, so I'm not worried about adjusting to
new people on a trip. We stayed around the District 1 area since it's
accessible to most places. Not to mention that Saigon is way cheaper than
Manila! True enough, your dollars will go a long way–with so many zeroes in
your wallet, it feels great when you're carrying literally millions of dongs
in your wallet!
So many things have changed since the last time I've been in Saigon. There
were local excursions that I hadn't tried during my last visit, ate some of
the best Vietnamese food and coffee, shopped 'til I dropped, and partied hard
late at night. Saigon may not be for the faint-hearted traveler. It's chaotic,
the language barrier still exists in some parts of the city (but they're
improving in most aspects of communication), and scammers are still present.
Utopia doesn't exist, so I didn't really mind these.
I used my Sony a6400 35mm f1.8 to take these photos, and post-processing was
done in Lightroom. Cam on, Saigon! I'll be back soon.