Yesterday was a busy but rewarding day. I spent it with Karl (the other Canadian coordinator) and Linh (one of the two Vietnamese coordinators working on the project). We spent the morning investigating venues for the seminar and then visited a couple of sites in Saigon. Karl and Linh left south for their field site in Tra Vinh in the early afternoon. It was wonderful to discuss the details of the seminar with them as it seems that we have quite a lot of freedom in shaping what it will look like. I'm excited about all the possibilities!
We visited Ben Thahn Market. Everything that is commonly worn, eaten or used by the Saigonese is available here. The building was built in 1914.
The market provided me with my first authentic Vietnamese meal as it has a fabulous vegetarian food stall.
It was a delicious as it looks.
And perfectly complimented by this drinkable dessert that Linh ordered from me.
After Linh and Karl left, I visited the Saigon Central Mosque, built by South Indian Muslims in 1935. It's beautiful. Only half a dozen Indian Muslims remain in Saigon as most of the community fled in 1975.
(Unfortunately) The courtyard is used as motorcycle parking (as are almost all sidewalks in the city).
A cyclo driver tending to his mode of living. Karl remarked that if we had come here fifteen years ago, we would have seen city streets filled with cyclos and bicycles instead of scooters and cars.
Elderly vendor selling drinks on Saigon street.
Built between 1886 and 1881, the largest post office in Vietnam. It has gorgeous architecture both outside...
...and inside.
Phone booths inside the post office.
Statue outside of the post office.
Notre Dame Cathedral, in the centre of Saigon's government quarter. It was built 1877-1883 in the neo-Romanesque style.
I'm off to Binh Thuan province this morning to visit my field site for the first time. It's a 4.5 hour drive and I'm excited to see the rural landscape! More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment