KUL-SGN

Arrived in Saigon at around 9.45am local time on Dec 3rd, the time here is one hour behind KL which is strange given its more easterly location. Apart from the airport and during the flight have not taken much pics here yet as its been more of settling into the routine of a new place and new office since arriving. My posting to Da Nang has been postponed indefinitely so i will be in saigon for now which is good as i don't have to live out of a suitcase in a hotel room and can thus fully unpack in my place here.

The flight from KL was just a short hour and a half but with my new toy (the latest olympus digital cam with 18X optical zoom) in hand I took about a few dozen pics from the plane window, ok....i went overboard and got rather snap happy.

Some manmade lakes (former tin mines) that dot the area nearby KLIA

A view of our East Coast baeaches, still sunny and clear despite it being monsoon season.

Clouds never cease to amaze me....

Land Ho! My first glimpse of Viet Nam, a flat landscape of what i presume to be paddy fields.

Delta of the mighty Mekong river which splits into 9 major branches as it meanders into the sea.

Baggage claim area on arrival in Saigon.

A brand new airport welcomes you to Saigon which while not as grand as KLIA is definitely a nice enough welcome. The immigration and customs uniform look like part of the military… well I suppose they are. Although the officers look very serious and there is no touristy welcome, getting through immigration and customs was a breeze, there’s even special lanes for ASEAN citizens. Baggage claim was also very quick which is more than I can say for KLIA or even Changi.

First thing I noticed about Saigon is the buildings (shops, houses, offices) are all very narrow and not too highrise. Next thing is the traffic which seems like total chaos to me but somehow it moves along smoothly, the roads are ruled by motorbikes and traffic lights are more often than not viewed as mere ornaments while "one way street" is just a suggestion. Wandering around "quan 3" (district 3) where i live and traveling to the office in "quan binh thanh" [which is a harrowing 10mins ride though the utter mayhem of rush hour by motorbike "taxi"] , I noticed that there are quite a few churches around and on some streets are lined by huge/tall trees both obviously a French colonial legacy. Crossing the street here simply involves making your way through gaps in between vehicles are the roads are never clear of traffic! Plan to take more pics around where i live as well as explore the heart of the city "quan 1", this weekend so i will have more pics to share next....