Bookended in Saigon:
This was the second time to this buzzing city in the last two years and it remains crazy as ever. Mrs Long, who continues to top the hospitality ratings among travelers, was the obvious choice to stay in the old back-packers quarters. In that intervening period, she had expanded to a shiny five storey place with 15 rooms with wifi, more staff and a bigger setup from the humble beginnings of her tiny home-stay nearby. Despite the expansion, the hospitality remains warm as ever and to use a well-worn cliché, it remains a home away from home.
Saigon or Ho Chi Minh is brilliant. The street food is good and terribly cheap, you can bargain over hours on the shopping and the coffee superb.
As my flight to Siem Reap was via Vietnam both ways, I stayed for a night each at her place. On the onward trip, I went for a small stroll to the sprawling nearby park where you could watch myriad stuff from bunch of ladies doing tai chi, couples canoodling, pets running around followed by their harried owners or office goers catching their breath after a long day. I watched the traffic swing by, from the street-side, over a giant bowl of Pho and a plate of spring rolls.
On the return trip, I got to spend some more time in Saigon. Mr Long and I went for a great sea food meal in one of the winding alleys near the old quarter. To be sure, apart from prawns, I couldn’t recognize any of the other sea animals, but they were delicious. More lovely coffee at a nearby bar followed, where we were the only ones having some non-alcoholic drinks. I was staying at the old guesthouse this time around, where the missus and I stayed the previous time and I had a lot of fond memories from that long trip.
Tried to locate, in vain, the guestbook, where I had penned a long rambling compliment to Mrs Long. After Mr Long dived into his romantic song collection on his headphones, I had a long lively chat with the only other dweller: Emily, an Australian who was teaching English in Saigon for a year. After exchanging coordinates and some interesting travel anecdotes – she had traveled extensively across India in the 1980s – we called it a night. After a lovely breakfast with Mr Long the following morning, I left for the airport. I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of sadness while parting who made me feel so much at home.
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