We had no specific goals, but based on experience, we would follow Nguyen wherever he goes and be super glad we did it. First example: Notre Dame cathedral, Vietnam edition.
Nguyen is Catholic, but they don't get the day off so he said it's a pretty low-key celebration for Vietnamese Christians.
After that he took us on what appeared to be a trespassing excursion where we climbed up the fire escape of a seemingly abandoned building. We ended up at the site where this photo was taken:
This is from the fall of Saigon in 1975 when the North Vietnamese army finally took over the city and they had to evacuate all American civilians and many South Vietnamese. Was a cool thing to stand on a piece of history, and interesting to see it reclaimed as just a normal building in the city.
Now it's full of run-down apartments and a very chic coffee shop with fashionable youth having photo shoots. Present company included.
Afterward we went in search of food (obv) and got some good propoganda shots along the way. This guy's my favorite.
May we all love job and country as much as he. His enthusiasm inspired us to recreate our own.
Nguyen said this sign, roughly translated, means "the communist party is great." Points for succinctness.
After that we spent 3 hours of unadulterated luxury at the Cat Moc Spa (strong recommend - its lux by American standards) and prepared for our food tour.
Not recommended: saying goodbye to Nguyen twice. He was a great guide and now a great friend. We'll miss him!
