Happy Near Year Vietnam! Back in Ho Chi Minh City for New Year's Eve we packed the streets along with the rest of humanity in Saigon's backpacker district. Phạm Ngũ Lão Street is a sight to see even when it's not the biggest party night of the year. Plastic chairs five rows deep line the narrow street on both sides for anyone who wants to plop down and people watch. Cheap beers and street food can be ordered in the chaos, or you can flag down any number of rolling vendors passing by. Don't expect a lot of room for your plates though, and utensils consist of toothpicks only! Even though it's practically a pedestrian street, motos and vehicles still zoom through the crowds-- and NYE there was a monstrous traffic jam on top of the partiers lining the corridor. The backpacker district of Saigon is on par with that of Khaosan Road in Bangkok with the amount of western tourists and bars. In the city of Uncle Ho, we encountered yet another unique form of tourist transport, exercising grandmas en masse and tasty meat on sticks grilled just inches away from smoggy traffic. Ho Chi Minh City was highly entertaining.















