Long week-end in Saigon長週末在西貢
Long before I ever set foot on the continent, Vietnam had always been the first Asian country to peek my interest through American soldiers depiction of life during the war.很久以前我曾經踏上非洲大陸，越南一直是第一個亞洲國家來偷看我的興趣，通過描寫美國士兵在戰爭期間的生活。 I remember always being eager to read the next volume of my monthly subscription to我記得總是被爭相閱讀的下冊我的每月訂閱 NAM: The Vietnam Experience book不結盟運動：在越南的經歷的書 by Time Page and fascinated by all the great movies of the time such as The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon or Apocalypse Now.被時代所吸引Page和所有偉大電影的時間，如獵鹿人，全金屬外殼，小隊或現代啟示錄。 While Vietnam remains a Communist country on paper there is little sign of the political legacy of Uncle Ho that lives on in Saigon today.雖然越南仍是一個共產主義國家在紙面上幾乎沒有跡象的政治遺產是住在叔叔何今天在西貢。 Yes, red flags are still flying off official buildings and you might pop into a few kids of the youth pioneers with red ties around their necks but Vietnam has definitely chosen the path of China's market economy and capitalism is apparent everywhere.是的，紅旗仍然起飛官方建築物，你可能會流行成幾個孩子的青年先鋒與紅領帶，在他們的脖子，但越南有一定的路徑選擇中國的市場經濟和資本主義到處是明顯的。 The only thing really left from the revolution is the one-party dictatorship…唯一真正留下的革命是一黨專政 ...
Ho Chi Minh City, still commonly known as Saigon to its seven million and growing inhabitants is Vietnam's largest and most exciting city.胡志明市，西貢仍然俗稱其700萬和不斷增長的居民是越南最大，最激動人心的城市。 While the best way to explore it is on foot, things can prove to be challenging at times.而最好的方法是徒步探索，事情可以證明是充滿挑戰的時代。 First thing you'll have to deal with is the boiling 38 °C+ heat and humidity that will make you quickly sweat like a pig by just walking a few blocks.首先，你將不得不面對的是沸騰的38攝氏度高溫和濕度 +，讓您迅速汗水像豬只要步行幾個街區。 Next comes the traffic, as there seems to be more motorbikes than grains of sand on the beach and the fact that they honk every 30 seconds makes it a very cacophonic experience.其次是交通，因為似乎有更多的摩托車比粒沙子在沙灘上和事實，即他們按喇叭，每30秒使其成為一個非常cacophonic經驗。 With very few cars and even less traffic rules it can be exhausting at times.除了極少數車，甚至可以不遵守交通規則，有時感到精疲力盡。 But, once you do get the hang of it, wandering through Saigon's streets and alleyways is a whole lot of fun soaking up the lively atmosphere and watching the locals go by their daily routine.但是，一旦你得到竅門，行屍走肉，西貢的街道和小巷，是很多的樂趣，沉浸在熱鬧的氣氛，當地人去觀看他們的日常生活。 There's plenty of markets, pagodas, temples, churches and parks to discover and once your hungry no shortage of nice restaurants to savor the delights of Vietnamese cuisine on the cheap.有大量的市場，寶塔，寺廟，教堂和公園發現，一旦你餓不缺少好的餐廳去品嚐美味的越南料理的便宜。
The South Vietnamese people themselves are a friendly bunch and besides the obvious touts of the tourist area of Pham Ngu Lao things are relaxed.越南南方人民自己是一個友好的一群，除了明顯的吹捧和對旅遊區的範伍老東西輕鬆。 I was lucky enough to be invited back a girl's family's home I met for some food where I spent most of my 2nd day living on a very local level.我有幸被邀請回一個女孩的家庭的家鄉，我會見了一些食物在那裡我度過我的第2天大部分生活在一個非常地方一級。 Though the language barrier can be a problem the younger generation is slowly catching up, a sharp contrast with 20 years ago when you could have been arrested for speaking English.雖然語言障礙可能是一個問題的年輕一代正在慢慢趕上來，一個鮮明的對比 20年前，你可能會被逮捕的英語。 Expecting little I was also surprised of the good range of nightlife in Saigon.我也期待有點驚訝的良好範圍在西貢的夜生活。 Ok, this is no Manila but they have a few live music venues and the disco I happened to try out was still going on strong when I left around 2-3am.好吧，這是不馬尼拉，但他們有一些現場音樂場地及迪斯科我偶然嘗試仍在繼續，當我離開的強烈大約 2 -凌晨3點。 Grabbing a last beer or two with some food in the De Tham area wasn'ta problem neither at that time.最後搶占啤酒或兩個部分食品的譚德地區不是一個問題既不當時。 I would definitely be happy to return and explore a bit more of Southern Vietnam.我一定會高興地返回，探索多一點的越南南部。 A bit of beach time in Nha Trang followed by the crossing the Mekong Delta into Cambodia sounds like an excellent idea for a future trip.時間一點點在芽莊海灘其次是過境到柬埔寨的湄公河三角洲聽起來像一個很好的想法為未來的旅行。 But as always so little time and so much to do…然而，總是這麼少的時間和這麼多的活動 ...
Photos of Saigon : 西貢的照片 ：
