Adventures with Nam
There is a guy on a motorbike in a sea of millions. He finds me every morning as I am heading out for the day. He can appear suddenly from nowhere. He is a very nice, older gentleman with a kind smile. He has been asking each day if I will go with him to see the city. So on Friday, I jumped on his bike for a tour of Cholon, which is the Chinatown of Saigon covering Districts 5, 6 and part of 10.

First, let’s talk about motorbikes. If you come to Saigon, whatever you do, do not miss the opportunity to travel by motorbike in is city. First, it is the cheapest by far. I am using Grab, which is equivalent to Lyft and Uber. A grab bike to travel 15- 20 minutes across town will average 12,000 VND , which is approximately .50. Yes, I said half a dollar! It is awesome. The app works really well also. So, let me sum up by saying being on a motorbike in this city is the most exciting, frightening, crazy, fun, but mostly crazy thing you can do. So do it!
Ok, back to Cholon. One of the coolest temples we visited was Ba Thien Hau Temple. Stunning porcelain scenes decorate the Temple of the Goddess of the Sea, incense coils clutter the ceiling and pink prayer papers flutter in the breeze.
For a small price of about $1.50, you can purchase a red prayer paper on which you write your name, birthday and what you are hoping for. You then get one of the big incense coils and light it. A man attaches your prayer sheet to your coil and hoists it up to hang at the ceiling of the temple with many others. They say your incense coil burns there for one week. See below.






The next temple we visited was founded in the early 19th century. This beautiful pagoda is named after the Goddess of Mercy, whose full name is Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát. Quan Âm is her shortened name. As her divine mission is to provide help and assistance to anyone who is in trouble, she is a quite popular and worshipped goddess all around Asian Buddhist countries.
The bright red lacquered interior is really amazing. Nam kept having me take pictures with goddesses you pray to ensure you have many, healthy children, lol. There was also a monkey deity here which I thought was super cool.






The next place we stopped was a monastery, run by nuns, which also was an orphanage. The children raised there also train to become monks or nuns. They had beautiful woodwork and outside some awesome Buddhas. See below.





All in all, a great half day tour and some good conversation with Nam. In the end, he took me across the Saigon river so I could see the city from another vantage point. This city is so multifaceted; it is really not to be missed.



