Monday

The only real drawback to our fascinating road trip out of town last Saturday was the pretty, clear, and sparklingly sunny day itself. Puffy clouds floated, birds sang, and the sharp nature of the bright heat was an even break from the murkier heat of the city. Of course, this led to me getting a little bit sunburned while exploring the largely shade-free grounds of the Cầu Dài Holy See; which, in turn, led to the deeply red baking of my whole right-hand side in the oven of the return car ride. I'm just lucky the day clouded completely over a few miles north of Hồ Chí Minh City, or I'd have been under the magnifying lens of those passenger-side windows for another forty minutes--the little push necessary to begin visibly smoking. By that night, I was attractively medium-rare to well done, reading multi-colored in gradients from left to right like the dial on a heater. By last night I had already begun to peel. It is cynical of me to imagine that, because of Saturday's side effects, we ultimately decided to hang around outside again Sunday? After lunch, we embarked on an afternoon-long exploration of Chợ lớn, Saigon's Chinatown, by first visiting the expansive Đầm Sen Water Park * in District Eleven. Actually, we never got farther than exploring the park, a kitschy mash of amusement rides, botanical gardens, and underwhelming zoo displays dotted with fanciful topiary and Chinese-inspired architecture. Of note there are a number of pretty man-made lily ponds where people actually set out rods and fish, a tall Farris Wheel, and short elephant rides. Also, please note, there's shade--I spent my afternoon dodging from the one shadow to another over arched cement bridges and open pits filled with awfully poisonous-looking snakes on display. [Cavin]