Life in Ho Chi Minh City

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Above: On the bridge crossing the Saigon River. (Dirrty).
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Above: When it rains, it pours.
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Above: Family on a motorbike. It is not rare to see up to 5 people on a bike.
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Above: I am hanging in there. At least I have somewhere to window shop.
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Above: A woman taking her lunch break in front of a Swarovski Crystal advertisement.
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Above: These men sit here all day and replicate paintings and pictures.
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Above: Street Vendor
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Above: Cyclo-driver. A common type of 'taxi' around town. They move slower than the average pedestrian.
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Above: A typical fruit stand. They are everywhere.
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Above: The gates leading to our front door at the office.
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Above: The alley into the office. Hailey lived at the hotel next door called Madam Cuc before we moved into the house.
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Above: Catholic Church.
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This is the banana lady who is in front of our office alley every day, rain or shine. She shows up before I arrive at 9am and is still there when i leave at 6pm.
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Above: Its always 'thumbs up' or the peace sign. Every time! They never let me down.
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Above: The street outside of work. Backpackers District. Tons of restaurants, bars, forigeners and expats.
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Above: Chu Van An is the local high school. All of the parents come to pick their kids up and line up on the motorbikes outside. Hailey and I were about a block away from the office and it took us about a half hour to get through this mess. Nobody stops for peds.
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Above: Another angle of the school pick-up traffic.
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Above: Our favorite French bakery, right across the street from our house. Best chocolate croissants ever. And so inexpensive! They also deliver for free, just in case I feel like having breakfast in bed as I so often do not.
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Above: Notre Dame Cathedral. There are many Catholics here, so i fit right in :)
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Above: Flower stand in Ben Thanh Market--the largest and busiest and smelliest (think tons of various raw meats hanging in 95degree heat...) market in HCMC.
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Above: Dragonfruit. Its white with black freckles inside. Tasty.

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Above: Rush hour
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Above: Hailey and Chi working hard (ha) in the office. This is one of 2.5 rooms we have here.
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Above: Motorbike Madness. Many of the men and women wear these face masks while driving on their motorbikes to protect their lungs from emissions.
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