Saigon is a unique place – different from other cities in Southeast Asia and even different from anywhere else in Vietnam. As has been documented by almost every visitor to the city, the proliferation of motorbikes is unreal, far beyond anywhere in Thailand or China because automobiles are generally limited to use as taxis or shuttles.

Here are some more of my favorite quirky things in Saigon:

Electrical work: the photos below are similar to what you see in parts of Cambodia or Thailand, but again the sheer VOLUME you can find in Saigon is unlike anything in other places.

Typically, the repair work on these lines is done by an electrician who climbs the post then sits on the bundles of wire while he works on one of them.

“Don’t throw anything away.” As much as that may apply to food and a predilection for salvaging trash, the best example I have is this apartment building, built on top of an old A-frame brick house. They didn’t even plaster over it to LOOK like the rest of the building.

European architecture. While much of the city is filled with typically compact, narrow buildings you find elsewhere in Vietnam, there are some buildings that still show the French influences. Churches, the Reunification Palace and several of the historic hotels showcase European style.

This:

Oktoberfest: The last quirk to share (for this edition) is the revelation that one of the biggest parties of the year (other than Tet, the celebration of the new year) is Oktoberfest. Massive celebrations in some of the city’s hotels and German restaurants occur every year.

That’s enough for now. Do you have any favorite quirks or aspects you love about Saigon? Share them in the comments below.

While traveling, I’ve often whined about things that didn’t go the way I’d planned. There’s a tendency to dramatize the impact of unfortunate things that happen in our lives to make for a compelling story.

This is a stark reminder that there’s a huge difference between inconvenience and tragedy.

If you’d like to donate to those in need, you can do so here: http://www.redcross.org.nz/2011christchurchearthquake

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Bonus picture:

I was fortunate enough to travel to Dubai a couple of times during its construction heyday. This was a time when the Burj Khalifa (then known as the Burj Dubai) was only 145 stories and two years away from opening (note: if you missed my post on the best phallic structures in the world, it comes in at number 9).

It was a crazy time. City streets changed direction almost daily. Like ants finding a new path to avoid a boot that just crushed their former home, taxi drivers had to regularly seek out new routes to their destinations as the infrastructure grew at a pace no map, or even GPS, could keep up with.

The highlight of the trip was a helicopter tour over the city. The magnitude and number of projects was overwhelming and could only truly be appreciated from the air. Man-made islands, massive home development complexes, uniquely designed towers, malls to end all malls. Everywhere you looked, there were massive projects, accompanied by thousands of construction cranes. It was unlike anything the world has seen before and probably beyond anything that will ever occur again.

Forget the dotcom bubble and real estate bubble, Dubai built an “audacity” bubble, each project trying to top the last.

This pic is of the “Globe” island project. Dozens of constructed islands simulating the nations of the world were built and sold (reportedly, England was purchased by Sting). At the time of this photo, the only home constructed was this model.

If you’d like to see more, here is my Dubai gallery.

Before leaving on my trip, a friend of mine joined me for one final tour of the city. We did all the cheesy tourist stuff, even things I never did the whole time I lived there.

However, when I think of Los Angeles I don’t picture Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive or even Venice Beach. I picture the mountains.

Southern California is home to incredible natural beauty that I’d rank pretty high in a “world’s best” list. Sadly, it’s beauty that most tourists, and even most locals, never take the opportunity to see.

When I wanted to get out in the middle nature, it didn’t mean driving to some far off location. I grabbed my bicycle and left from my front door. Within 12 miles, I was in the mountains. Millions of cars were just down the hill, but once you pass the residential areas, they are a rarity on the roads.

The scenery is at its best in a “green” year when we actually had some rainfall, but even when the desert climate creates more brush than lush, the serenity out there was astonishing. It’s all the more amazing when you consider that a bowling ball unleashed on these mountains would roll its way to the middle of the second largest city in the US (if you had bumpers around the corners).

The Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriels, Angeles Forest, Palm Desert, Lake Casitas are just a few of the wonderful locations for cycling in Southern California. To be fair, some of these are from rides a bit further away, including the northern coast. I considered it all my backyard, though. A playland for me, my friends and my bicycle.

(as always, click on any picture for a closer look)

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Lake Casitas on the way to Santa Barbara

On the way to Ojai.

Angeles Forest, with just a bit of snow in the distance.

Angeles Forest with the fog a couple thousand feet below.

Santa Monica Mountains on a cool, overcast morning.

The California Coast at dawn.

Heading up to Mount Baldy

A bit further north on the PCH, while riding from San Francisco to LA.

Finally, a picture of Big Tujunga Road in the Angeles Forest a few months before I left, just starting to recover from massive forest fires.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Taken on Christmas Day 2010 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Yes, I was really this close.

The soft limestone slowly wears away at the base, giving the islands their distinctive “top-heavy” shapes.

Kayaking, swimming, beaches, cycling and karaoke made for a packed weekend of entertainment. Or, you can just lay on a cot on the top deck of the ship and read in between Vietnamese seafood meals.

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The view from atop the climb to Surprising Cave. As you may be able to guess, it’s a popular stop.

Throughout Ha Long Bay, women row small boats loaded with soda, water, beer and snacks hawking to the passing ships. Their arm muscles could give Popeye a run for his money.

One of the many floating homes. Some are tied together as villages, some only in small groups of two or three. Hanging from the blue tanks are sand-filled buckets, which are used to create clam farms. Sure-footed dogs roam the bamboo web, alerting their owners of any nighttime bandits.

Some of the homes actually had generator-driven power and television.