The Streets of Saigon

I just can't get used to "Ho Chi Minh City".  I'm not the only one.  I heard the "Saigon" reference a lot.  The traffic in Saigon wasn't nearly as hectic as the traffic here in Bangalore.  The photo below shows my conveyance of choice, Hoi the economist, social scientist cum bike rick driver.  I have introduced Hoi an earlier post.  He was a likeable guy in spite of his high prices.

This is the view from the bike rick as Hoi makes a left turn into traffic.

Scooters or two-wheelers are a common conveyance in the Asian cities I have visited.  Must be mostly an economy thing coupled with how easily they navigate the congestion.  People push them far behond the bounds of anything the original designers ever imagined.  Here are some images from Saigon traffic.

I am also amazed at how kids are taken on these scooters.  I suppose at some point they are used to it but I see children on scooters riding in ways that could never happen in the west.  In the image below I like the contrast offered by the Nike swish on this little guy's hat.

The family that rides together......well something like that.

I love the expression on this guy's face and I have no idea what is prompting it.

Scooter as light hauler.  In the west we would do this with a Ford F-150.

Here are some images of Saigon at night.  It was hot and humid.  People tended to come out at night.  Good idea.

 

This was taken from the top of the Sheridan hotel.  It's a five star hotel in the heart of Saigon.  Randy Rose's son Chris lives and teaches in Saigon.  He and his girlfriend, Trinh, took me to a bar atop the hotel.  The band playing was from Cuba or at least some of them were.  Very hip place.  Good slice of upper middle class Saigon night life.

Can you spot the Cubans?

Theorem:  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Corollary 1: A pretty girl is always worth a picture.

We are all in a hurry.  I suppose it could be considered an artifact of our Anthropocene era. Whatever the theory I like some aspects of the Asian style as they go about this frenzy.  They always seem to make time, even if it is only an instant, to stop and eat or drink something.  This gives rise to all manner of street-side offerings.  Here are a few examples.

I was fascinated by this.  I don't know if these are phone wires or internet wires.  I am pretty sure they are not power although there might be some power lines in there somewhere.  If they are phone lines it makes a strong case for the sign in background.

Yes, we lost the war.  Here are some signs of that.

This is the Saigon river.  It flows into the sea not far from here.  It did not look inviting.

This will be the tallest building in Viet Nam when it is completed.  The work goes on 24/7.  Personally I would volunteer for the night shift.