When the North Vietnamese conquered Sài Gòn in 1975, they renamed it after their beloved leader, and changed many street names to those of luminaries in the communist pantheon. Still, after 41 years, people in the South as well as the North only refer to it as Sài Gòn, unless they have to make an official or public speech.
From the hazy airplane window, I saw that the city had grown vertically and had also spilled over to the north side of the Sài Gòn river, which was not renamed like the city was.
After we landed at the airport, I had trouble recognizing the old capital. It had grown both in size and in population, from 3 million in 1975 to well over 10 million inhabitants now. There were literally millions of motorbikes and cars competing for space on the narrow streets, and traffic was a nightmare day and night. It seemed impossible that people could ride or drive in such conditions, but they did, and traffic laws were constantly being violated by everyone including pedestrians who climbed over dividers to cross highways because there were no pedestrian overpasses.
Subways, light rail, overpasses exist only on paper in the planning stages. There was a tunnel running under the Sài Gòn river and several bridges were either built or expanded, but nothing seemed to help. Việt Nam has one of the highest highway fatality rates, and it is going to take well into the next decade, or even beyond, before things could get better.
We stayed at a hotel near the Bến Thành market in the center of the city, and from there we walked or sometimes called an Uber taxi to explore the city and find places that we used to know.
There were restaurants and food stalls everywhere in and around the Bến Thành area, or in the rest of the city as well. You can find people eating and having coffee, soft drinks or beer at any time of the day and night.
Some buildings had not changed much.
Nearby all the hotels and buildings had been rebuilt to be taller and more modern, so you won’t find the looks and atmosphere of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American any more.
There were signs that not all had benefited from the economic boom.
Some buildings hardly changed, at least from the outside.In 2005, the statue was reported to be shedding tears on the right cheek. People flocked to the cathedral in great numbers. The tear shedding was not confirmed by any authority.
chuyen said:
Your pictures bring back a lot of my memory from Viet Nam…thank you for sharing these pixes. Have a good day!
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neihtn2012 said:
Glad these pictures help you remember Viet Nam. By the way, our old place of work is now a huge hotel.
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Tiny said:
Wonderful pictures! My favorite is the traffic scene in rain.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thanks Tiny. That was a scary ride. I was sure several times that we were about to hit someone or be hit!
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bayphotosbydonna said:
Fascinating photos albeit scary driving!
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neihtn2012 said:
Thanks Donna. I would not drive a car over there. However, I saw many tourists or expatriates riding around on motorbikes.
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Ticket to Adventures said:
Great post! I visited Saigon a couple of years ago and was really surprised how modern the city was. Traffic in Saigon is a nightmare, millions of motorbikes and cars all over the place making it impossible to cross the road on foot, scary.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you. You are so right about the traffic. We were at firs scared of crossing the streets with all those motorbikes and cars coming at you. But just cross, and somehow they all swerve around you and you get to the other side. 🙂
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dianaed2013 said:
What an insight and traffic problems worse than ours – that is at present
Thank you for this interesting blog
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neihtn2012 said:
Thanks Diana!
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smartphoto78 said:
Full life. Great shot
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you!
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quietsolopursuits said:
Another great look into everyday life there. Forgive my ignorance, but weren’t North Vietnam and South Vietnam merged after the war and the north took over? If so, why is the south allowed to flourish and grow, while the north remains so impoverished and closed off to tourists?
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neihtn2012 said:
Jerry, I think you are thinking about North and South Korea, which are still two different countries, with the North warlike but absolutely impoverished. Viet Nam is now one nation, albeit under a communist regime. I will be blogging about my visit to the North in the next few days or weeks.
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quietsolopursuits said:
You’re right, a major mistake on my part, sorry.
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Dr_IQ said:
I still remember Saigon.
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neihtn2012 said:
When were you there, Dr IQ?
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Dr_IQ said:
I meant that I am old enough to remember Saigon as a country. Never been there though.
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