It’s Just a Name
I am currently in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam – a city of only 300,000 people and no real purpose for tourists. Except for a couple of guys looking for some interesting monkeys come tomorrow at 4:30 AM. I really do not like the name Ho Chi Minh City. Reminds me of Leningrad or maybe Havana will be called Castroville in the future. But that is the official name of the old Saigon. Or is it? I started to notice the locals calling it Saigon and I asked about it. They tell me that the north renamed it HCM, but they are in the north and the locals never changed it as far as they are concerned. Did the people of St Petersburg still use that name? I would not be surprised if that is true. So forget anything I said about HCM, I have never heard of such a place. I crossed the Mekong Delta by air and landed at Saigon. Unfortunately, the taint of communism cannot be wiped clean so quickly. Here I am in a bustling country of 90 million free-marketeers, but there are plenty signs of red such as hammer and sickles, old Soviet tanks in the middle of roundabouts and people’s party headquarters. That red shit just doen’t fade fast enough. Some memories of Cuba today, but they pass quickly as I watch really busy and smiling people selling anything they can and buzzing around on their motorbikes. Supposedly 9 million people in Saigon and 2 million motorbikes – WOW!
Tags: Asia, vietnam
vagabondrick
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