Saigon is both ghastly and a wonderment. Motor horns pepper
all hours of the day, fruit markets remain endless and its residents never tire
of staring at that new foreign face. Life in a Goldfish bowl. One can, however,
forgive its shortcomings and clear the moss and debris to reveal the beauty
beneath.
Within some of its urban ugliness there lies such variety,
such a contrast in wealth that it is easy to forget that it is a country of
peasants and farmers. Dong Khoi (English: brave uprising) plays host to such
elegance. Upon that street lie top gourmet restaurants serving Western fare - a
far cry from the boiled cows heads and pig trotters served up on street stalls.
Alongside those are skyscraping five star hotels (complete with rooftop pools),
decadent bars and rows of fancy shops. Its meander down to the smelly and
polluted Saigon River is a gentle journey showcasing the rapid development of
South East Asia and the continued globalization of the world.
Elsewhere, District 7 and its sleepy American suburban look provides
a sharp juxtaposition to the crowded noisy innards of District 1 and the
backpacker area. Here long stretches of newly placed road remain empty, clean
air can be breathed and high rise residential development expands before your very
eyes.
However, in making the journey from centre to suburb across
the myriad of bridges and treacherous road ways, lay the shacks and huts that
visitors to Saigon so often skirt over in their usual visit of only a few
days. No running water, no electricity,
boiling heat and bad sanitation. Not that those that live in these areas would
ever let you know, smiling incessantly from days beginning to its wearying end.
Elsewhere whole families sit out on the streets from dawn to dusk sleeping on
make shift beds and touting their wares.
Vietnam makes it possible to waver between delight,
enchantment, disgust and horror rapidly and often. It is a sensual feast, whether
subjected to the seeping scummy smell of its sewers, or averting ones nose to
the familiar fragrance of frying fish, beef or pork. The beauty of Saigon is
not so much its aesthetic but the variety and the constant surprises it throws
up. The best surprise of all is that every day you see something new, exciting
and something seemingly a million miles from home.
