In a world that should be, the city would still be Saigon. Thank SOB LBJ, who quit the war, for giving America the FU from the grave.
Hanoi has always been Hanoi. Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City.
It’s been a very long time, since there was a war here.
It’s a nice country. Not what you would expect, at least not what I was expecting. Not at all.
It is not Thailand. It is not Cambodia. But it is a very intriguing place.
Maybe it is because I rode a motorcycle for a long time in the US, maybe that is one of the reasons I am just smitten with this place. That said, I do not recommend anyone drive here. I do not recommend it. At all. I drove a motorcycle for about 15,000 miles in Los Angeles, and still was not in the LEAST BIT ready for traffic here. It is sort of completely without rules. Always. From every direction. In every single way you can imagine, then about 10 more you never even thought about. People are (extremely) crowded together, and there is ZERO personal responsibility, so one must always, always, always be on guard.
Do not drive here. Don’t do it.
That said, somehow, there are not many accidents. Not sure why that is. Keep in mind, pretty much everyone driving here, all knows how to drive here.
But I am very much fascinated. Not at all what I had expected.
That said, one must always keep their wits about them, otherwise you’ll lose something. Cameras, cell phones can vanish like that.
But there is almost ZERO violent crime.
I understand there are a passel of people on FR who have very strong opinions about Vietnam. Some very strong opinions.
Just know that was a very long time ago.
People here are somehow, very special.
The mistake was engaging in war. If Washington had never engaged in the ( illegal ) war ; Vietnam would be 20 years further along its capitalist development.
think about it
Hanoi was the name before the communists. Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh city
Wrong. On both geography and history.