Snapped Back: Why a Recent Photo of Saigon's District 2 Sent Me Down Memory Lane
As I get set to return to Asia next Friday, to meet with clients and visit with friends, I'm reminded of August 2007, when I became a resident of Saigon, on a peninsula of District 2 called Thu Thiem.
The reminder is in the form of a photo (see below) snapped recently and shared the other day by Carl Robinson, a former AP correspondent who loves nothing more these days than to share memories, stories and images with the 250-plus-member Google discussion group "Vietnam Old Hacks".
The photo was taken from the observation deck of the new Bitexco Financial Tower, by far the tallest building in Vietnam now at 68 stories high. The frame transports me back in time because of what it shows.
Or, rather, what it doesn't show. And that is so much of what surrounded me when living in Thu Thiem -- miles-long rows of modest houses, restaurants, shops and markets that line Luong Dinh Cua Street, and giant billboards along the Saigon River and next to the little ferry terminal that shuttles motorcyclists and pedestrians between the peninsula and city center.
It's all been ripped up. Where those houses once stood, piles of rubble now do. Where the billboards once towered, a patch of dirt braces itself for what's to come soon -- a new and modern Thu Thiem, exemplified by office complexes and a multi-lane highway.
I never expected Saigon to remain the way it was when I first set foot on its soil. But I must admit it saddens me some to see it develop as fast as it has.
Especially Thu Thiem. My ride down to the ferry terminal most days came courtesy of a soft-spoken man named Sang (seen here with my bro). We had a hard time conversing, but I was able to discern he lived his entire life in that neighborhood, was married and had a baby. I imagine they've been pushed out, and the thought of that breaks my heart.
The reminder is in the form of a photo (see below) snapped recently and shared the other day by Carl Robinson, a former AP correspondent who loves nothing more these days than to share memories, stories and images with the 250-plus-member Google discussion group "Vietnam Old Hacks".
The photo was taken from the observation deck of the new Bitexco Financial Tower, by far the tallest building in Vietnam now at 68 stories high. The frame transports me back in time because of what it shows.
Or, rather, what it doesn't show. And that is so much of what surrounded me when living in Thu Thiem -- miles-long rows of modest houses, restaurants, shops and markets that line Luong Dinh Cua Street, and giant billboards along the Saigon River and next to the little ferry terminal that shuttles motorcyclists and pedestrians between the peninsula and city center.
It's all been ripped up. Where those houses once stood, piles of rubble now do. Where the billboards once towered, a patch of dirt braces itself for what's to come soon -- a new and modern Thu Thiem, exemplified by office complexes and a multi-lane highway.
I never expected Saigon to remain the way it was when I first set foot on its soil. But I must admit it saddens me some to see it develop as fast as it has.
Especially Thu Thiem. My ride down to the ferry terminal most days came courtesy of a soft-spoken man named Sang (seen here with my bro). We had a hard time conversing, but I was able to discern he lived his entire life in that neighborhood, was married and had a baby. I imagine they've been pushed out, and the thought of that breaks my heart.
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