For a variety of reasons – the most important one being the dispiriting experience of the Presidential election campaign – 2024 has not been a productive year for my postings at this site. But I thought I would spend a bit of time on the final evening of this calendar year sharing images taken in and around Ho Chi Minh City (a/k/a Saigon) during the first week of October.

Not having done appropriate research prior to my trip, I was rather surprised by the size and vitality of Ho Chi Minh City [HCMC]. It’s estimated population of 9.5 million exceeds New York City’s by a million-and-a-half, while the median age of its inhabitants is nearly nine years younger than NYC’s. And, in contrast to the Big Apple’s two percent annual decline, HCMC grew by 247,000 in 2024 – a number only ten percent smaller than the City of Buffalo’s current population.

But enough with statistics and demographics. Here are a variety of mages and messages that caught my attention.

This is Vietnam’s tallest building, the 81-story Landmark 81, adjacent to the Saigon River:

A nighttime image at “Times Square” HCMC:

A place to burn joss paper to send to those in the afterlife:

Motor bikes rule the streets and sidewalks:

Motorists are assisted by reminders of how many seconds remain when waiting for a red light:

The architecture reflects the many colonizers who occupied Vietnam. For example, here’s the entrance, followed by images from the interior, of the main post office building:

There were plenty of reminders (in addition to the average daily highs of 91 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime lows hovering near 80 degrees) that I was not strolling through South Buffalo’s Cazenovia Park:

There are numerous reminders that Vietnam is a nation of multiple religious faiths:

My most lasting memories are of messages that I read and images that I observed at the War Remnants Museum. This institution places the so-called “Vietnam War” into a daunting perspective for its American visitors:

Upon entry, you are immediately reminded of the juxtaposition between hallowed words in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and our nation’s actions in Vietnam:

My seven days in Vietnam provided me with both numerous insights on the people, culture, geography, and history of this Southeast Asian nation, and a better understanding of the harm that the country of my birth can unleash on a distant nation when hubris and politics fuel its actions.

With All Due Respect,

Art Giacalone

P.S. My journey to Vietnam is the only trip I have made in my non-adventurous life requiring a visa. The mere mention of that document reminds me of the fear that possessed me the entire week in Vietnam that I would somehow lose or misplace this crucial piece of paper. But I still have it – puckered and wrinkled – along with two other souvenirs of my adventure: