SAIGON

Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh is nearly always called “Saigon.”
These photos are from over 25 years ago, a time when the city and the country were opening the doors to capitalism and foreign influence.
It was a run down, dirty city, but that was what made it exciting. There was so much to see, so much life on the streets. Foreigners scrambled to purchase factories, or open restaurants, or source local manufacturing. Locals spied opportunities in the emerging tourist market.
The government and the mafia saw opportunities everywhere.
Local war veterans drove cyclos or started small trading. Foreign veterans returned to the scene of their horrors, and stayed.