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“Backpacked Westerners” area
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
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I photographed this vendor of miscellaneous goods in “Backpacked Westerners” area where local lives are pivoting on the presence of foreign travelers. Officially, this commune is named “Phạm Ngũ Lão” after the name of the street with the legend as home base to most of South Vietnamese newspapers before April-1975. During the period from 1968 , Phạm Ngũ Lão Street has been nick-named “the media street”. With the rare exceptions of a few editorial offices like Sóng Thần, Độc Lập and Trắng Đen on the nearby Võ Tánh Street — most or all other newspapers and magazines set their offices here on one side while the Saigon Railroad Station occupied the other side.
In the ‘80s as government adopted the “Đổi Mới” (Renovation) Policy with windows open to the outside world, Phạm Ngũ Lão Street has been changed into khu Tây Balô (backpacked Westerners area) and been misspelled as Pha Nga Lu Street.
Actually one side of the street has been developed into backpack traveling services while the railroad station was converted into a large park, and the two streets Bùi-Viện and Đề-Thám crossing the center of the area became international crossroad with its 24-hour life.
While the international crossroad maintains its rich and noisy activities 24/7, the traditional Vietnamese life has not been changed as you can feel the humid colors, the damp darkness, the poverty and difficulty, the stink odor of urine, and the fatigue on each body of local people who stayed wide awake in the recent 24 hours to make the living.
Foreigners used to treat the Phạm Ngũ Lão backpacker magnet as a Khao San Road of Saigon. They come here to enjoy the liveliest and busiest tourist areas of the city with a cluster of guesthouses, internet shop, cafeterias and travel booking offices while domestic tourists come to "see the hippies". If you want to see the cultures melt, welcome to international crossroad!
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- fallan
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 227 W: 19 N: 301]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(1504) - [2007-05-12 8:50]
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Great colors. It's good to see her eyes under the brim of the hat.
Attractive face of the young vendor.
Backpack Westerner Area is on the axis where I ride to work and back 5 days a week on Tran Hung Dao Blvd. I think I may run into this beautiful lady one day.
Regards,
Hey Thanh: fine slice of street kitsch: yeah, I'll have a back-scratcher please... Actually a beautiful portrait, occupational at that. regards, c
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- TRASH
![Gold Star Critiquer [C: 199 W: 0 N: 0]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-n-n.gif)
(0) - [2007-05-12 22:43]
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My children are boys, no girl. But the more I looked at her, the more I kept thinking "what if I failwed to escape by boat and she is my daughter today without a stable life...?"
She is pretty but seems to me her fuure is not, while those who are members of the Party are super rich...
God bless her!
MQ
Hi Thanh,
this is a very nice portrait, very well colored. Good framing. I like it a lot. TFS.
Marc
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1761 W: 65 N: 1036]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(20510)