saigon scribbles

me been loving loving this brief step into the gigantic, frenetic, rainy, massively populated world that is vietnam. its been so so short, lots spent squatting under awnings in alleys with tiny old ladies or smiling at non-colinguists over graham greene and sweet potatoes with sugar in the endless alleyways of old saigon. little square rooms with families (literally) nit-picking, tiny quite scary dogs being canoodled with affection, other dogs in less beloved states, shuttered windows upon shuttered windows in rainstreaked multicoloured walls, set about each other in vaguely organised overhangs and crossings..and then the big streets, the massive wide boulevards with one lane for cars and trucks and the other for the rainbows that are saigon urbanites heading off on their business - the compulsory helmets of everycolour god has made (and among them us army helmets - my friend the painter wore as an act of quiet youthful defiance, and spoke with nostalgia about the state of the city in the 60;s, old pictures of young women with bobs and miniskirts riding vespas his first offerings in showing me his pictures) and the giant capes for the rain (as unexpectedly hard and fast as the traffic that flowed not at the 20km/h of phnom penh at its busiest, but twice the speed, unbelievable assertiveness and pushing of the drivers who, when the road began to fill, would break the banks and saturate the pavement space, curving round trimmed decorative trees and leaving the few pedestrians grim-set and heavy-jawed, focused as jesus as they walked between) a techicoloured body-condom fest.
it is a huge huge city, ho chi minh, way way beyond the phnom penh polis thats been the beating big city heart of my life for last 8 months. hcm made me nostalgic for london in a way, though its nowhere near as diverse and much much faster moving; more so it made me feel that prodding reality of this other land, other reality, this sense of a trembling abundant rich deep cultural bellybutton of so many people's lives - yes it was this that reminded me of london, something of the faces of the people in the big cities, a measured anonymity, the trajectories of one and one's meaning among the scribbled infinities around.
i established a short habit of drinking beer and coffee a paintings reproduction shop on the backpacker street and had long chats about van gogh and bonnard and the promise of socialism and its disappointments and about law and taxes and freedoms with the young painter there and (throuhg his translations) with two others. my motodop driver and onno's (we met up after a few days which has been great) were angry and disappointed too - the 50% taxes making great roads and beautifully shaped trees but education requiring payment for from primary all the way up, and health service being a privilege of those who can afford it.. cambodia at least attempts a free education service, and the lack of this basic care shocked me a bit with what my notion of socialism held to be core provisions). one of them fought in the american army and despite his three years 're-education' programme is technically illegal here still, cant own land or work as an official tourist guide (but appreciated his luck in being able to speak english with tourists).
had a great meeting in the history museum with a great young student who spoke great englsh but just couldnt get my accent, so i wrote questions and he told me all kinds of things about the ceremonial drums with female buffalo skin on one side and male on another, we discussed fertility rites and the mandarin governmental system and death ceremonies and the fact (as he said) that vietnamese like remembering their success against the mongols because it strengthens the identity as winners in the world. he was a born anthropologist, critical and drawn to social-functional and symbolic analyses, and my failure to ask him for his contact details feels like a lesson to be learned. lots more questions i wont be able to ask him, but meeting such a sparky mind was, as always, great.
from the glimpses and crossings, people do seem really sharp here, though the recurring sense of 'occupation by the north' really (probably v ignorantly) caught me offguard, and has made me hungry for going north sometime in the future.

phew! an update!! by a rainy beach and thinking to cross to ratanakiri mountains in north east of cambodia on the way home as leaping much further north takes time and money. hope to be back. love lovexoxoxoxo