Come to the centre of Ho Chi Minh City and walk down spacious Nguyen Hue Street which runs from the People’s Committee Building to the Saigon River. It is 60 meters wide and 900 meters long and is totally dedicated to pedestrians.
This may not seem remarkable unless you have travelled to Vietnam and attempted walking in the city. Footpaths or sidewalks are generally wide but are invariably cluttered with parked motorbikes and cars, street stalls, red plastic chairs, miniature pop up restaurants with small carts and barbecues, basketware and roosters in cages, parked or moving bicycles, laundry drying, the contents of shops, people sipping tea or playing cards, motor cycle repairs, renovating materials, broken bricks and uneven surfaces, making it necessary to walk along the road instead.
But then who walks in Vietnam? It is rare to see a pedestrian, other than the occasional loony tourist. The only other walkers are poor female vendors with long bamboo carrying poles full of fruit or other goods to sell, or an ancient shuffling grandmother.
ALMOST ITALIAN 
All that open space defies well entrenched perceptions of Asia, , a rarity indeed
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I was so amazed, I took all the snaps using that art filter, it seemed so unreal.
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Have you discovered cocktail hour on the umpteenth floor of the Sheraton Hotel – a must for real tropical cocktails, scenery and after-dark city-scape and photography. Try to get a seat on the outer area which has no windows.
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oh well that sounds rather gorgeous for our last night in Vietnam. Wish you were here to lead me totally astray.
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That main Viet thoroughfare so reminds me of the Berlin walkway up to Checkpoint Charlie between East and West Berlin – it’s so wide like a boulevard. Very unusual.
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Rare indeed!
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Great open spaces – certainly unusual from your other Vietnam photos. Reminds me a little of Mussolini’s urban planning in Rome.
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Yes, has the slightly grand Fascist look.
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Hee Hee LOL!
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Hey Francesca .. Super images. Seems strange not to see lots of people
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I went early!!!
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This is not at all what I would have expected in Ho Chi Minh City. It all looks more like architectural plans than actual scenes. What an eye opener! Thanks, Francesca.
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