Fifty years ago, when the longest and most unpopular war in American history finally ended, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was left traumatised by the conflict and cut off from the world. This was a cruel fate for a city that had in its short mercurial history blossomed on the back of US military spending and international trade.
Boatloads of Vietnamese, fearing their future under the rule of the Communist party, took their chances on the seas, never imagining they would ever wish to return. And through the 1980s, not even the Saigonese could have imagined the city's re-emergence as a rapidly growing financial powerhouse in the 21st century. But for the last three decades overseas Vietnamese of all ages have been flocking back to what has become one of the fastest growing cities in Southeast Asia. They're not alone.
Today Ho Chi Minh City, renamed in 1976 in honour of Vietnam's founding father, is a pulsating and multicultural hub that is welcoming the world (yes, American investors included).
Its powering economy and vibrant start-up culture are undoubtedly part of the attraction for Generations X, Y and Z. But more than anything, it's the city's age-old hospitality, its glorious food offerings and fun-loving social scene, and the seductive Saigonese way of life that wins everyone over. Even fans of its northern rival Hanoi can't resist the lure of the southern hub, the writer of this collection included.
In these 10 essays, Dublin-born Connla Stokes, who has spent a quarter of a century in Vietnam, describes a heaving city where locals and residents bask in the low-key wonder of their surroundings, and where food and drink, above everything else, brings one and all together, day after day, night after night. Follow Connla into the back alleys and side streets of a metropolis that, at first glance, never seems to catch its breath. Learn how to love the rainy season, why locals love to nhau (feasting and drinking for no particular purpose) and kill time in one of the city's countless cafes. Discover the pleasure of slinking your way through a typical Saigonese neighbourhood or following a dimly lit staircase in a crumbling modernist apartment block to find a svelte speakeasy or rooftop taproom. And feel the heartache of falling for the heritage of yesteryear, which is slowly being razed to make way for modern developments in a city that many believe will soon be a megalopolis.
But fear not, even though Ho Chi Minh City is already home to over 10 million people, and nearly as many motorbikes, you can still find oodles of 'old Saigon' flavour – away from the glitzy rooftop bars, and shimmering high-rises, the city's timeless charm endures and its residents' love of life prevails. These poignant essays are a reminder that the time to go to it, and fall for it, is now.
