However, unlike other travel books, which often pay attention to describing what is impressive and eye-catching, this magazine talks about the author’s deep feelings for Saigon – the second homeland of Vietnam. Mrs. In addition, the book is also the feelings and attachments of the author to the regions she has passed through, with quiet and affectionate things. Saigon book, nostalgia travel (1st edition), Labor Publishing House and Chibooks published. Photo: Chibooks. Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen was born in Dien Khanh, Khanh Hoa. In 1977, she studied at the University of Fine Arts, Ho Chi Minh City. After 4 years of studying here, she had 3 more years to work in Ho Chi Minh City before moving back to work at Khanh Hoa Department of Science and Technology until her retirement in 2014. In 2015, to live close to her children, she decided to choose Ho Chi Minh City as a place to settle down for her family. “I decided to choose Saigon as a place to settle down for my family, a land that is very loving and generous to me as well as to many people. And Nha Trang, please keep it as a place to go. I love both of these places. I love you so much, I can’t say it all. And a small part of this love lies in Saigon, roaming nostalgia “, author Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen shared. And also starting from here, with the thought that if I don’t write about Ho Chi Minh City – Saigon, it will be extremely regrettable, Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen has set a goal to learn and write about Ho Chi Minh City and start the beginning of the journey on the interlaced roads across the city. With a camera and a bus as her main vehicle, she “scoured” the whole city and went to places that even people who have lived in this city for many years may not know. And from this journey (in the period from 2015-2018) Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen was formed Saigon, roaming nostalgia. Author Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen. Photo: Chibooks. The book consists of 38 articles, divided into 5 parts. Part 1: Saigon , including 15 articles: Morning walk, There is a seat like that!, Where is the sound of cicadas?, Not far away!, Life is still flowing!, There is a very young Saigon!… These are stories and places that are encountered daily by the author in the process of getting acquainted and attached to his second homeland. For Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen, it is very natural for Saigon to become the land of the inhabitants, and each person, with his own reasons, has come to this city as a charm, in which the author no exceptions. Having known Saigon since 1973, when she first came to this land with the first three times, then lived and studied for 7 years here, now coming back, Dao Thi Thanh Tuyen has integrated into its flow, to write. so simple, everyday stories. The author also explores the peaceful, peaceful beauty of the city behind the skyscrapers, behind the hustle and bustle, but only when walking, cycling or sitting on a certain bus route. is being able to meet, to be able to hear, to be able to enjoy it all… Not only writing about Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, roaming nostalgia talking about some other places, some other countries. Part 2: Tra Vinh with article Green trees, blue sky, white clouds and rice fields and part 3: Ha Giang with article RED Quiet in Meo Vac , the author has meticulously recounted his trip with his own perspective and discovery. Part 4: Southeast Asia with 8 articles: Warm eyes, Some young Vietnamese I met in Parke (Laos), Four days through four countries, Afternoon rain in Yangon… These are the author’s travelogue notes from trips to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia, bringing new experiences to even those who have been to these lands. Part 5: Wandering the nostalgia, There are 13 articles: Ancient citadel, Eating squid cake at Chut market, Remembering Cua Be Nha Trang, Fence vegetables, Country soul!, Missing eggplant… The author brings us back to Nha Trang with its beloved places, with memories of childhood, with “ specialties “Beautiful homeland, nowhere else has… Comments on Saigon, roaming nostalgia, Literature doctor Ha Thanh Van said: “Reading this book, we know more about the beautiful scenery, know more about the food, know more about the places and the most important thing we know about Vietnam. , especially Saigon has a lot of very beautiful places that we can roam. In addition, we can also open our eyes to other countries.”

That apartment building is very old, looking up from below, I think I’m in the center of Saigon because the walls are peeling off, revealing the light red brick color, sad; iron color rust, color time coating thick layer; the old, very old color, the color of opaque eyes witnessing many changes, kept secret in the heart and did not tell anyone. Going inside, what impressed me was not the rows of electric meters dotted on either side of the wall or the clotheslines fluttering in the wind, but the covered outdoor-style stairs that I’m sure. that the roof could not block a heavy rain and wind. The old-fashioned staircase, only seen in movies, features French architecture, crossing two blocks but not the main way up, but I don’t think it’s an exit because it only stops to the second floor, and leading up to some houses. This place has a cool breeze, so I guess it might be the stairs to get some fresh air. From here I can take multi-angle pictures of a historic Saigon. Opposite the apartment I am standing in, built in the French period, is a building with 70s architecture, temporarily called the American period, with most of the straight lines, the iron frames have almost no unique patterns. Saigon book, nostalgia roaming. Photo: Chi Books. On a small wall there is a frame of barbed wire reminiscent of a time of war and beyond is the Bitexco tower, a modern icon located in the heart of Saigon. I moved the camera a little and found in the bottom corner a wire clothesline with small clips attached. All in one. In the heart of a modern Saigon, there are things that are a bit messy, messy, lazy, and sloppy. On a patch of red brick, ferns emerge from an empty square. On another wall, in addition to ferns, there are strange trees or huts emerging from between the bricks, which cling tightly as a symbol of strong vitality. I descended the outdoor stairs and entered the main stairway. There are stairs with traces of mosaic tiles, stair handrails with typical patterns of French architecture. The elevator room looks old, the mooring lines are tangled. Everything is too old. More than a hundred years ago, this place was once a place for people with a standard lifestyle like civil servants, for example. The higher I go, the more the past opens up in front of me, an old Saigon in the French colonial period. And it’s surprising that next to the old, bold doorways of that time, there are cafes, colorful clothing stalls. Strolling around the floors of the apartment building, I entered a cafe on the top floor. I walked through a small, cozy space decorated with old objects as reminiscent of such a time. I chose to sit on the balcony overlooking the Bank building on the other side. The river below the boats moved slowly up and down. On a wall with many ventilation holes, sparrows chirped, naughtily dropped in a little and then flew away. That day, at that corner of the shop, I felt time stopped, as if I had left the noisy space below and was busy pursuing my own thoughts…

[…] When I first came to Saigon in the summer of 1972, my father let me go by plane. Perhaps, it was an unforgettable experience with the eagerness of a 13-year-old boy to go out for the first time in his life by such modern means, to a famous and magnificent city known only through books, television or songs; in other words, is somewhere too splendid, luxurious only in dreams.. The father and son went into the house of a relative whom my father called aunt. I remember, the old woman was about 70 years old, her hair was white, and her hair was in a neat bun. A small house in an alley on Yen Do Street (now Ly Chinh Thang), fell in love a few sections. There was a smell behind the house that I couldn’t describe what it was, years later I kept calling it “the smell of Saigon”, rising from the water below (visible through the cracks in the wooden floor). I just wanted to be taken to the street by my father, somewhere to escape this dark smell. However, that family was large and my father had to sit down and talk to them so many things that I could only wander in front of the house looking at the restaurants in the alley, not daring to step out behind, just afraid of encountering the horrible smell. that great. Then I gradually got used to the smell (taste) of Saigon (tired, lack, hunger, despair, hope, joy, sadness…) after having seven years of studying and working here. In the evenings when I go to teach about cycling uphill to Kieu Bridge, I think, sometimes it is the color and smell of canal water that makes it hard for people to forget Saigon. Many years later, when I returned to Nha Trang to work, I still had business trips to Saigon only to realize, if I had a vacation to go somewhere, the first place I would choose was still Saigon. Until the kids went to school here, my trips became more frequent. Saigon book, nostalgia roaming. Photo: ChiBooks. Ever since the discovery of a Saigon scented with porcelain flowers, sweet with the scent of the wall, I turned back the route of walking, did not go to Gia Dinh park but changed direction to the embankment. I can turn any way from Phan Xich Long. Sometimes I wander in small alleys, through spontaneous markets serving small villages that have been associated with the (probably) eternal morning rhythm, from the butcher to the vegetable shop. The alleys of Saigon are not much different from when I was 13 years old until now, more than 50 years. Still the greeting with a slightly southern accent, such innocent and resigned female figures. And even though intentionally… lost my way, I still reached the embankment. The sun was just rising, a sharp, round pink slowly emerged behind the tall buildings. The wind caresses. Some people walk, people swing on gym equipment, people sit on stone benches… The road around the embankment is very empty in the morning, making me see how spacious Saigon is. Passing a garbage collection station, I stopped and observed the daily work of the workers of the urban environment company. The crane from above picks up the trash cans to the canoes parked below. There are two workers to pick up and stow. The canoe started to back up when there were enough barrels and stopped a dense group of water hyacinths, each with a club, pulling the water hyacinth up and putting it in the box. The other canoes continued to run in different directions. I had mornings walking to the embankment, enjoying the fresh air, completely cool and no longer had the “smell of Saigon” of the age of 13. In the free evening, I invited my children to drive to the embankment and watch. The apartment block is printed on the black sky, there are small bright squares, colorful lights, as beautiful as a picture. When looking at the lonely moon, how vast is the sky! When I go to work, before going home, I run around the section of Kieu Bridge – Hoang Hoa Tham Bridge – Tran Khanh Du Bridge to see a row of high-rise buildings “lighting” behind the colorful periwinkle flowers, rows of green ornamental areca trees. , rows of white and red porcelain trees, rows of thin-walled micro-wings, purple mausoleums, yellow scallops… and turned the car around when it hit the roadblock at the construction site. Just remember, all these years in and out of Saigon, I’ve never driven along the Nhieu Loc canal, but heard it’s just over eight kilometers. I asked my son, the middle generation 9X, in the old summers when my mother let me go to Saigon to play, did I ever smell the bad smell of this channel. My child answered no. For a moment, life is long, then you will taste the “smell” of Saigon, the smell of life, but completely no longer have the Saigon smell of when I was 13… Tell your children, when you are tired, try to ignore all the troubles, hustles, fights, and hustles out there and think of Saigon’s porcelain-scented moon seasons like this one to forget and recharge. next step!