A pre-McDonalds Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is sprawling. It is Vietnam's largest and most populous city. I don't' know the exact size or population but to the naked eye it seems similar to New York City, Tokyo, or other huge, sprawling cities; it just doesn't have the skyscrapers. There are a few tall buildings but I don't think any are above 30 stories - - yet. There is a lot of construction with a lot of plans for more and more development so I would guess that in 5 years this place will look very different from how it looks today. And I predict there will be a McDonalds within that period of time; guaranteed. KFC is here complete with statues of the Colonel outside. Plus, there's a push to remove the street vendors: the people who carry large quantities of merchandise to sell on their heads, backs, and motorbikes. That will definitely eliminate people following you on the street asking you to purchase postcards and other trinkets but it will take away the charm of this city and country, in my opinion. I like the idea that I'm able to purchase soup from someone who makes it all before my eyes on the sidewalk while buses and motorbikes rush by. I like that people are able to set up their 3-D greeting card business (pop-up images cut from paper) on the street and that they sit and cut the images for their cards while I watch. And I might rather to buy oranges from a toothless, smiling woman with hundreds of them balanced on the front and back of her bike - - with one or two sliced in half so I can see the quality of her merchandise instead of going to a market. What I DON'T want to see are all of the air conditioned shops going in with "greeters" trying to sell me the products in the store. That's what I avoid in the states like the plague! "How are you today?" "Can I help you find anything?" "Did you find everything you were looking for?" Yuck. That's why I shop online. And that's why I visit a place like HCMC. The shoes I bought today are made in Sapa, a town in northern Vietnam (VN) on the border of China. I visited Sapa in 2000 and loved it. It is an area rich with culture due to the many ethnic minorities that live there: people who dress in their native clothing vs. Western-style clothing, people who lead treks through the countryside and sell their handiwork like fabrics and bags made from indigo hand-dyed fabrics. But now today I found out that the government pays these ethnic minorities (subsidises them) to continue dressing in their original garb and prepare their handiwork to sell in order to keep the tourist trade up. The government knows that that's what tourists want so it continues and thrives. But back to my shoes: they match other stuff I bought when I was in Sapa in 2000 and they fit so well. I love them!! They were comparatively expensive at $24US per pair. But keep in mind they were made by the ethnic minorities in Sapa...