Vung Tau is a mix of some new and mostly old structures. Faded, peeling paint is ubiquitous. Sidewalks are uneven but walkable. Traffic is on the move constantly but not intensely so. I can easily cross the street here, much more so than in Ho Chi Minh City. In the time I've been sitting here I've seen two pushcart food vendors pass by. Combined with all the commercial activity I see in the shops, it hardly looks like what I would expect in a Communist country. I recall from 1971 that I did not expect the south's enterprise to be destroyed by a Communist victory. I'm sure southerners had to stay low for a while but if present impressions are any indication they've figured out the new system quite well.
Today I feel pretty comfortable walking around. Yesterday Maggie and I walked near the hotel and I felt very obvious and uneasy--all the warnings about petty crime I read in the guidebook and maybe some residual from 40 years ago left me feeling threatened. Today it is less so and will likely diminish by the time we leave in January.
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