Graffiti, Garbage and Ghosts

Superstition is deeply rooted in many cultures and Asia seems to be no exception. That‘s the reason why there are a lot of haunted places to be explored here. Our photographer Torsten Velden discovered this magical place in Vietnam. We asked him to share his story with us:

© Torsten Velden/Westend61
Torsten Velden

Torsten, looking at this photo it’s hard not to be thrilled and a little scared at the same time. It doesn’t look very welcoming there. Did you feel a little queasy too, up there?
This building complex which once teemed with life now stands nearly eerily vacant, making space for various stories of supernatural forces and activities that seem to inhabit it`s abandoned walls. Reason enough for me to explore this special place by myself.
The house was once called the President Building and its 13 floors were home to hundreds of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. And this is exactely where the bad luck started – 13 floors – which to many is considered an unlucky number.
It was not until they finished the 13th floor that many untimely and fatal accidents began to happen, leaving the workers frightened. As the story goes, to sooth their fears the owner brought in a shaman to address the structure’s spiritual deficiencies. They secretly bought from a hospital the dead bodies of four virgins and buried them at each of the four corners of the building. This should – according to Feng Shui – protect it against unsavoury spiritual guests.
The President Building was finally finished and good luck prevailed. The owner was delighted when the US Army chose to rent the entire building to house its soldiers. But as time passed, the President’s glory began to fade. After reunification, Vietnamese families moved into the building and ever since, the house is known to be haunted. Residents speak of odd sounds and voices and even visual manifestations. They’re convinced that they are forced to witness and relive some of the tragic and horrendous incidents that occurred in the building years ago.
Ghost stories aside, the by far bigger threat is the severe damage that the passing of time has done to this 54 year old building.The poor conditions and ghostly atmosphere have made it a perfect place for thieves and drug addicts. You can’t enter the building on your own but need to ‘hire’ one of the caretakers to escort you, for your own safety. Upon entering, you step into the set of a horror movie: garbage, broken glass, wrecked furniture, trash and graffiti strewn all over the place. The dim light of the afternoon sun casts a low shadow over this scene, playing tricks on one’s mind.
The main attraction is certainly the breathtaking rooftop. A photographer’s dream! There’s this big pool with derelict fountains in the middle of the terrace. Although it`s all dusty and empty now and everything in a total disarray, the opulence from the past is still evident.
For this photo I climbed out of a window to reach some kind of balcony with no railings left. Hence, I fully got to enjoy the phenomenal view over Ho Chi Minh with it’s beautiful mosaics of small houses.

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