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Ho Chi Minh City ( Saigon ) |
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Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as still
known to many, is Vietnam's largest city
with a growing population of around 7
million. This is a city on the go 24
hours a day, where everybody seems to be
busy either buying, selling, studying,
working or just enjoying themselves.
Despite the fact that modern high-rise
buildings have begun to dominate the
skyline in recent years there are still
many fine examples of French colonial
architecture in Ho Chi Minh City such as
the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Saigon
Post Office and the former Hotel de
Ville. A stroll down Dong Khoi Street,
the Rue Catinat of Graham Greene's The
Quiet American , will reveal more
colonial classics like the Continental,
Grand and Majestic hotels as well as
dozens of tempting boutiques and
galleries. Ho Chi Minh City is a real
shoppers' paradise with modern shopping
centers and trendy boutiques rubbing
shoulders with traditional street
markets. The city's best-known market is
Ben Thanh Market where you can buy
anything from fresh fruit and flowers to
the latest imported electronics and
cosmetics. One of the most interesting
places to visit in Ho Chi Minh City is
the former Presidential Palace, now
renamed the Reunification Hall. This
building remains almost exactly as it
was in the morning of 30th April 1975
when the Saigon regime surrendered to
the victorious liberation forces and the
country was reunified for the first time
since 1945. For more war-related history
the War Remnants Museum with its thought
provoking display of weapons and
photographs is also worth visiting.
Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City's Chinatown, is
the frenetic commercial centre, where
every building has a shop or workshop on
the ground floor. Cholon also has the
city's largest market,
Binh Tay Market, and some fine pagodas
including Thien Hau Pagoda, with its
huge incense coils suspended from the
ceiling. For wining and dining it is
hard to beat Ho Chi Minh City. The city
is crammed full of restaurants and bars
ranging from simple pavement stalls
where you can buy a bowl of noodles for
a few cents to sophisticated restaurants
serving fine European cuisine at a
fraction of the price you would pay in
Europe. Ho Chi Minh City's nightlife has
become very cosmopolitan in recent years
and there are literally hundreds of
bars, pubs, nightclubs and discotheques
to pick from for a night in the town.
Further a field, popular day trips from
Ho Chi Minh City include the incredible
Cu Chi Tunnels built by Vietnamese
resistance fighters during the long
years of struggle for independence and
the bizarre Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh.
Saigon
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