HO CHI MINH CITY OR SAIGON

• Brief information

As you know, the Ho Chi Minh city or the following name called by local people Saigon is the biggest trading city of Vietnam with over 10 million people living there. HCMC is not only the center of the economy and finance of Vietnam, but it’s also famous for its history and famous attractions. HCMC is a must if you want to blend yourself into the modern life of modern Vietnam. If you decided to visit Vietnam then HCMC or Saigon is one of the cities that you should never miss out on from your travel plan.

• History and Culture

Saigon is a young land, but its modern history has been full of ups and downs. During the French colonial period, Saigon was considered to be the Oriental Pearl or Far East Pearl and then during the resistance war against America (the Vietnam War), Saigon became the capital of South Vietnam. After 1975, the name Saigon was changed into Ho Chi Minh city to show respect to Uncle Ho. Gradually, HCMC developed so rapidly and became the most important center of economy, finance, culture and tourism of Vietnam. You will need to learn how to cross the street with thousand of motorcycles on the road. So the rule is no rule in the way of our Vietnamese driving system. Good luck 

• Interesting facts

HCMC has a lot of different districts and each district is famous for different things. For instance, district 1 and 3 are the downtown with all the restaurants, hotels and night clubs, district 2 and 7 are the new rising rich area, district 5 and 10 are China town, district 4 and 8 get a bad reputation for gangsters what used to be, and so on.

THING TO DO

Destinations

• Reunification Palace: Reunification is more well-known for its former name which was Independence Palace and some people call it the White House of Vietnam during the Resistance War Against America. In the reunification palace, you can learn about the government of South Vietnam, South Vietnam’s Presidents’ life as well as some important historical events.
• War Remnant Museum: War Remnant Museum is a place that you must visit to learn and understand more about the war in Vietnam in a different perspective. Right there, you can see how brutal and cruel the war was and its destruction to Vietnamese and its current consequences, too. From the My Lai massacre to the effect of Agent Orange, all the war crimes will be exposed.
• Ben Thanh Market: This over a 100-year-old market is a very interesting spot if you want some souvenirs for your friends and family, you can find almost everything you need with the enthusiastic assistance from the traders. However, you need a good haggling skill to get a good offer and make sure that you and the traders are both happy.
• Notre Dame Church and Old Post Office: Appeared in most pictures when talking about HCMC, the Notre Dame Church and the Old Post Office are 2 stops that you should spend your time. A nice walk in the morning to see the beautiful church and a visit to the Old Post Office will be great if you like to see the rhythmic flow of this active city.
• Can Gio Mangrove Forest: Can Gio Mangrove Forest is a great place for the nature lovers. In Can Gio Forest, you will see a dense forest of mangrove along the coastline and there are a lot of monkeys over there that always welcome you. Even though Can Gio was sprayed a lot with the Agent Orange, nowadays the environment there is very clean thanks to the magical nature. Besides, Can Gio was also a war base of the VC, so it means you can also learn more about the tough time during the Vietnam war of the local people.
• Cu Chi Tunnels: Being well-known as the iron land, Cu Chi is vivid evidence of the Vietnamese fighting spirit to regain peace and freedom. Coming to Cu Chi, you will learn about the hard work of the guerrillas to build up these 250 km long tunnels and how they fought for the reunion of the country. In order to make your trip livelier, you will have the chance to go through the tunnels to have a look at how the guerrillas could live and fight underground for over 20 years. Before going to Cu Chi, make sure you have no fear of small space or heart conditions.

WHAT TO EAT

Saigon is the city of immigrants and that means you can find almost every delicacy from all over Vietnam in this city, from Pho Ha Noi, Bun Cha, Cha Ca, Bun Bo Hue, Mi Quang, Cao Lau to Bun Mam, Bun Nuoc Leo, Canh Chua, Ca Kho, Banh Mi, etc. Here’s the list of some restaurants that you should come: O Thuong Restaurant, Den Long Quan, Tami restaurant, Bloom Saigon, Pho 1000, Mon Viet restaurant, Mon Hue restaurant,…However, if you really want to let yourself be a part of the daily life of Saigon, street foods are the perfect choice.

HOW TO GET THERE

Saigon is such a big city, so it’s very easy to commute from Saigon. There’s a big international airport called Tan Son Nhat with thousand of flights a day which you can take depart to anywhere in Vietnam country and of course oversea “make sure you don't arrive the airport too late as the heavy traffic jam is every day”, many buses stations like West Coach Station, East Coach Station or An Suong Coach Station and you can find many different bus companies can arrange a bus for you to the place you want to go to. And to travel down to Mekong Delta it takes 3 hours by bus, especially Can Tho city to explore the authentic floating markets and rural life around. Besides, you are going to taste amazing food and seasonal fruits.