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Ho
Chi Minh City ( Saigon )- Vietnam as it is 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 Cantina 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 ( Saigon )- Vietnam is a real shopper’s 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 on 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.
Cho lon,
Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown, is the frenetic commercial
centre, where every building has a shop or workshop on the
ground floor. Cho lon 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.
A visit to
the 15 May School, where disadvantaged children have the
opportunity to study subjects as diverse as Vietnamese,
English, mechanics, sewing and circus performing, is a very
worthwhile option during a Ho Chi Minh City tour.
For
wining and dining it is hard to beat Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. 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, night clubs and discotheques to pick
from for a night on the town. Further a field, popular day
trips from Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 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 at Tay
Ninh.
Ho Chi Minh
City Vietnam ( Saigon ) Highlights
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Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Saigon Post Office,
Hotel de Ville, Continental, Grand and Majestic
hotels for colonial architecture. |
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Dong Khoi Street and Ben Thanh Market for
bargain shopping. |
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The Former Presidential Palace, War Remnants
Museum and Cu Chi Tunnels for recent history and
the History Museum for less recent history. |
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Cho lon for Chinese pagodas and chaotic street
life. |
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The Cao Dai Temple at Tay Ninh for a unique
architectural and religious experience. |
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