Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city with 7.1 millions inhabitants and is considered as the economic capital of the country. It is a blend of Chinese, colonial and modern influences. The huge number of people, shops and stalls give Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Saigon the ‘Pearl of Orient’, has a bustling and vital atmosphere.
There are over 500 pagodas in the South, including Giac Lam (one of the most ancient and interesting ones is about 7Km from the city center), the Emperor of Jade and Vinh Nghiem, the most recent built pagoda. Other sites are the labyrinth of China town in Cholon, the Ben Thanh covered market, the Temple of the Celestial Lady, the Colonial Quarters with the Cathedral, the Post Office, the City Hall and the Municipal Theatre, the ex-Catinat street and the Saigon River.
Being the center of Vietnam’s economic and cultural activity, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is the best city in the country to try street food. Coffee, Pho, soup, noodles can be found at any time of day. The dining experience can be quite amazing, even if you are eating while sitting on the sidewalk in a plastic chair that seems to have been designed for children.
Ho Chi Minh City offers the best-value shopping opportunities for made-to-measure clothing, lacquer ware, woodwork, fine cotton goods, machine embroidered and hand embroidered goods, scarves, t-shirts, jewellery and shawls. Some tourists, it seems, come to Ho Chi Minh City simply to shop. And why not? Bargaining is considered the most common way to buy things in Saigon. It is simply a search for the balance between your desire and the seller’s. Patience and good humor are requirements of shopping, especially when bargaining at a market. Still, if you have a good approach, shopping in Saigon is fun!
Enjoying an evening in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, officially) is easy. There are so many options that the worry is not what to do, but what you will miss by choosing one activity over another. It would take a year of nights to experience everything Saigon nights have to offer. Drink coffee at a local cafe, barhopping, live music are only scratches the surface of Saigon’s nightlife. There are literally hundreds of other options. Just don’t miss the Bia Hoi.
Explore this charming destination and discuss with More Fun Travel consultant and we will work the rest.
