Ho Chi Minh City Vacations, Ho Chi Minh City Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Ho Chi Minh City Vacation Guide

It might be Ho Chi Minh City (or HCMC) on your maps, but all but the most stubborn of local officials still refer to Vietnam’s lively capital as Saigon. It comes across as utter chaos: bursting with uncontrolled traffic, clogged up, vibrant and with an utter disregard for its own rules, but that’s half the attraction. Saigon pulses with an energy that few other cities worldwide can match.

An obsession with the motorbike is impossible to miss. They shoot pass at off-the-wall angles through the tiny back streets, missing each other by inches and communicating in a foray of toots, or swarming side by side through back alleys in unfeasible numbers. Daring to cross the road takes some doing, but when you do you’ll find plenty of attractive oddities: acupuncturists tucked into dirty second floor offices, silk and spices in the bright city markets and ancient pagodas poking there noses up for air amongst the skyscrapers.

Of course, Vietnam is not without its difficult past, and to drop by without checking it out would be seeing things through tinted glasses. For a bit of perspective, head for the History Museum, which is tucked away in a stunning French building, and details the city right back to the Bronze Age. More recent and notorious narration is dug over in the War remnants Museum, home to tanks and artillery, as well as a heavy focus on exposing the atrocities committed by the Americans and the Chinese during their time in Vietnam. There are plenty of them, and some are pretty shocking.

Back in the present day, the Giac Vien Pagoda is one of the most atmospheric spots in town, serene and rural, and home to more than 100 lavishly carved statues. Then there’s the lively bar scene, often up market and coated with the kind of modern electro music you’d expect to find tucked away in a more fashionable district of New York.

It’s not the most picturesque of Asian cities, or the most party-focused, but Saigon has its own thing going on. Tap into it, and you can find yourself falling hard.