Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam Travel Guide A Vagabond Life
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam Travel Guide
Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon Vietnam is the business and financial hub of Vietnam, with a history going back hundreds of years. The Khmers originally settled the region, with the Vietnamese taking over in the 17th century. The French conquered Saigon in 1859, and made it the capital of Cochin China in 1862, which resulted in numerous elegant architecture and broad boulevards that are still present to this day. At the peak of the Vietnam War in 1969, the city had 4.5 million inhabitants who were all evacuated when Saigon and the rest of the South fell to North Vietnam in 1975.
Today HCM City is a huge bustling city of 7 million people and for me is just another large city.
Table of Contents
Saigon Vietnam Map
Saigon Vietnam
Things To See & Do In Saigon Vietnam
War Remnants Museum
War Remnants Museum
The War Remnants Museum is a sobering museum which details the 30 year long war between America and Vietnam. There are preserved tanks, planes and other war machines in the outside grounds, but the really hard-hitting information is found inside. Photographs, exhibits and written documentation show the horrific lengths that the American Army went to in an attempt defeat the North Vietnamese Army.
Address: 28 Vo Van Tan, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.
Cu Chi Tunnels
Cu Chi Tunnels
The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi District and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped to counter the growing American military effort.
Binh Tay Market
Binh Tay Market was built by the French in the 1880s, is located in the centre of Vietnam’s largest Chinatown district. Binh Tay Market market mainly serves the local population with its extensive range of fresh fruits, vegetables, poultry, meat and seafood from regions across Vietnam.
Address: 57A Thap Moui, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City
Jade Emperor Pagoda
The Jade Emperor Pagoda is one of the most revered temples in Ho Chi Minh. Originally built in 1909 by Chinese immigrants this Taoist temple now welcomes Buddhist worshipping and is incredibly atmospheric with incense smoke hanging heavy in the air.
Address: 73 Mai Thi Luu, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Reunification Palace
Reunification Palace was the centre of the allied command and the place where the North Vietnamese claimed victory in the American War. The palace has essentially been frozen in time since a North Vietnamese Army tank smashed through its gates in 1975. Visitors will get to discover secret rooms, grand reception halls and the command bunker where General Ngo Dinh Diem conducted his war strategies.
Address: 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ben Thanh, District
Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame Cathedral
Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral was built in the late and 1880s by French colonists is one of the few remaining strongholds of Catholicism in the largely Buddhist Vietnam. Located in Paris Square, the name Notre Dame was given after the installation of the statue ‘Peaceful Notre Dame’ in 1959. A Virgin Mary statue also stands in front of Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, which locals claimed to have shed tears in October 2005 – which was refuted by the Catholic Church.
Vietnam Travel Guide
Vietnam Travel Stories
Vietnam
Vietnam – Our adventures in 2009 continued as we flew from Rome to Vietnam and travelled down the Vietnamese peninsula.