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Ho Chi Minh Holidays, Hotels & Travel Guide
Travel guide to hotels & holidays in Ho Chi Minh
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Ho Chi Minh Holidays Overview
A guide to holidays in Ho Chi Minh - Ho Chi Minh City, better known by its former
name of Saigon, is a brazen, industrious and dense metropolis, the
largest city in Vietnam and the business capital of the country.
With a population of five million, it is crowded, noisy and dirty,
yet it is also exciting and historic, the essence of the
nation.
Located on the Saigon River on the edge
of the Mekong Delta, Saigon became the capital of the Republic of
South Vietnam and was the American headquarters during the Vietnam
War. Two years later the Communist north took control of the
country, the city's name was changed to Ho Chi Minh City, and
recession and poverty ensued. Today Ho Chi Minh
City has a cosmopolitan and energetic atmosphere, and having
actively welcomed the new capitalist principle, the business-minded
spirit of the people is much in evidence. Although relatively
modern, it has still managed to hold onto its Asian character, and
fine restaurants, smart hotels and chic bars line the sidewalks
crammed with noodle stands, markets and shoeshine boys. The buzzing
of motorbikes and scooters merges with the cries of street vendors
and the urgent business of stall owners, selling barbecued dog,
writhing snakes and tropical fruits. The sight of a family of four
balanced precariously on a scooter, a squealing pig strapped onto
the back of a bicycle, bowed heads topped by pointed
lampshade-style hats and orange-clothed monks are just some of the
vibrant images the city has to offer. Although
overshadowed by modern and Asiatic influences, a little of Ho Chi
Minh City's French colonial charm still remains, evident in the
graceful architecture, wide boulevards, and a sidewalk cafe
society. It is not for the attractions that one visits Ho Chi Minh
City however, but for the vibrancy of its street life, and its
proximity to the Mekong Delta.
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Ho Chi Minh
holidays - Top Places To Go
1. War Remnants Museum
28 Vo Van Tan St, District 3
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What is it? The disturbing War Remnants Museum highlights
the horrors of modern combat, and especially portrays the suffering
inflicted on the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War.
Previously called the Museum of American War Crimes, the name was
altered so as not to cause offence to American visitors, but its
displays do tell the story from an anti-American perspective. The
museum houses a collection of weapons, machinery, artefacts and
horrific photographs illustrating the devastating affects of
napalm, Agent Orange and other weapons of mass destruction. One
room is dedicated to biological warfare, including the effects of
the defoliant sprays that were dumped over the country. Another
room looks at worldwide demonstrations for peace and international
opposition to the war. In the courtyard there are tanks,
helicopters, planes and bombs on display.
Hours of Operation: Open daily from 7.30am to 11.45am and 1.30pm to
4.15pm
Phone:(08) 829 5587 |
2. Cholon
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What is it? Cholon is the thriving warren of streets
comprising the Chinese district of Saigon, first settled by the
Chinese Hoa merchants at the end of the 18th century, and now home
to the biggest ethnic minority community in the country. The
difference in environment is immediately noticeable. The cluster of
Chinese-signed streets is a fascinating labyrinth of temples,
restaurants, exotic stores, medicine shops and markets. The best
place to experience the bustle of trade is at the crowded Binh Tay
Market where the corridors are filled with stalls offering a
variety of exotic produce, from live tethered ducks to nuts and
seeds, as well as other household items. There are several temples
of interest in Cholon, including the colourful Emperor of Jade
Temple, the Quan Am Pagoda with its ornate exterior, Phuoc An Hoi
Quan Temple, its roof exquisitely ornamented with dragons and sea
monsters, and the Thien Hau Pagoda dedicated to the goddess of the
sea.
Hours of Operation:
Phone: |
3. Cu Chi Tunnels
19 miles (30km) northwest of Ho Chi Minh City at Tay
Ninh
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What is it? The Cu Chi Tunnels system is an underground
network of tunnels dug in the 1940s by the Vietnamese as a place to
hide during the fight against the French. The network was later
expanded and used in the American War. The system consists of more
than 150 miles (250km) of tunnels and unlit offshoots, secret trap
doors connecting narrow routes to hidden shelters, local rivers and
tunnels to the Cambodian border. It was a sprawling city of
improvised hospitals, living quarters, kitchens and fresh water
wells, with some tunnels barely large enough to wriggle through.
The plan was to launch surprise assaults on the enemy, and then
disappear; so successful a hiding place were the tunnels that first
the French and then the Americans struggled against these sudden
attacks in which the assailants seemed to vanish into fresh air.
Today many of the tunnels have been enlarged to allow visitors the
dirty and claustrophobic experience of crawling through a portion
of the underground network, past secret trapdoors and booby traps
laid against invasion. Unfortunately their popularity with visitors
has turned the area into a vicious tourist trap, with hard-sell
vendors a constant hassle among the touring
throngs.
Hours of Operation: Daily 7.30am to 4.30pm
Phone:(08) 794 8820 |
Ho Chi Minh
holidays - Top Events
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