"Saigon...not for ..." a Ho Chi Minh City Travel Page by travelmad478

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My 1996 trip to Vietnam started in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). The word that sums up my impression of this city was "pandemonium." I was blown away by the nonstop action, noise, and general sensory overload that seemed to be a 24-hour-a-day phenomenon in Saigon. It is a place where you can get a haircut from one of a dozen sidewalk barbers out doing business at 3 AM...where you take your life in your hands whenever you cross a street...where you will not walk more than half a block without someone asking you to buy something that always costs "one dollar!"...and where I bought the best French pastries I've ever had outside Paris. I enjoyed my time in Saigon but it wore me out completely after three days. And that was in the relatively non-touristy era of 1996. I can't even imagine what it's like now!