"HO CHI MINH CITY, or maybe SAIGON?" Ho Chi Minh City by galy

HO CHI MINH CITY, or as we heard it more from the locals SAIGON, was our last stop in the tour of Vietnam. A great place to roundup the tour, make all last minute shopping and bye bye Vietnam, we are going back home.

In the 15th century, this area were swamps, marshes and thick forests. By the early 17th century, a small township was formed. According to one theory, Saigon or Sai Con has its root in a Khmer word. The name Saigon was used officially in 1698, when Mr. Nguyen Huu Canh was sent to this region to create various districts and to form a government for this southern outpost. Saigon continued to grow and became a bonafide city. In the mid 19th century, the French with the aid of the Spanish invaded this port city and destroyed the fort. After the defeat by the French in 1954 Vietnam was divided into two separate countries and Saigon became the hub of resettlement for many as people from north and central Vietnam immigrated south. In 1975 South Vietnam fall to communism. In 1976, the new government renamed the city Ho Chi Minh City . Although recognized world wide as Ho Chi Minh City, to many people of Vietnam, the city is still lovingly referred to as Saigon.