| Page Views: 553 Last Visit to Ho Chi Minh City: September, 2008 | Just call it Saigon! by kokoryko - last update: Nov 17, 2008 |
Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh | This is not a traffic jam. . . |
Ho Chi Minh city, as it is called (Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh in Vietnamese) now counts more than 9 million inhabitants and extends over 2000 square kilometres. So, it is not very serious to pretend to write a complete page about this city which, in addition, has a long history!
You will find here visitor’s impressions, and, one of the most impressive sights in the city are the bikes and the traffic jams; the traffic is really heavy, and more impressive. . . it flows. . . . there are not real traffic jams where you are stuck for hours; this looks like an ant hill, an apparent mess, but all goes smoothly!
|
| The colonizers left a few nice buildings |
|  | Saigon Saigon has a long history; the Khmer, original inhabitants call it Prey Nokor (Forest city), and this name is still used in Cambodia; it had then several Vietnamese or Chinese names, depending on the rulers. . and when the French arrived, they called it Saigon, as it was named at the time they arrived. The French divided Vietnam into three provinces: Tonkin in the North, Annam in the central part and Cochinchina in the south, here, with Saigon, “the Pearl of Orient, “the Paris of Indochina”. Saigon was indeed a very lively place during the French rule, and was a real cultural and intellectual centre in Asia; not a lot is left of that time, not even the language (Very few Vietnamese speak French, and there is one French local newspaper only). But the most beautiful buildings of Saigon date back to French rule. |
| Street life. . . real life. . . |
| | Ho Chi Minh City Since 1975, after the take over by the communists led by Ho Chi Minh, (and military maverick, Gen. Giap), this city is called Ho Chi Minh City, but many locals still call it Saigon, so I call it Saigon in this page.
The communists “cleaned” a lot from the past, not only in the brains of the population, sometimes, for the good, sometimes for the bad, but I will not make politics here, just write a few sarcasms.. . . .
Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam still suffers of a complex vis-a-vis Saigon, much more lively, economically active, still keeping humour (To me, a bar called “Apocalypse now” in Saigon (I did not visit this time, but visited during a previous visit), shows people have humour). The communists did not apply the rules of their big brother and specially to agriculture; agriculture of Vietnam is rather prosperous as one can see from the markets. As long as lively markets exist in cities or countries, the country is living, and the presence of street vendors is not always a sign of poverty (here!), just an indicator of life and freedom and shows that local customs are still alive.
There are hundreds of touristic-commercial web links to Saigon, and I prefer to recommend you this one, (click on the links on the left side of the page) from the Vietnamese government, but very informative and rather well done; just browse through! My photographs are not works of art, my writings are not literature.
Be kind, I posted them here, and I would appreciate you inform me if you intend to display them elsewhere! Merci! |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
kokoryko's Ho Chi Minh City Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 23 - Photos: 108 | | | Restaurants
Tips: 2 - Photos: 5 | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | Transportation
Tips: 1 - Photos: 3 | Local Customs
Tips: 4 - Photos: 18 | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
 Comments for kokoryko about Ho Chi Minh City | | | | |
Kuznetsov_Sergey Mon Jun 8, 2009 20:29 UTC
Fundamental VT-job on Ho Chi Minh - Saigon! Dream to visit these country and city one day (but it's so far from here, haha!). Thanks Hermann for the virtual tour! | robertgaz Tue Dec 2, 2008 07:41 UTC
I see that you too love the magnificent mangosteen! | Nemorino Mon Nov 17, 2008 22:39 UTC
Your tips bring back nice memories of my many visits to Saigon in 1964-65 (more people spoke French then) and my revisits in 1995. I didn't know that Saigon wanted to become a twin city with Lyon. Glad there are still so many bicycles. |
|
|
email me
add as friend
