24 hours in Ho Chi Minh City

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 13 years ago

24 hours in Ho Chi Minh City

Southern energy ... road rules. Ho Chi Minh City.

Southern energy ... road rules. Ho Chi Minh City.Credit: AFP

Anthony Dennis catches glimpses of old Saigon and nostalgia in a booming city.

It used to be known, perhaps a little fancifully, as the Paris of the East, a far-flung colonial outpost of the imperial French. These days Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it is still commonly called, is more a budding Bangkok - Vietnam's booming southern city with pretensions to be the next great city of Asia.

Ho Chi Minh City is sans Hanoi's French elegance; its Gallic architectural legacy is dwarfed by unfamiliar skyscrapers. But the city does have an unbridled energy fuelled by its capitalist past.

Loading

It is divided into numbered districts - the walkable District One is home to the city's main attractions. And this being a Vietnamese city, food - from pho flat rice noodles to goi cuon rice-paper rolls - is at the forefront of any visit.

7am

Good morning, Saigon. There are, happily, plenty of French-style breakfast options but for a truly authentic Vietnamese experience greet the day with a bowl of steaming pho noodles, more or less the national dish.

Pho (pronounced ''fur'') is served everywhere but stroll to the Saigon Botanical Gardens (gates open at 7am). Here you can order the hearty Saigon-style pho at one of the semi-outdoor restaurants. The Botanical Gardens, which adjoin the city's unremarkable zoo, are a welcome expanse of greenery in an increasingly overbuilt city. Arrive early enough and you're likely to encounter badminton games and residents practising daily tai chi routines.

Botanical Gardens, 2b Nguyen Binh Khiem, District One, +84 8 293 728; entry adults 10,000 dong (50¢), children 5000 dong.

Advertisement

9am

Ho Chi Minh City, with its French past, is a home away from home for cafe lovers, unlike many Asian capitals. Annam Gourmet is a swish food emporium with a cute lounge-like cafe-wine bar on its second floor overlooking busy Hai Ba Trung Street. Open from 9am to 8pm, it's a pleasant place to linger, read a newspaper and watch people from a rather posh perch. International newspapers can be bought from street vendors near the famed Hotel Continental on Lam Son Square, a short walk from Hai Ba Trung Street.

Don't be surprised if the crossword in your newspaper has been completed, since copies are often purloined from the pouches of airline seats and resold.

Annam Gourmet, 16-18 Hai Ba Trung, District One, see annam-gourmet.com.

10am

Head all the way down Hai Ba Trung Street towards the somewhat forgettable Saigon River, pausing for a quick look.

Then swing into the main shopping street for foreigners, Dong Khoi, and eventually into Lam Son Square, where you'll encounter a scrum of Ho Chi Minh City's best-known landmarks, including the neoclassical Municipal Theatre, once the heart of French colonial society, and the Caravelle and Continental hotels. Both hotels were once popular haunts for foreign correspondents covering the American War (as the Vietnamese refer to what we know as the Vietnam War). The Continental still rouses pangs of nostalgia, though its rooms and public spaces are the epitome of Vietnamese kitsch.

Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, District One, has rooms from $US174 ($178), see caravellehotel.com; Hotel Continental, 132-134 Dong Khoi Street, District One, has rooms from $US109, see www.continentalhotel.com.vn.

11.30am

Head up Le Loi Street on the left-hand side and you'll pass another of the city's wartime hotels, the Rex, which has a wonderfully dated rooftop bar and restaurant. The government-owned Rex has in recent years added a new wing, decked out in cold white marble and designer boutiques.

Across the road, in Le Thanh Ton Street, is another of Ho Chi Minh City's surviving colonial buildings, the erstwhile Hotel de Ville, which now houses offices of the People's Committee.

Back on Dong Khoi Street, keep walking towards the 19th-century Notre Dame Cathedral, another fine French legacy. Pop into the General Post Office just across the road for a glimpse of the massive curved ceiling and the still operational snail-mail facilities.

12.30pm

A favoured French-style cafe, Au Parc, is conveniently close to Notre Dame. This is a popular spot for expats, Viet Kieu (meaning Vietnamese living overseas) and cashed-up locals who choose from a huge menu of baguettes, pastas and coffee. There are three levels, though try to position yourself near a window so you can view the beautiful, Parisian-style park across the street.

Au Parc, 23 Han Thuyen Street, District One, +84 8 3829 2772.

1.30pm

One of the best guided tours of the city is ''Retracing the Past: American Involvement in Saigon's History'', conducted by a local travel company, Trails of Indochina. The tour begins outside the US Consulate and continues on to the former CIA building, where helicopters famously evacuated remaining US citizens and some Vietnamese from the rooftop just before North Vietnamese forces stormed the gates of what is now known as the Reunification Palace.

Aside from its obvious historical interest, retro architecture enthusiasts will appreciate its classic 1960s design and the rather funky furnishings throughout its interior. Tour participants end up at the home of the former US ambassador in the early 1960s, Henry Cabot Lodge, a John F. Kennedy appointee. An excellent 10-minute documentary about Saigon during the volatile era preceding the Vietnam War is shown here.

Trails of Indochina, 10/8 Phan Dinh Giot Street, Ward 2, Tan Binh District, HCMC, +84 8 3844 1005. Tours cost from 1,463,000 dong a person for two people (prices are reduced for groups of up to six people).

5.30pm

Everyone's favourite drinking hole is the Caravelle's rooftop bar, Saigon Saigon. Snare a table by the window to watch the ceaseless swarm of motorbikes below. Note most of the riders now wear helmets, the result of a belated, life-saving government traffic edict, though children riding as passengers frequently do not.

Saigon Saigon, Caravelle Hotel, 19 Lam Son Square, District One, +84 8 3823 4999, caravellehotel.com.

7pm

It's dinner time and this is where the choice is so large that a decision is tricky. You might elect to head to Banh Xeo, a popular Vietnamese pancake joint in District Three. Or perhaps you'd prefer to sample the cluster of restaurants located in the courtyard inside the old opium factory on Hai Ba Trung Street, across the road from the Park Hyatt Hotel. These include the Refinery, a casual French-style restaurant, and Hoa Tuc (meaning ''opium poppy''), which also runs three-hour Vietnamese cooking classes.

Banh Xeom, 46a Dinh Cong Trang, District One, +84 8 3824 1110; The Refinery, 74 Hai Ba Trung Street, District One, +84 8 3823 0509; Hoa Tuc Restaurant, 74 Hai Ba Trung Street, District One, +84 8 3825 8485.

9pm

There is no more thrilling way to get into the thick of the city's life than on a motorbike. Although the recommended time to take a Vintage Vespa Tour is the morning or afternoon, ask your hotel concierge to book one at night with Trails of Indochina (see prior details).

An English-speaking Vespa driver-guide will meet you (with helmets) at your hotel for a three-hour tour of the city. Ho Chi Minh City comes alive (well, even more alive) after dark. On Sundays you'll be joined by thousands of young couples and would-be lovers who ride around the city's landmarks in a local ritual.

Vintage Vespa Tours cost from 1,558,000 dong a person for two people (prices are reduced for groups of up to six people).

Vietnam Airlines is the only airline flying non-stop to Ho Chi Minh City from Sydney and Melbourne (about 9hr). Fares cost from $1020 low-season return, including tax. Other Asian airlines fly here via their hubs; for about the same fare you could fly into Ho Chi Minh City and out of Hanoi. Australians require a visa for a stay of up to 30 days.

Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

Most viewed on Traveller

Loading