Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Saigon. Ho Chi Mein City, Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam covering an area of over 800 square miles and is situated right down in the South of the country just over 1000 miles from Hanoi the current capital. The climate of Saigon is very hot and humid for most of the year with an average temperature in the lower 30's. The French recognised it as Saigon and when the Vietnamese took control of Hue the Emperor declared the city as the capital of Vietnam. During the French occupation of the country it was the capital until the North Vietcong forced the withdrawal of the Americans during the Vietnamese war when they over ran the City ...  Read the complete review

I was a little worried when I was informed that I had to go to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam on business. I was brought up in the far east and I knew this place as Saigon. Sometime in the seventies Saigon became Ho Chi Min City. ***FIRST IMPRESSIONS*** My first impression was that it was very hot and dusty and had a strange sickly smell. Most foreign airports strike me that way when I first get off the plane, so this isn't something peculiar to this place. There were still soldiers, military vehicles and anti aircraft guns scattered about the place, just as they had been more than twenty years ago. I just hoped that the rest of the city had made ...  Read the complete review

As much as those in authority try to change Saigon to Ho Chi Minh the more the locals hold onto Saigon. You see despite the passage of time and outwardly friendly gesturing between North and South Vietnam there is still much distrust between the two. So holding onto a historical name is one way of showing the other how they really feel. Saigon is a wonderful capital that is clogged morning, noon and night with motorbikes, bicycles, pedicabs and the occasional 4 wheeled vehicle. It has much to offer and despite the constant stories of robberies and muggings it is a safe city to visit. Pollution isn't on the scale of Bangkok but when you compare ...  Read the complete review

Arriving in Ho Chi Minh Airport, the first thing that really struck me was the huge anti-aircraft guns sitting next to the runway, a very harsh reminder that this is a country just recovering from more than 30 years of war. This having been said, It has now been at peace with itself and it's neighbours for close to ten years. Certainly any reservations you initially had would be swepted away in the fast moving and neon lit lights of Saigon Proper. And after the inevitably long flight over you would think that all you would want to do is catch up on some well-deserved sleep. But instead you find yourself woken up and alert, as this wondrous and enchanting city ...  Read the complete review

Sex is on a lot of men's minds when they travel to Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines, Brazil, or more recently Russia. Actually, sex is on a lot of men's minds, period. To actually travel to these countries for the sole purpose of sexual activity with foreign bodies would also be a sin. Nowadays, too many foreign bodies can get into your blood stream, and cut your life off short. On my first visit to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), in February 1989, I went to Maxim's. As I was alone, the manager ushered me away from the table I had chosen, and led me to the bar. "You want dancing-girl?" he asked. I ordered a ...  Read the complete review