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Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
The most Western in atmosphere of Vietnam’s cities, Ho Chi Minh City (to use it’s official name – although to residents and visitors alike it is universally and affectionately known as Saigon) has a population of 6 million, and a booming free-market economy. It is a city of amazing contrasts: Exclusive restaurants and trendy bars side-by-side with roadside noodle stalls, street children and vociferous cyclo drivers. Golf courses, bowling alleys and shopping malls vie for space with fruit and vegetable markets, pagodas and karaoke rooms.
Bustling, booming, crowded, noisy - all words that barely scratch the surface of the addictive and often mesmerising chaos that is Saigon.
And yet there are the elegant colonial French boulevards and buildings, the Cathedral, the riverfront, the quiet moments at a sidewalk cafe watching the world literally go by you at breakneck speed.
It is the gateway to the Mekong which can be visited for a day or overnight by cruise or by road with hotel stays. Cruises start from here that cruise all the way through to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Ask one of our experienced consultants for further details of these cruises.
For details of Saigon accommodation or any Saigon tours click on the links on the right. Our experienced consultants can easily build any of these experiences into a tailor-made Vietnam holiday quote for you.
