Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976. Many locals still use the name Saigon as they claim it is just easier to say. With nearly 10 million inhabitants, it is the largest city in Vietnam and drives the country’s economic engine. It is fast-paced, innovative and quite chaotic. Skyscrapers rise across the landscape alongside brightly colored Buddhist and Hindu temples and French colonial buildings. Wide boulevards lined with elegant buildings are a hallmark of the city today. The city rises on one side of the Saigon River, while one and two-story low-rise houses and commercial enterprises line the opposite bank. Ho Chi Minh City has a long tradition of being a productive trading and manufacturing place in Vietnam. As such, the city is also the busiest international transport hub in Vietnam. The airport accounts for nearly half of all international arrivals to Vietnam and the Port of Saigon is among the busiest container ports in Southeast Asia. Ho Chi Minh City is also a popular tourism destination. There are also many war and historic landmarks in the city. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is facing increasing threats of sea level rise and flooding as well as heavy strains on public infrastructures.

I will divide this post into two parts since we spent two days in port. Our arrival the first day was over an hour late as navigating the river to the city port was riddled with heavy boat traffic. The river is quite narrow in spots and large container ships, our cruise ship (on the smaller side) and commercial fishing boats were all fighting for space on the river. Our cruise ship had to do a complete turnaround to dock…not an easy task. Immediately, upon arrival, all passengers were disembarking to their excursions and shuttle buses to Ben Thanh Market. 

Joe and I chose to do a tour that took us to Vietnamese Herbal Medicine Fito Museum and an introduction to Saigon Street Food Market. The museum gave us a glimpse into local herbal medicine. The philosophy here is that medical treatment (whether herbal or scientific) is made more effective if it is undertaken in concert with a healing diet of healthy food. The food market was not quite as health-oriented, but nonetheless delicious! It offered an insight into how locals eat and showed a good overview of the Vietnamese diet. All of the food we tasted was absolutely delicious. Everyone is this market had been a street vendor prior to consolidating into a city run market.

After our tour we had a little over an hour to clean up and get back on a bus for a performance by the Vietnamese Bamboo Circus at the Ho Chi Minh Opera House. I don’t really know how to describe what we saw. Acrobats used bamboo props and live music to depict unique Vietnamese culture and tradition in dangerous acts and skillful performances that stretched our imagination. I believe that there are some YouTube videos, if you are interested. We had never seen anything quite like this. We were not allowed to take video or pictures during the performance so I have nothing to show you there. The event was hosted by Seabourn for those of us that are on the 80 day Grand Voyage. We enjoyed music and canapes at the Continental Hotel across the street for the Opera House prior to the performance. The cocktails and canapes were served outdoors in the courtyard of this beautiful hotel but to say it was hot would, again, be an understatement. I’m not built for this kind of heat and humidity and neither is anyone’s hair so forgive the pictures I include of us. I ended up looking like a drowned rat as my hair fell flat and the makeup ran off of my face. Thankfully, the Opera House had air conditioning and we were able to cool down. That said, about halfway through the performance I was freezing as the sweat dried off of me. Nevertheless, it was a magical evening and seeing Saigon at night was a highlight. The city lights were breathtaking and it will be something we’ll always remember.

I’ll post day two tomorrow. Another exciting day as we took a private tour of many of the sights of Ho Chi Minh City. 

Today’s fun fact: There are over 10 million motor bikes in the city. It is the preferred mode of transportation due to crowding and the constraints of driving and parking a car. Again…if I could post video you wouldn’t believe the amount of motorbikes and people vying for space on the roadways and clustering together to get where they are going. Crossing the street here is something that is unbelievable. Pedestrians walk into the roadway and hold up their hands to get a break in the traffic to cross. You see all manner of things on the motorbikes additional to the rider. We saw people hauling boards (lumber), computer equipment, boxes, flowers, fruit, and our guide showed us a picture on his phone of someone hauling a dead cow. This is their lifestyle and they have found a way to make it work. The women are all covered from head to toe to preserve their skin. They revere white skin and they look like ninjas on motorbikes. The city is crowded and chaotic at all times of the day and night.