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Ho Chi Minh Neighborhoods
Ho Chi Minh City is divided into 24
districts: 7 named urban districts,
7 numbered districts, and 5 outlying
named suburban districts. Most of
the things to do in the heart of the
city occur in District 1 and
District 3: this is where you'll
find most of your sights, museums,
best eateries, bars, etc.
The best neighborhood for the budget
traveler to stay is Pham Ngu Lao,
where cheap but reliable guesthouses
abound. You'll find the least
expensive accommodations tucked just
a few steps away from the most
obvious options, tucked away on the
alleys (this goes for throughout
HCMC). You can find your full of
food here for US $0.35 and up--don't
leave Vietnam without a hearty dose
of cheap street-side pho' (a hearty
noodle soup usually eaten for
breakfast).
The Dong Khoi area is one step up in
terms of ammenities and prices.
While you're in Ho Chi Minh City, be
sure to check out Cho Lon ("Big
Market"), where the city's ethnic
Chinese population is concentrated.
The market is also known as "Cho Tan
Dinh" where you get fair prices
although be aware of "fresh" quotes.
Make sure you negotiate pricing for
20-30 % off the quoted price. If you
are a foreigner, tell them that you
are an expat and are living here, so
please give you a fair price. Learn
some VN will earn some respect and
invite a more friendly negotiation
experience.
Another large market is just a few
blocks away from the five-star
hotel, Sheraton Saigon. It is a wise
bargainer who shops somes of the
hotel shops, small stores before
venturing into the markets. Another
tip - bargain in Dong, not USD as it
is much more finite in pricing and
the total price will be considerably
less rather than rounding to the
nearest USD (around 18,000 Dong to
$1 USD).
Ho Chi Minh Architecture
Unexpected architectural delights
found in Ho Chi Minh City are the
Post Office with its arched high
ceilings (look up!), and the Notre
Dame Cathedral, which is supposed to
be a smaller replica of the
original.
Ho
Chi Minh City History
Situated on the banks of the Saigon
River, Ho Chi Minh City has gone by
several names over the centuries,
most recently in 1975.
Ho Chi Minh City was originally
founded as Prey Nokor, a small
fishing village and main port of
Cambodia under the Khmer, in the
16th century. The name Prey Nokor
means "forest city" or "forest land"
and reffered to the swampy forests
upon which it was founded. In the
17th century, Vietnamese settlers
flocked to Prey Nokor and by 1698,
Nguyen Huu Canh, a Vietnamese noble
was sent to expand Prey Nokor into a
Vietnamese settlement. By that time,
Prey Nokor had became known as Gia
Dinh officially, but Sai Gon more
popularly (Sai Gon coming from
obscure etymology but most assuredly
reffering to the foresty area of the
city).
In 1859, the French conquered Saigon
and encorporated it as the capital
into the newly-formed French colony
of Cochinchina, which later became
French Indochina and subsequently
South Vietnam. There, the French
labeled Prey Nokor Saigon. The
French architectural style is
visible in many of the remaining
nineteenth century buildings, for
example the Museum of Fine Arts and
the Ho Chi Minh City Museum.
During the Vietnam-American War,
Saigon was the capital of the
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
until its unification with the North
Vietnamese in 1975 which united the
two halves. It was subsequently
renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of
the pseudonym of the Vietnamese
guerilla leader-Ho Chi Minh (real
name Nguyen Tat Thanh).
Today, Ho Chi Minh City is the
largest city in Vietnam, larger than
even the capital Hanoi, with more
than 8 million people, and hosts the
largest number of businesses in
Vietnam - over 300,000. It is
climbing, slowly but surely, into
the new millennium.
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