Ho Chi Minh - a charming and dyamic city

Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, situated in the southern part of Vietnam, is still called Saigon by most of the natives. This modern city used to be considered as the Pearl of the Orient by the French.

 

The wide Saigon River, which takes a huge turn from the east of Sai Gon, links the city with the sea. Unlike Ha Noi, the capital of Vietnam, Saigon -Ho Chi Minh City may lack charm and elegance, but the city with its essential French colonial character has enough to draw your attention. The city's colonial villas, wide avenues and a lively cafe society remind you the days of French dominance.

 

The city with its teeming metropolis mingled with the elegance of ancient culture, gives you a microcosmic view of the entire nation.

 

 

Over the last 10 years, Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City has experienced a spectacular change in its cityscape. The once low-rise landscape of the city's central area, District 1, is now marked with shining skyscrapers including high-rise apartments, international hotels and companies. This bustling, vibrant, industrial hub of the nation is the biggest city of Vietnam as well. Sai Gon is also the cultural center and economic capital of the country.

 

The city is well connected with rest of the world through air routes and sea and thereby draws huge foreign funds in the fields like oil, gas, agriculture, textiles, and marine products. However tourism contributes a major part of the government's revenue.

 

 

Ho Chi Minh City these days has been again classified to be one of the world’s top-ten cities for eating out in a list summarized by the travel site at Virtualtourist.com. It was also recommended on column Travel Picks of Reuters. “Vietnamese culinary art has marked some main street credited in recent memories (Anthony Bourdain's praise back to thought), and a short tour to Ho Chi Minh City's Ben Thanh and Binh Tay Markets explains everything,” the tourism website mentioned about Vietnamese foods. 


 Some other cities in this list are Singapore, Bangkok, Marrakech, Penang, Palermo, Istanbul, Brussels, Mexico City, and Beachside Ceviche in Ambergris Caye. This is not the 1st time Ho Chi Minh City is listed as a nice spot for eating out and street food. Early this year, the city was ranked among the world's top ten cities for street foods by the US’s monthly culinary magazine Food & Wine. The famous tourism guide book of Lonely Planet also recommended banh mi as 1 of the most delicious street foods in the world. 

The website lists out well-known dishes in town such as pho, banh mi, bo la lot (grilled beef stuffed in a leaf), spring rolls and com tam (cooked broken rice with a fried egg on top) with some details of fish sauce. “One member also highlighted that no matter what com tam dish you buy, it will always be eatend with nuoc mam (fish sauce), and since every street food stall often makes their own one, people usually decide which stall to come back to enjoy their nuoc mam,” the website noted. Virtual tourist also provides advice for travelers visiting this country for the very 1st time. “However, due to hawker registration and street food health rules are not very strict in Vietnam, tourists should always be cautious to choose popular, crowded stalls with high rate of turnover.”