Streets of Saigon

The Cathedral of Notre Dame

Saigon, the Paris of the East!  Today, the French influence still remains in the elegant boulevards, stately colonial buildings; the coffee (ca phe) houses and the French restaurants; the Notre Dame de Saigon; the thriving gallery and art scene; the shopping!

After the fall of the South Vietnamese government, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).  But Saigon still remains, as a district of HCMC, which expands beyond Saigon to the surrounding areas.  We stayed at the Majestic Hotel, an old hotel right by the river.  It is a charming old hotel (with good deals on suites) on Dong Koi avenue, a short walk to the City Centre.

Dong Koi itself is a pleasant, tree-lined street with charming little shops and art galleries.  The souvenir shops are reasonably priced, and the tailoring shops guarantee 24 hour turn-around time.  Art galleries can be found up and down the street - a tour of the Vietnamese art scene all on their own. There the more expensive and upmarket galleries, with more well-known artists, but we also found one which featured the "unknowns" - original pieces selling for about US$150 rather than US$1,500. 

 

Technology introduced in the cathedral

We walked down Dong Koi to the Cathedral of Notre Dame for Sunday mass.  The building itself would not have been out-of-place in any European city.  The stained glass and little plaques on the walls reminded me of churches in France.  But the Cathedral had its modern touches, the screens at the columns helping us follow the mass. And as choir was singing the hymns in Vietnamese (only the responses were sung in English), it was clear that we were indeed in Vietnam.  And, of course, the priest was Vietnamese :-)  

ATMs replace phone booths

The imposing building next to the Cathedral turned out to be the Post Office. It is still a working Post Office, although half the phone booths at the walls are used as ATMs.  There are souvenir shops in one corner, quite reasonably priced ones too.  Indeed, many of these old colonial buildings dot the city.  The Opera House, the City Hall, other beautiful old Hotels, museums.  In between, newer buildings emerge - sleek office blocks, glitzy shopping centres.  But, the streets are chaotic - full of motorcycles going in all directions.  The air tends to be polluted (or at least that's how I felt before I encountered the haze).

Viet Ca Phe

Coffee houses too are everywhere.  I had a cup of potent Vietnamese coffee in one of the famous Trung Nguyen coffee chain outlets.  It is said, that Trung Nguyen reacted to Starbucks setting up shop in HCMC by opening an outlet in Seattle!  I can well imagine that the robust brews of the Vietnamese can indeed give the tepid and dilute American-style coffee a good run for their money.

The food scene in HCMC left us spoilt for choice.  We dined at old Vietnamese restaurants, in small coffee shops and one night in La Villa, Tripadvisor's top rated restaurant - a place well deserving of its top billing.  Another night was spent at a small pho eatery, which was famous for its spicy beef pho (although it appeared to be priced at a premium for the poor tourist).

Motorcycles streaming past the Opera House

All in all, HCMC is indeed an exciting and vibrant mix of old and new, of east and west. Indeed, a city of developing Asia, rising above the trials of the recent past but still working through the challenges of rapid growth.

More photos of my visit can be found here, together with the record of earlier trips to Vietnam.