Uncle Ho's City

Entry 17:

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the government changed the name of the city to Ho Chi Minh City, as a tribute to the late leader of Northern Vietnam. That being said, many of the people we spoke to still call the city Saigon. Either way, we were on our way to the largest city in Vietnam for our last stop in the country.

Saigon in a massive sprawling city of over 5 million people and what seems like an equal number of motorbikes. According to our tour guide, Vietnam has over 80 million people and 25 million motorbikes. Rather than attempt to go it alone in this metropolis, we signed up for a city tour that would take us around to all the worthwhile sites in town. On our tour we visited a Chinese pagoda, a market in Chinatown, a temple dedicated to a Sea Goddess, the War Remnants Museum, the Reunification Palace, Notre Dam Cathedral, and the Post Office. Needless to say, it was a full day.

That evening, we ventured on our own to a night market filled with local eateries. At first we contemplated eating there, but this idea was quickly eradicated after seeing live dangling frogs. Instead, we opted for a restaurant that was recommended called Quan An Ngon. This restaurant was in a beautiful setting in which various food stations exhibited women cooking before your eyes.

Lots of people had told us many things about Saigon, both good and bad, but we had had enough of the city and its craziness. We decided to book passage to Cambodia for the following day and begin the next chapter of our travels.