INTRODUCTION

HO CHI MINH

The 300-year-old metropolis was once called The Pearl of the Far East during the French period. It is now a city of so many contrasts with its fabulous new international hotels, exclusive restaurants vying for space with BIA HOI and huge local markets. It is a city that is always on the move and yet there is room for some quiet moments at a coffee house to watch this ever changing city go about its daily life. Explore Ho Chi Minh City teeming with color, movement, sounds and scents. A journey further to the South will make you want to live and love it!

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is located at the heart of the southern part of Viet Nam, between the northern edge of the Mekong Delta and the South Eastern region of volcanic red soil. Being a transformation between the two terrains, Ho Chi Minh City is intertwined with natural forest, vast plains, long coast and hundreds of rivers and canals. The Saigon River winds around the city and connects it with the East Sea.

Over the past three centuries, Saigon, once praised as the “Pearl of the Orient”, was known as an important trade center for Chinese, Japanese and Western merchants. It had also been christened the “Paris of Asia”  for its wide boulevards lined with the stately trees and magnificent French villas