Paris1972-Versailles2003

So this is the take on my latest visit to Vietnam, an amazing recovery story of this war torn country ,wonderful sights and great friendly people. Always a pleasure to return and see old friends as well. The only sad part, it was another trip coming back empty without my dear late wife Martine...she would stayed very late waiting for me to return home. Therefore, here is my take on this is Ho Chi Minh City !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

I came back to Ho Chi Minh City (previously Saigon and still a district is call like it today). it was a short visit of five days as always here a business trip with some time to see other things in the city. It has been my 4th time to HCMC and Vietnam. Many souvenirs and good friends to last a lifetime; do not know when back but the memories will lingered as in all my travels.

As usual I landed in Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and was waited by a driver to take me to the office , work, and then to the hotel. The trip was flawless from home by car to Nantes Atlantique airport, then Paris CDG T2F transfer to T2E M direct to HCMC. Vietnam airlines has won several awards recently and it shows, very good.

Some of the other things to see in my opinion of course are (see many on their individual post in my blog):  The Hotel Continental, built in 1880, the writer André Malraux (later prime minister of culture of France)  and his wife lived there between 1924 and 1925.The Hotel Majestic, built in 1925 in the colonial French style.  The opera or  Municipal Theater  built on the model of the Petit Palais of Paris, in 1900. Ä very nice City/ town hall of Ho Chi Minh City built between 1902-1908.  The Palace of Reunification (former presidential palace built at the site of the Palace of Norodom). The Jade Emperor Pagoda, the Pagoda of Giac Làm, the Vinh Nghîem Pagoda. The Hindu temple of Mariamman at Trương Định street (ex-Lareynière Street). The Indian mosque at Đông Du street (ex- Admiral-Dupré street).

The Church of Cha Tàm in the Chinatown of Cholon whose interior is a mixture of Gothic and Chinese.  The Temple dedicated to the goddess Thien Hau, protector of navigators, also located in Cholon ( Nguyen Trai street ) and built in the Chinese style. The Ben Thanh Market (very popular)  ,and Binh Tay Market in the Chinatown of Cholon .. Museum of the revolution where many  planes, helicopters and other vehicles are exposed in the gardens mostly from the American time. Museum of Ho Chi Minh City, located in the former premises of the Maritime company , a brick building and the oldest French vestige in town. In fact, Saigon was the Asian head of the maritime passenger and freight transport, between Marseille and the Far East during the colonial period.

A bit of history I like tell us that Ho Chi Minh City, commonly called Saigon, which was the official name until 1975, or formerly Prey Nokor when it belonged to the Khmer Empire. Ho Chi Minh City, whose status corresponds to that of a Vietnamese province, is divided in 19 boroughs and 5 districts,and  it is located on the banks of the Saigon River. Located near the Mekong Delta, this city is the southern metropolis of the country. It was originally a Khmer fishing village and in the 17C became a Vietnamese (and Chinese) settlement city under the impetus of the imperial Court of Nguyên in Hue. During the French colonization, it was first the capital of the colony of Cochinchina, then that of French Indochina from 1887 to 1901. After the partition of the country at the end of the Indochina War, Saigon became the capital of the Republic of Việt Nam (from 1954). Its capture by the Communists on April 30, 1975 (Fall of Saigon) after the Americans left them, marked the end of the conflict, and the winners rename the city in favor of their historical leader, Hồ Chí Minh, who died more than five years earlier.

The name Saigon refers to the district of Cholon (Big Market), while the mandarins use various appellations, Dong Nai, Phan Yen, Gia Dinh and, by local traders, Ben Nghe and Ben Thanh. The French, for their part, perpetuate the name Sài Gòn,  it is the French pronunciation, until the 1920’s. From 1931 to 1956, this name will be officially associated with that of Cholon, the city bordering on a strong Chinese community, with which it will be merged, Saigon-Cholon, before resuming the name of Saigon alone.

More on the history trail I like. During the Lê Kings dynasty the period from 1428 to 1789 in Vietnam, the spice Route attracted the first European missionaries and traders around the 16C. The country was divided and competed by two seigneurial forces, the Trinh in the north of the country and the Nguyen in the south. The Westerners called the lower Cochinchina the part governed by the Nguyen, of which Saigon became the capital the first Vietnamese presence in the city of Ho Chi Minh date in the early 17C when Lord Nguyen established a tax station in 1623 and an officer of the Lords Nguyen establishes a military post at Tan My, in the current region of Saigon in 1679.

Before becoming Vietnamese, Saigon was the most important port in Cambodia, under the name of Prey Kor. Occupied by Vietnamese from the 17C, the site was then called Saigon, then surrounded by walls in the 18C, before being conquered by the French in 1859. Saigon will then be known for years as the Paris of the Far East , however, Ho Chi Minh City has lost most of its colonial heritage outside of the monuments and completely lost its French character.

Again before a private driver taken me back to the airport at HCMC, flight again on Air France direct to Paris CDG T2E K then transfer to T2F for the last flight home to Nantes Atlantique where my car was waiting. However, at Paris , there was a controller’s strike (did I said we are the champions!) and the flight was delayed from leaving at 21h30 we finally did it at 23h30! Finally ,by car ,reaching home by 02h (2am Sat).

The Vietnam Tourist office of Vietnam: https://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/en/cat/70

Vietnam online on Ho Chi Minh City : https://www.vietnamonline.com/destination/ho-chi-minh-city.html

In all, was a short pleasant visit full of memories that would not like to post or put photos here but it was memorable. Do not when will be the next time, but HCMC will be forever in my mind. Thank you all folks there.  Further anecdote, when arriving our plane was included the 7th million foreign visitor to the city this year!!! Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Ho Chi Minh City !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!