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Published: February 13th 2008
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A bustling vibrant and steamy city, Saigon is a feast for the senses. Visually fascinating, the energy of people going about their everyday lives is in sharp contrast to the historic French colonial architecture. The backdrop, however, is a skyline increasingly dominated by skyscrapers and familiar global brands such as
Sheraton,
Standard Chartered and
HSBC . English is widely spoken.
We are staying at the
Grand Hotel in District 1's Dong Khoi Street right in the heart of the action and we arrived in the middle of Tet - the Lunar New Year. The whole country, and certainly Saigon, takes a week off to celebrate and the streets were festooned with decorations, lights and goodwill messages. The people take to the streets - mostly on mopeds and with little regard to their nominal capacity. The greatest number we've seen is two adults and three children on one machine.
The hotel is elegantly French and we're staying in the old part which has comfortable beds and granite bathrooms - all accessed by an attractive wrought-iron-clad lift. The elegance was slightly spoilt on 12th February by a staff part which was clearly much appreciated but was very noisy and lasted all afternoon.
We
visited the former presidential palace - now the Reconciliation Palace -which includes several reception rooms, a cinema, casino and a sombre underground bunker. Guides were on hand throughout giving the Vietnamese language version of the history of this 1960s edifice - we remarked on the visitor using his mobile 'phone while amidst the full volume narration!
After visiting the Remnants of War museum which demonstrated a keen, and understandable, anti-American bias to the story of the US involvement in Indo-China with lurid pictures of the victims of alleged atrocities - including defoliation by Agent Orange, we tried to cheer our spirits at a nearby eatery. It specialised in "bun" which we ordered with some trepidation , not being able to find an adequate translation in our guide books. Thankfully it turned out to be noodles of every shape, size, flavour and colour!
After an afternoon by the pool and an evening meal at a restaurant on Dong Khoi Street whihc was stronger on style and price than on substance, we ended the evening at the 23rd-floor cocktail bar on roof terrace of the Sheraton Hotel.
This morning we walked - and walked - to the Jade Pagoda
(also known as the Tortoise Pagoda on account of the turtles(?) and fish in the pools in the forecourt) in busy Mai Thi Luu Street. The air wa filled with incense as worshippers paraded their gifts against a backdrop of broadcast hymns from the singers within. Again we reflected on the incongruity of someone on a mobile 'phone amidst the worship and the driving of a moped into the temple precincts.
Lunch was spent at Pho, opposite our hotel - hot and friendly with good spring rolls and shrimps with beansprouts. Jen tried to avert her gaze from the tank full of live prawns as she eat their cooked buddies!
David has got a taste for
333 beer with which he rounded off the evening on the kitsch roof terrace of the Rex Hotel after an excellent (probably the best so far) meal at the Temple Club above Fanny's. It was featured in the FT's "How to Spend it" magazine which advocated a long weekend in Saigon - ambitious to say the least!
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