BITEXCO TOWEROne of District 1’s modern marvels,
Bitexco Tower is a flash 68-storey skyscraper that resembles a CD stack, featuring a helipad halfway up. The building dominates the downtown skyline and offers lofty 360-degree views from the 49th level Skydeck, or the Eon Heli Bar up on the 52nd floor.
CHINATOWN Cho Lon is Saigon’s Chinatown and is an energetic enclave that dates back to the 16th century. It’s worth a few hours of attention to savour the serenity at religious sanctuaries like Thien Hau Temple, and to learn about natural therapies at the antique stores practising traditional medicine. While you’re there stroll the sprawling wholesale market.
like Thien Hau Temple, and to learn about natural therapies at the antique stores practising traditional medicine. While you’re there stroll the sprawling wholesale market.
LOCAL COFFEE SPOTS The Saigonese are crazy about coffee and if sitting on a plastic stool at a streetside stall doesn’t appeal then there are other options; try Sinh Coffee which is a chain popular with locals,
Highlands Coffee to savour a serve of Vietnamese coffee cheesecake beside a hot beverage, The Workshop for new-style cool, or stylish Cafe RuNam.
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
Hit the footpath to explore Saigon’s colonial quarter with handsome structures like Notre Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office,
Hotel Continental, Opera House, Hotel de Ville de Saigon (pictured),
Ho Chi Minh City Museum and People’s Court. All are enduring examples of the colonial-era architecture that once defined the settlement.
FLOWER MARKET Ho Thi Ky in District 10 is the biggest flower market in Vietnam’s south, selling blooms sourced from the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands both wholesale and retail. But don’t expect to see a big shed, rather plan to wander the network of narrow lanes to peruse stalls squeezed around neighbourhood houses.
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