Exotic City For Those Who Want Something Different

Advantages: Exciting culture, new sites and smells, beats the old humdrum cities
Disadvantages: Very hot in April

...I was a little worried when I was informed that I had to go to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam on business. I was brought up in the far east and I knew this place as Saigon. Sometime in the seventies Saigon became Ho Chi Min City. ***FIRST IMPRESSIONS*** My first impression was that it was very hot and dusty and had a strange sickly smell. Most foreign airports strike me that way when I first get off the plane, so this isn't something peculiar to this place. There were still soldiers, military vehicles and anti aircraft guns scattered about the place, just as they had been more than twenty years ago. I just hoped that the rest of the city had made progress. ***AIRPORT*** Everything looked crowded and dusty as we left Tan Son Nhat International Airport which is right in the heart of the city. There has actually been some...

jan007 10.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Pham Ngu Lao/Backpackers!!

Advantages: Convenient and reasonable prices
Disadvantages: Noisy and crowded

...Arriving at Tan Son Nhat[Ho Chi MInh Aipport] is one thing - but leaving can be harder. The taxi-drivers know that you don't have any alternatives or so they think. They'll tell you a price which can be up to ten times more than the actual price on the meter. So what you should do is turn left and head towards 'Departure' cause the taxi-drivers down there are not part of the scam. Jump into to a taxi and tell them your destination. And your destination if your budget is less than 5 star hotels and so on should be the "Pham Ngu Lao' area also called the backpacker zone. Here you find hotels/dormitories from $5 and up. A nice little room with aircon, fridge, tv and bathroom goes for around $10/12 and up. Don't get stressed there are plenty of options in the area. Some people will most likely try to tell you that all the rooms are gone...

vilumdeluxe 17.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

  A Sai For Those Who Have Not Gon.

Advantages: Modern Vietnam With One Eye Carefully Trained On The Past.
Disadvantages: The Scam Merchants Will Have Your Eye Out If You're Not Careful.

...As much as those in authority try to change Saigon to Ho Chi Minh the more the locals hold onto Saigon. You see despite the passage of time and outwardly friendly gesturing between North and South Vietnam there is still much distrust between the two. So holding onto a historical name is one way of showing the other how they really feel. Saigon is a wonderful capital that is clogged morning, noon and night with motorbikes, bicycles, pedicabs and the occasional 4 wheeled vehicle. It has much to offer and despite the constant stories of robberies and muggings it is a safe city to visit. Pollution isn't on the scale of Bangkok but when you compare it to Hanoi some work clearly needs to be done to clear the air. Saigon sprawls over 16 districts but the main attractions and most of the accommodation are housed within district one. It...

indiecater 22.09.2002 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Saigon the rebel

Advantages: an unforgatable place
Disadvantages: pollution

...At the time of my stay of 3 months for professional reason in Vietnam of mid January to mid April, I have had the luck to be lodged on Saigon. The city is a little rebel following Viet government because when the country decided to enter marked economy the capital Hanoi hesitated staying on the basements of the comunism when Saigon rushed in the new openings and got the mains markets. Lived and impressions on the city: Tentacular city and bruillante. Constant animation in the city decreasing the night slightly to start again even more in the small hours. From my room at 8eme stacks the attenuated rumbling noise of the trafic, occured mainly by mupets and motorcycles and its overnight appearance in the avenues made one think of an enormous snake . He wake up in the small hours and increase crescendo...

krakakoutas 09.09.2004 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Saigon - A Brave New World.

Advantages: Untouched rural beauty,breathtaking senery, cheap cost of living, friendly warm people,very little crime
Disadvantages: culture shock, hygiene not up to western standards

...Arriving in Ho Chi Minh Airport, the first thing that really struck me was the huge anti-aircraft guns sitting next to the runway, a very harsh reminder that this is a country just recovering from more than 30 years of war. This having been said, It has now been at peace with itself and it's neighbours for close to ten years. Certainly any reservations you initially had would be swepted away in the fast moving and neon lit lights of Saigon Proper. And after the inevitably long flight over you would think that all you would want to do is catch up on some well-deserved sleep. But instead you find yourself woken up and alert, as this wondrous and enchanting city breathes the life back into you. In fact if there is one thing this city has, It is an abundance of life and frantic hustle and bustle. Everywhere you look there is some facet...

Sandman 08.07.2000 (22.06.2001) · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

I Miss Saigon

Advantages: Vibrant, bustling and thrilling
Disadvantages: Street Hawkeres and Cyclo Drivers

...My husband and I visited Vietnam in February of this year. Having previously visited Thailand we wanted to return to South East Asia but also to experience a new culture. Vietnam seemed the obvious choice, a relatively new tourist destination where you get real value for money. After a 2 night stop in North Thailand (just to relive a bit of our honeymoon ;o)!) we arrived in Saigon. We thought that being late at night we wouldn't get too much of a feel for the city, but we were wrong. The place was buzzing...literally. The noise was awesome, mopeds humming past, horns beeping and indicator alerts chiming (this is a novel concept...we heard cars playing, amongst other things, Happy Birthday and Jingle Bells during our time in Vietnam!) Tired but elated we arrived at the Grand Hotel, our home for the next three nights. One...

mrsclark 27.08.2003 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Blackpool of Vietnam

Advantages: Cheap rooms and food
Disadvantages: Tourism

...I arrived in Saigon from Cambodia having travelled from Cambodia overland. Saigon, or Hoi Chi Minh City as it was renamed after the war, is the largest city in Vietnam and has many attractions for travellers and tourists. As Saigon is the most popular city for tourists, areas have become very commercialised which has led to a more competitive tourist trade but does detract from the overall feel of the city. It’s a good city to start off on a tour of Asia or Vietnam as everything you need is catered for. Most people in the tourist area speak enough English to communicate but this does lead to a lot of hawkers and beggars. Even in a bar hawkers who move table to table will accost you with silk prints, cigarettes and lighters to name a few. I advise not sitting next to an open window as passing hawkers and beggars will try their...

joncr 17.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

The Real Gem of Saigon

Advantages: Plenty to see
Disadvantages: Weather unpredictable - can ground you

...My boyfriend and I took a three week holiday in Vietnam December 1999. A reasonably priced fare with Lauda Air (£458 inc) Heathrow - Vienna - Bangkok - Ho Chi Minh. We planned to make our own travel arrangements through the countryside as far north as Nha Trang. We arrived unaware that a cyclone was hitting hard from the Phillipines. Flooding up and down the country led to a state of emergency being declared throughout the country. Tourists were being shunted back to major towns and cities as fast as possible. So this situation put paid to our plans for a three week travelling trip. We faced up to the fact that it was going to be Saigon and very little else for the duration. It was disappointing that we couldn't control our own proceedings and missed out on the beautiful countryside, sand sea and local village life that we...

cadonn 31.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

All along the Ho-Chi Minh trail

Advantages: Very nice graphics, a nice feeling through out the game
Disadvantages: They could have included more missions in the campaign.

...You're in a swamp, close to the Cambodian border. The night is dark and you have to feel your way through the rough terrain. Suddenly, your point man whispers: "VC are close." You order your squad to a halt and listen to the sounds of the jungle. Suddenly your point man opens fire with his 12 gauge shotgun. The reaction is made up by two AK47s on full-auto. You see the muzzle flashes and you respond by emptying the magazine of your M16 in the direction of one of them, next, your 60 gunner opens up....Welcome to Vietnam. Vietcong is the game we've been waiting for. At least those of us who are dedicated FPS players :-) As you are brought in by a helicopter to the Special Forces camp of Nui Pek, located close to the Ho-Chi Minh trail in Vietnam, you can really feel the danger. The diffrent soldiers of your A-detachment really feel...

Wizard87 26.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Vietcong (PC)

TAI CHI AND ME

Advantages: Gentle, suitable for any age group and fitness level
Disadvantages: none

...~~ TAI CHI FOR DIABETES ~~ About 6 weeks ago now, I was feeling very poorly, so I went to the doctors, where I was told that I had diabetes, I should not really have been surprised as it has been in my family for 4 generations, I am obese, I smoke (well did, I have given up in the last couple of weeks), and well, I am over 40, so it all leads to Type 2 diabetes. Even through I knew the chances were high, I still cried, and well, I just did not want to be diabetic. Whilst I was waiting for my first appointments with the diabetic clinic, I scoured the internet for information on diabetes. I needed exercise, but my breathing was very laboured and I could not walk far, (my poor dog Chloe is over weight due to lack of exercise, because I cannot take her), without going dizzy. So, whilst searching on Ciao I saw this DVD Tai Chi...

arnoldhenryrufus 02.12.2005 (03.12.2005) · Read review
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Review of Tai Chi For Diabetes (DVD)