Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City? By whatever name, very interesting.
“It’s Ho Chi Minh City,” our tour guide, Joe, said, “but here in the south [of Vietnam], we call it Saigon.”
My husband Humberto and I had been curious about Saigon, as we had been to other cities in Vietnam, including Nha Trang and Phu My, but never there, and we wanted to see the buildings and monuments the French had built during the colonial period in 1858-1954 when Vietnam was part of French Indochina. So, during our world cruise on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner this winter, we took the ship’s included highlights tour of this fabled city, taking in the Opera de Saigon, completed in 1900 in the flamboyant style of the French Third Republic – like Paris’ Petit Palais, which was built in the same year. We also saw the Central Post Office, dating from 1891, in Neo-Classical, Gothic and Renaissance French colonial styles. Gorgeous architectural gems from another era also include the City Hall, dating from 1908 in French colonial style with Baroque and Rococo influences. It was modeled after the Hotel de Ville, its counterpart in Paris, and has an ornate white façade and bell tower.
Sadly, the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, another French gem in Neo-Romanesque style with lofty twin bell towers, was closed during our visit, undergoing extensive renovations and covered with scaffolding. It was completed in 1880 with materials and stained glass from France. The beautiful sculpture of the Virgin Mary in front of the church was still visible.
Additionally, we enjoyed other sights including the Presidential Palace, built in Vietnamese Modernistic style in 1966, and contemporary high-rises with interesting architecture.
During the drive to and from Saigon’s city center, Joe commented on life now in Vietnam under Communist rule. The country became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976 under Communist Party Secretary General To Lam.
“We are not using bicycles – now we use electric scooters,” Joe said, pointing to a sea of motorcycles on the road. “They are expensive – some can run US$5,000 to US$6,000, so many families have only one.” Often you see three people riding a scooter, sometimes four, Joe commented. “But four is illegal – if a policeman sees them and stops them, one gets off and gets on again later, when the policeman leaves. Sometimes the police see four on a scooter and they let them go, because they understand that families cannot afford two.”
Also regarding transportation Joe said that a Land Rover costs US$260,000 in Vietnam adding that only government people and foreigners can afford them.
A fellow tour participant asked Joe about housing. “Houses cost US$200,000,” Joe said, “but only government people and foreigners can afford them.”
Those who buy houses, Joe added, do not buy the lots the houses are on. “All the land belongs to the government,’’ he explained. Under Vietnamese law, the land is collectively owned by “the people” and managed by the state. When people buy a house, they just get “land use rights,” Joe said.
On our second day in Saigon, we had an opportunity to visit a local house via a second ship excursion. The family who lives there had ingeniously turned a room into a lovely mini theater with a beautifully decorated stage area resembling a temple, whimsical puppets and other colorful adornments, and tiered seating on wood benches covered with fabric.
This charming house/show venue is called the Truc Mai Music House. There, in this small venue on Pham Viet Chanh Street in the Binh Thanh District, musician Tuyet Mai and her husband Dinh Linh and their sons and daughters present traditional music and dances of Vietnam. The male members of the family play the music and emcee. The mother also plays music, and three daughters dance a variety of traditional pieces that feature lotus-flower-like props, Vietnamese hats and other props. Among the instruments they played that we had never seen were the bamboo flute (operated by energetic clapping into a series of hollowed bamboos) and the T’rung, an instrument that resembles a vertical marimba which the mother, Tuyet Mai, played and made it sound often like a harp.
We were charmed – although we would have preferred to sit in cushioned seating instead of wood benches that got uncomfortable after the first half hour. We were thoroughly entertained and invited to try our hand at some of the instruments. Some of our group of 16 tour participants tried, but nobody could get the wonderful sounds out of the bamboo flute that the Mai family could!
Another highlight of our two-day stay in Saigon was a folkloric show on board the Regent Seven Seas Mariner by this same Mai family. With the bigger stage in the ship’s Constellation Theater, the family had the ability to feature more musicians and dancers. The dance they performed with umbrellas was a big favorite with us.
Some quick superlatives of our visit to Vietnam:
- Seeing the French colonial architectural gems in Saigon.
- Meeting the Mai Family.
- Hearing Vietnamese music played on instruments we had never seen before like the T’rung.
- Most anticipated: our stops in more Asian ports as our world cruise progresses.
Follow along with Georgina and Humberto:
Preparing for a World Cruise | The Adventure Begins | Amazing Americas | Crossing the Pacific | Hawaiian Islands | French Polynesia | Venturing to New Zealand | Australia | Bali
By Cruise Specialists client, Georgina Cruz
Georgina Cruz is a freelance travel writer specializing in cruises. Her work has appeared in national magazines and regional publications as well as on travel websites. She has been on more than 200 voyages including seven circumnavigations, all booked through Cruise Specialists.
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