SAIGON
Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City), the former capital of South Vietnam is now known as the business capital of Vietnam. You can see why as you wander through it's mix of high rise modern buildings and busy coffee pitstops fuelling the daily grind. On paper it doesn't sound like my cup of tea at all. However, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city's many Shoreditch style eateries, markets and quirky second-hand shops. We stayed a short drive away from the city centre which ended up being a great choice of location. It felt very 'student-y', reminding us of some of Bristol's lovely inner city areas like Gloucester Road and Old Market (if we ignored the 1,000 mopeds and animals being butchered on the side of the street). As our last stop in Vietnam we had plenty to compare Saigon to. It was by far the most developed city, educationally as well; we met many locals with near perfect English. The big question is of course Hanoi or Saigon? I've thought a lot about this, Vietnam is the first place I could see us living in and so this question might need a definite answer one day! For me Hanoi came out tops for the few long weekends we stayed, however I feel Saigon is somewhere I could really see us settling (not forever, don't panic Mum!). It's a lot like London in that when spending a few days there can feel very big, busy and frustratingly hard to navigate. However I can imagine these aspects are all positives if you are a resident; there's a possibility you could be discovering new back streets full of unique restaurants, bars or shops every weekend for months, and that is an exciting thought.
Here's our 6 days in the city in ten photographs...
No comments:
Post a Comment