The good, bad and ugly sides to being a tourist in Ho Chi Minh City
The ‘second most dynamic city in the world’, once known as Saigon, is a charming mix of old and new despite its notorious traffic
THE GOOD
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam is an exhilarating, adrenaline-fuelled assault on the senses that demands your undivided attention – and that’s just to cross the street.
The hyperactive Southeast Asian metropolis once known as Saigon is currently ranked the second most dynamic city in the world (behind Bangalore in India) based on factors that contribute to long-term economic growth such as innovation, inspiration, investment and infrastructure.
The Pearl of the Far East welcomed more than 6 million international visitors in 2017, a significant increase on the previous year that owed much to the introduction of e-visas for the citizens of 40 countries.
A 10-minute walk away is the War Remnants Museum, a thought-provoking, if somewhat biased, must-see that highlights the atrocities committed by American forces (and only American forces), such as the notorious My Lai massacre.
