Vietnam: Strolling Saigon | Ho Chi Minh City at Night

My sister and I couldn’t wait to get out and stroll the city, but we were travelling with the parents who are mobility challenged, especially my mom, so we had to play it by ear.

Travelling with family is very different from travelling on your own, with your partner or with a friend. The more people there are in the group, the more personalities you have to manage. Compromise and sometimes just going with the flow works best. With that, we didn't really move around much on our first day, well not until in the evening.

Grandiose Christmas lights in Ho Chi Minh City.

The whole family literally just stayed around Ben Thanh area the whole day. We landed at 08:30 and didn’t get to go out of the airport after 2 hours because of my visa on arrival processing. We eventually arrived at our hotel around 11:30 and we didn’t go out until 13:30 because we were tired. We tried catching some sleep from the long eventful night we’ve had in Manila due to the storm. Afterwhich we had a pho lunch at Pho2000 just around the corner taking advantage of discount coupon we received from the hotel. From the restaurant we crossed over the street and visited Ben Thanh market. My mom got tired from all the shopping and begged to go back to the hotel room to rest. My dad was also tired and wanted to join her. Sister and I then took the opportunity to go out and discover the city.

Since we are going to discover the city on foot, we didn’t really wandered off that far. We only stayed in District 1 and walked around the core city centre. This is approximately the route we took from our hotel and back:

From Ben Thanh area we walked around the market crossing to the other side of the rotunda watching in awe how the cars, buses, motorbikes and pedestrian danced and avoided colliding from each other. It must be interesting to note that there are traffic lights and lane markings. Then we walked on the busy Le Loi street which is one of the main roads in District 1. We further inspected the side streets until we reached Nguyen Hue boulevard. This boulevard has a massive pedestrian lane in the middle which leads to the Union Square and the City Hall, and to the Saigon River on the other end. We were very impressed with all the city lights and the tall lighted buildings. We hanged around here for a bit taking pictures.

The Nguyen Hue boulevard is a really nice part of Saigon in the evening. I highly recommend for first time visitors to come here and spend at least an hour walking up and down the pedestrian boulevard.

We then further walked towards Dong Khoi street which is hailed as the poshest street of Ho Chi Minh city. There are many high-end signature brand shops here and lots of cafes and restaurants as well. Here we saw a couple having a pre-wedding pictorial in front of the Saigon Opera Theater. It was a lovely sight because the bride was dressed in a dramatic red flowing gown. Not many would do that. Then we further walked towards the Notre Dame Cathedral and back to Ben Thanh area.

What I really enjoyed with this stroll were the extravagant Christimas lights in the city. What an amazing showcase of city lights, they were such a delight and entertainment to the eyes. I have never seen such beautiful and captivating work of art and lights. This must have cost millions of Euros to install them. Well, I think when it comes to Christmas lights, Ho Chi Minh City has just put all the major cities in the world to shame.

But who would have thought a largely Buddhist country will dress up its capital with stunning, expensive Christmas lights? This is a very strong positive message for Vietnam in welcoming visitors to its country, both for business and pleasure.

My sister and I were glad to have wandered about the city. We enjoyed it very much but more importantly, we were able to cover enough ground to find our bearings in the city and understand its layout.

The Saigon Centre is one of the largest modern shopping mall in Vietnam. It has an ice skating rink.

Many buildings in Saigon have French colonial design architecture.

We passed by a beautiful Hindu temple called Chua an Giao.

On the Nguyen Hue boulevard. The middle lane is pedestrianised and many people walk up and down the boulevard. This side is facing the Saigon River and the other side of the pedestrianised boulevard is the Union Square and the City Hall.

Such a delight, all the Christmas lights in the city were simply stunning. It was as if there is a festival. Good job Ho Chi Minh City!

The tall building on the right is the Bitexco Tower which has an observatory deck. We visited this on our last day in the city.

Far ahead is Union Square and the grandiose Ho Chi Minh City Hall.

This is the posh Dong Khoi street which is parallel to Nguyen Hue boulevard.

Pre-wedding pictorials are big in Asia.

The Saigon Opera House. We wanted to watch a show here but they didn't have any during the days we were there.

Stunning Christmas lights on Dong Khoi street. This must have cost the city a fortune.

This is the Notre Dame cathedral. We visited her the next day.

A local alfresco bar restaurant. The Viets love eating outside.

Travel Period: December 2016
Destination: Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (Southeast), Vietnam

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All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.