Some of Vietnam’s best restaurants and cheap eats can be found in HCMC. Travellers to the city should try a bowl of traditional beef noodles (Pho), which can be found on virtually every street corner for as little as $1. It’s no wonder the dish is regarded as the ‘McDonalds of the East’.

Golf around Ho Chi Minh City - Ho Chi Minh City is the heart and the soul of Vietnam. Inhabitants of the former colonial capital call it still Saigon as a sort of resistance, not to Ho Chi Minh but to the Hanoian officials who have imposed the change of the old city's name. It's a bustling, dynamic and industrious centre, the largest city in the country, the economic capital and the cultural trendsetter. And golfing around is very easy. more...

The War Remnants Museum is another popular attraction for tourists and is only a short stroll from the Reunification Palace. Although the exhibits are displayed in seven individual warehouses, they speak volumes for the cruelty and injustice witnessed during the Vietnam War. The museum houses dozens of gruesome photographs, jars of deformed fetuses as well as a simulated ‘tiger cage’ prison.

There are also several interesting sites two hours’ drive away from the city centre. The Cu Chi Tunnels are part of an extensive network of underground passages originally built by the Viet Cong. These tunnels allowed guerrillas to travel great distances without being detected. The Viet Cong also built several hospitals, kitchens, dormitories, weapons factories and even classrooms within the passages.

For shoppers, the Ben Thanh Market is a must see stop. As the largest of its kind in the city, the market features hundreds of packed-in stalls stocking everything imaginable: from clothing, fabrics and shoes to cosmetics, handicrafts, food and live animals. Shoppers should be prepared to haggle for their purchases, although many stall owners insist on ‘fixed prices’.