Neighborhood Vibes and Modern Comforts Combine at Hotel Indigo Saigon The City
Staying in a local neighborhood means surrounding yourself with the sights, styles, routines, traditions, and history of a locale. Hotel Indigo Saigon The City, a new boutique lifestyle hotel, tells the stories of the iconic Ba Son area via its details, decor, atmosphere, and experiences, so checking in feels like taking part in a celebration of the city.
Uyên Đỗ in Hanoi
A Slice of Life in Coupon-Era Hanoi via Colorful Vintage Lottery Tickets
What can tiny sheets of paper reveal about a whole time period?
Brian Letwin in Heritage
Tàu Cánh Ngầm: The Curious Case of Saigon’s Lost Soviet Hydrofoils
Not long ago, hulking “creatures” glided atop the waters between Saigon and Vũng Tàu. Like the dinosaurs that came before them, they slowly disappeared, until all that was left were their skeletons.
Tim Doling in Saigon
The Surprisingly Recent History Behind Bình Thạnh's Lonely 'Gia-Đinh' Gate
It’s claimed by several tourism websites that a gateway from one of the ancient Gia Định citadels has survived and may be viewed on the Lê Văn Duyệt-Phan Đăng Lưu intersection in Bình Thạnh District, close to the Lê Văn Duyệt Mausoleum. However, a little research into the history of that area reveals that the gateway in question has more recent origins.
The Legends of Thăng Long Tứ Trấn, the 4 Guardian Temples Protecting Hanoi
In the edict to move Vietnam’s capital to Hanoi, Emperor Lý Thái Tổ described this land as the middle of heaven and earth, the center of the four directions. Such a place would bring peace and prosperity, he believed, and deserved sacred protection.
Feel the Pulse of a Fast-Changing Vietnam in the 1990s via This Lively Photo Album
By the mid-1990's, Vietnam's astounding economic transformation was well underway.
Street Cred: Dauntless Antiwar Icon Nguyễn Thái Bình and His Tragic Death
If one were to see the streets of Vietnam as a tangled network of people whose names they took, every city would resemble a messy collection of historical fragments.
Linh Phạm in Hanoi
Street Cred: Pháo Đài Láng, Home of Ông Voi and Where the War Began
More often than not, a country’s independence is won with guns. The location where the first shots were fired for Vietnam is memorialized to this day.
Street Cred: Lac Long Quan and Au Co
Street Cred is the rearview mirror by which we’ll explore the meaning behind the signs. Look for it every Friday. Enjoy!
Street Cred: Nguyễn Văn Trỗi
Hey folks! Saigoneer is resurrecting its short-lived series on the street signs of Saigon with a weekly column called Street Cred. Saigon is filled with history and we see signs of it everywhere. Stre...
Saigon’s Hung Vuong Temple
Every year on the 10th day of the Hung Vuong Celebration (which just happens to be today), thousands of Vietnamese gather at the Hung Temple in Phu Tho Province to honor the country’s ancient and...
Tim Doling in Saigon
“Củ Chi Lite” – The Secret Tunnels of Phú Thọ Hòa
Very few foreign tourists ever set foot there and it seems that only those living in the area know of their existence. But the pioneering Phú Thọ Hòa Tunnels in Hồ Chí Minh City’s Tân Phú District pla...
Blasts From the Past: 10 Things That No Longer Exist in Saigon
Saigon is a city of turnover; colonial buildings have given way to skyscrapers, canals to streets and train stations to parks. As the city enters a period of modernization, on it’s way to becoming an...
Street Cred: Phạm Ngũ Lão
Hey folks! Saigoneer is resurrecting its short-lived series on the street signs of Saigon with a weekly column called Street Cred. Saigon is filled with history and we see signs of it everywhere. Stre...
[Slideshow] 15 Old Photos of Markets in Saigon
Supermarkets are becoming increasingly popular in Saigon but traditional markets still reign supreme. They act as the lifeblood of neighborhoods, where farmers from all over Southern Vietnam bring the...
Tim Doling in Asia
Full Steam Ahead on Cambodia’s Toll Royal Railway
Việt Nam railway historian Tim Doling recently joined a group of British steam enthusiasts visiting Phnom Penh as part of a PTG rail tour http://www.ptg.co.uk/ to travel behind Toll Royal Railway’s pr...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Old Saigon Building of the Week: 48 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu
As demolition of 213 Đồng Khởi gets underway in earnest this week, we take a look at the crumling old Đa Kao headquarters of the company which built it.
[Slideshow] 13 Old Pictures of Cholon
Cholon is one of Saigon’s oldest and most interesting neighborhoods. Spanning much of Districts 5 and 6, this predominantly ethnic Chinese area has been an integral part of Saigon’s economy since its ...
[Slideshow] 14 Old Pictures of Taxis in Saigon
In Saigon, taxis have long played an important role in getting people where they need to go. They first took the form of rickshaws and then cyclos before giving way to the 4-wheeled motorized variety ...
The Story of Saigon's Last Citadel
You’ve probably passed the pair of colonial buildings at intersection of Dien Tien Hoang and Le Duan hundreds of times. What you may not be aware of, however, is that these two buildings are the last ...
[Slideshow] 12 Old Pictures of the Notre Dame Cathedral
The Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of Saigon’s oldest and most iconic buildings. Built with imported materials from France, it was constructed between 1863 and 1880 in an effort to promote Catholicism in...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Old Saigon Building of the Week: Former Clinique Saint-Paul
For those condemned to a long daily commute along that busiest of city arteries, Điện Biên Phủ street, the clean, elegant lines of the Hồ Chí Minh City Eye Hospital (Bệnh viện Mắt, Thành phố Hồ Chí Mi...
[Video] Saigon Street Scenes (1940-1950)
This is one of the harder old Saigon videos to make sense of since it’s a compilation of clips filmed between 1940 and 1950, starkly different times in the country's history (World War 2 will do that)...
[Slideshow] 12 Colorized Pictures of Old Saigon
While old Saigon looked beautiful in black and white, adding a little color goes a long way to adding life to a photo (though photography purists would probably disagree). We've collected 12 colorized...
[Slideshow] 14 Images of Saigon in 1895
By 1895, Saigon had been occupied by the French for 36 years. When looking at photos from this period, it’s clear that the French placed great value on urbanizing the sleepy fishing outpost, formerly ...
Fun with Old Vietnamese Lottery Tickets (1942-1944)
Based on some old lottery tickets we stumbled upon, it seems as though the French may be responsible for the tens of thousands of people roaming Vietnam’s streets selling their pink and while slips of...
Tim Doling in Saigon
A Date with the Wrecking Ball: 2 Historic Saigon Buildings Slated for Demolition
The proposal to build a 14-storey City Administration Centre behind the Hồ Chí Minh City People’s Committee building promises yet again to transform the skyline of the city’s central business district...
[Slideshow] 17 Photos of Saigon from the Air (1930)
In 1930, a French plane took a series of photographs from Saigon to Cholon, capturing some of the city's most famous sites. So. Many. Trees.
