Night Markets in Saigon

While they may not be as bright and shiny as malls or supermarkets, night markets have their own character and are popular destinations for local people and travellers alike. For many travellers the day is just too hot to spend shopping, and the cooler night air offers an ideal opportunity to grab some souvenirs, while for locals the evening is an ideal time to meet and gather outside and share a meal or a drink under the stars.

There is an enormous variety of goods on offer including clothes, footwear, hats. hair clips, jewellery, watches..etc The prices are normally cheaper than day markets or supermarkets as the sellers pay less for the rent, so there are some great bargains to be had. As well as the choice in souvenirs there's also a great range of food, with many street vendors setting up shop to take advantage of the passing trade.

Some night markets specialise in cheap goods for students and workers, and are located out of town near universities and textile factories, such as the huge Ky Hoa night market on Cao Thang in District 10, where many student live. In these markets the prices are often cheaper than in town and less bargaining is necessary; many people also come to these markets and buy wholesale to stock their shops in town.

The food in Ky Hoa is delicious and surprisingly cheap, just $1 for a bowl of noodles or a plate of broken-rice with grilled pork and fried egg, plus a glass of sugar cane juice on the side. You will find a similar atmosphere at Binh Tay / Cho Lon, Hoa Hung and Ba Chieu night markets.

Ben Thanh Night Market
These markets are all within a 20-30 minute drive by taxi from the centre, and offer a authentic glimpse into real, living night markets, but for those who are short of time or energy Ben Thanh is ideally situated in the centre of Saigon and offers a taster of the larger night markets out of town. Although the shopping may be limited to souvenirs and tourist tat, there is still a wide choice of food and a great atmosphere.

There are at least 20 street-side eateries around the market building, with hundreds of diners gathering to feast on a wide range of the best dishes from all over Vietnam. You may spot 'Bún chả' or 'Phở', delicious noodle dishes from Hanoi, 'Banh Nam', little steamed cakes in banana leaf from Hue, or Bánh xèo, crispy rice pancakes from the Mekong Delta, as well as plenty of other delicacies. You can order delicious fresh grilled seafood, or tasty barbequed pork - with such great choices, you can't go wrong!

One of the best things about eating at Ben Thanh is that you can watch the chef cooking in front of you, and take in every delicious smell and sound, allowing you to enjoy the food with all your senses. The restaurants are also not exclusively tourist traps but offer authentic food and atmosphere - on any night the clientel may be 60-70% Vietnamese families and friends rather than exclusively tourists.

Eating and drinking on the street is very popular in Vietnam, and night markets offer a great window into the life of the city. If you have a chance we highly recommend joining the crowds to eat on the street for an atmosphere and experience that can't be matched by a hotel restaurant.

Night markets in Saigon - addresses
Ben Thanh Market, Le Loi, District 1
Ba Chieu, 40 Dien Hong, District 1
Hoa Hung, 539a Cach Mang Thanh Tam, District 10
Cho Lon, Hai Thuong Lang Ong, Ward 11, District 5
Ky Hoa - now moved to Thong Nhat Stadium, 138 Dao Duy Tu, Thanh Binh
All the night markets open from 5 pm and close at midnight.

Cat Tien National Park

Cat Tien National Park, located 150 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City, covers an area of 720 square kilometres and protects some of Vietnam's most endangered species of plant and animal life. For visitors to Vietnam who enjoy the outdoors, Cat Tien National Park is a must-see destination.

Plant and Animal Life at Cat Tien

Cat Tien National Park was initially protected by Vietnam in 1978. Consisting of two adjacent segments, Cat Loc and Nam Cat Tien, the park stretches over three different provinces and is surrounded by agricultural land.

The park's forest is one of the last tropical rainforests left in Vietnam, and as such it is a haven for a diverse array of otherworldly trees, brightly-coloured butterflies, endangered reptiles and amphibians, and mammals ranging from monkeys to rhinoceroses.

The rhinos are a particular point of pride for the park. In 1992, a herd of Vietnamese Javan Rhinos were discovered in the Cat Loc area, one of only two remaining herds in the wild. Unfortunately, like so many mammals once plentiful in Vietnam, the rhinos used to be the most populous species in Asia, but was hunted into near extinction in the nineteenth century. Although European hunters were initially to blame for the depopulation of the rhinoceroses, today the animals are threatened by traditional Chinese medicine. One poached rhino horn can earn as much as £20,000 on the black market, making the rhino herd a very tempting target for impoverished local farmers.

Other threats to the park include illegal logging and the local population's push to open more acreage to agriculture. The visits and donations of foreign tourists provide much-needed funding to help the park conserve its unique forests and unique animals. Visiting Cat Tien National Park, then, provides not just a fun outdoor adventure, but also a way to contribute to the conservation of one of Asia's last untouched tropical rainforests.

Some eco-tourists enjoy participating in the park's conservation initiatives, which include sponsored tree replanting. For just £13, visitors can plant a tree in the park to help keep it green.

Visiting the Villages Around Cat Tien National Park

After you have a chance to plant a tree and snap a photo of a rare rhino or golden gibbon (one of the park's many primate species), you might decide to supplement your natural sight-seeing with some cultural sight-seeing.

The people living in the central valley of the Cat Tien National Park reserve include the Chau Ma and the Stieng. These ethnic communities, located mostly to the south of Cat Tien, have lived in the area for many centuries. A day trip into one of these rural villages may provide interesting insight into the way of life of these traditional farmers, as well as a unique opportunity to understand a very different part of Vietnam.

For the eco-tourist in Vietnam, Cat Tien National Park, including the larger area of Nam Cat Tien and the smaller Cat Loc, are important destinations. Offering a chance to see some of the rarest flora and fauna in Southeast Asia, a visit to Cat Tien National Park also reaffirms the importance of preserving ancient ecosystems from extinction. Visiting Cat Tien gives the European tourist a chance to give back to a region that Europe has greatly benefited from over the past few centuries.

Museums in Saigon

Vietnam has a fascinating 2,000 year history and there is plenty to learn about the country's past and how it affects life today. Sadly, however, while there are some excellent museums in Vietnam not all live up to the same standard - many are lengthy photo galleries with few English translations of the contexts or history behind the photos, leaving the visitor bewildered even if they have some prior knowledge of the subject.

That being said, if you choose the right museums on your trip you can learn a great deal and begin to appreciate more the rich history of this country.

The Museum of Vietnam's History
(Inside the gates of the HCMC Zoo/Botanical Gardens, Le Duan, District 1)
Possibly one of the best museums we've seen in Vietnam, the natural history museum of Ho Chi Minh City manages to chart the country's history from prehistoric times and 10,000 year old artifacts to the wars with China and the numerous dynasties that have shaped the development of the Vietnamese nation over time. There are some fantastic examples of sculpture and art from the Cham and Oc Eo civilizations, statues of Buddhas from across the region, collections of porcelain and art from various historical periods and a even a mummy found preserved in Saigon. The narratives on the walls throughout the museum also go some way to helping the visitor understand the many periods of Vietnamese history, with only a few gaps. Highly recommended.

The War Remnants Museum
(28 Vo Van Tan, District 3)
Practically required viewing for any visitor to Ho Chi Minh City, the War museum is an comprehensive collection of photographs, video and other evidence detailing the horrors of war and the aftermath of unexploded ordinance, agent orange and other legacies of the combat. Remarkably the museum manages to avoid being overly political, instead pointing the finger at the senseless nature of war itself rather than focusing too closely on assigning blame. It is a sombre and moving experience, but it is highly recommended both to help understand what Vietnam went through and as a reminder of the importance of campaigning for peaceful solutions to differences between nations.

Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
(Duc Chinh Street, District 1 - Behind the bus station opposite Ben Thanh Market)
Housed in a beautiful old building from the colonial era, the Fine Arts Museum has an interesting collection of works from both contemporary and traditional artists, as well as a fascinating collection of statues and artifacts dating back as far as the first century AD on the 3rd floor. Well worth a visit.

The Ho Chi Minh Museum
(1 Nguyen Tat Thanh, District 4)
Just over a bridge from the downtown areas of Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi (the traffic is vicious so we'd advise jumping in a taxi rather than walking over the bridge!) on the banks of the river is a museum devoted to Ho Chi Minh. It is set in an attractive building and garden with good views of the river, and contains a potentially fascinating collection of photographs detailing the life of Ho Chi Minh. Sadly this potential is lost as so many of the photos captions, even when translated, fail to explain the significance of events or meetings depicted in photographs, making the experience somewhat bewildering for those that have not already studied the life of Ho Chi Minh (which, of course, most Vietnamese people have)
While the photos themselves are interesting, the museum is not really recommended unless you have a lot of time on your hands or a strong interest (and prior knowlege) in the man that lead Vietnam's campaign for independence.

Phong Nga Ke Bang National Park and Caves

Long before Phong Nha-Ke Bang (also spelled Phong Nga-Ke Bang) National Park came into existence, the Champa people were using its caves for various purposes. The Champa were people of ancient Cambodia and Vietnam who ruled most of southern and central Vietnam from the seventh century through the mid-nineteenth century. Carving out inscriptions on steles and altars inside the caves, the Champa left their mark in the magnificent caves many years before modern Vietnamese and British scientists would begin to explore the caves. Later explorations discovered Neolithic axe heads in the area, showing that use of the caves date back even before the time of the Champa people.

There is no overstating the magnificence of the caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The park was created to protect the world's two largest karst, or limestone, regions. Inside the limestone topography are over 126 km of cave systems, with over 300 caves and grottos (grottos are caves that have been inhabited or used by humans). For anyone visiting Vietnam with the slightest interest in caves, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a must-see destination.

Phong Nha Cave

The cave from which the park takes its name is Phong Nha cave, which is considered by many to be the best cave in the world. At 7,729 metres long, with 14 grottos and a 13,969 metre-long underground river, Phong Nha cave has been a site of mystery and wonderment for natives and visitors alike for centuries. With towering ceilings that can reach 40 metres above the water level and rock formations that excite the imagination, Phong Nha is open to tourists up to 1,500 metres.

Son Doong Cave

Son Doong cave isn't new, but it is newly discovered. In 1991, a local man stumbled upon the cave for the first time in modern memory, but unfortunately he couldn't remember how to get there until January 2008. The man assisted British scientists to find the cave mouth, and they have been exploring it ever since. Son Doong cave is currently the largest known cave in the world. Unfortunately, due to precarious conditions inside the cave, it is not yet open to tourists. In the future, hopefully visitors will be able to catch a glimpse of the enormous cave; the biggest chamber is over five kilometres long, 150 metres wide, and 200 metres high.

Tien Son Cave

While Phong Nha and Son Doong may be known for their size, Tien Son cave is known for its beauty. Created tens of millions of years ago, the stalactites and stalagmites inside Tien Son twist and turn into fairy-tale shapes. Tien Son is located right next to Phong Nha, making it easy for visitors to take a look at both caves.

Other Park Features

As if the spectacular caves at Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park weren't enough, the park is also a great place for mountain climbing, hiking, and eco-tours of the surrounding Ke Bang Forest. With sharply sloping mountains reaching heights of over 1,000 metres, you don't have to be a spelunker to find a challenging adventure at Phong Nha-Ke Bang.

There's a little something for every visitor of every age at Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. For anyone who enjoys the outdoors and natural wonders, this park should make it onto your Vietnam itinerary.

Cua Dai Beach

Not far from Hoi An is the lovely Cua Dai Beach. Over 30 km in length, the white sand beach stretches nearly to Da Nang and is one of the most popular beaches in Vietnam with foreign tourists. The beach is dotted with classy, western-style hotels and resorts, including the Swiss-Belhotel Golden Sand Resort. In all, the beach is a great place for a romantic holiday or a laid-back family holiday.

White Sands and Gentle Surf

If you're a surfing enthusiast, seek out bigger waves in Australia or Hawaii. Cua Dai Beach is not a beach for thrill-seekers. Instead, with pristine, white sands and moderate, gentle waves, Cua Dai Beach is better for moonlit strolls and floating around in the water. Because of the monsoon cycles in Southeast Asia, swimming is really safest from April through October; swimming at other times is not advised.

Unfortunately for westerners, the beach has gotten so popular with European tourists that most of the prices along the beach are rather inflated. However, by western standards, the prices are still relatively inexpensive. For a small fee, you can hire a deck chair, then relax in the sun and enjoy the sand and the sound of the waves lapping onto the shore.

When you get hungry, there is plenty of fresh seafood to be had from the beach's many kiosks. Run by the locals, these little restaurants offer fantastic food that's extremely fresh, unique, and difficult to find elsewhere. You can cool down with a pineapple drink, which comes highly recommended.

The Cham Islands

Another popular Hoi An area attraction accessible from Cua Dai Beach are the Cham Islands. The eight small islands make a great day trip, and together they form one of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. The Cham Islands Biosphere Reserve, also called Cu Lao Cham Marine Park, preserves corals, certain crustaceans and molluscs, and seaweed species that are unique to the islands. Besides the marine biodiversity, the terrestrial ecosystems include magical mangrove forests, rocky hills, and rich beaches.

The largest island, Hon Lao, is the only inhabited island of the eight. Scuba divers and snorkelers looking for an undiscovered diving spot can still find one off the coast of Hon Lao. For those who prefer to stay dry, the road between Bai Lang and Bai Huong villages is a great place to hike through the Cham Islands extensive, virgin forests.

Cua Dai Beach is one of Vietnam's most popular beaches for good reason: it's gorgeous, close to the well-loved town of Hoi An, filled with quality accommodations, and close to one of Vietnam's most unique wildlife reserves. As well as making a great day trip from Hoi An it can be a lovely place to stay too, making the most of the beach and popping into town when you are feeling energetic.

Cham Island, Hoi An

East of Hoi An, Vietnam, are the Cham Islands, eight islands of pure tropical paradise in the South China Sea, or East Sea as it is known in Vietnam. In 2001, the Cham Islands received 300 foreign visitors; in 2005, they received 800 visitors; the government's forecast suggests that by 2015, 125,000 foreign visitors will make the trek to Cham annually. In other words, at the moment the Cham Islands off Hoi An are undiscovered, unspoiled gems – but it won't stay that way for much longer, so visit while you still can.

The largest and only inhabited island is Hon Lao. The largest village on Hon Lao is Bai Lang, home to 2,400 people. The second largest village, Bai Huong, is home to only 400 people. With eight bays and coral reefs, Hon Lao is a great place for scuba divers and snorkelers looking for a less commercialised diving spot.

A Brief History of the Cham Islands

The Cham Islands take their name from the Champa Kingdom that was created in Hue in 200 AD and ruled the southern portion of Vietnam for several centuries. Well into the eighteenth century, Hoi An remained one of the region's most significant seaport.

The rugged mountains of the Cham Islands prevented much colonisation, and even though Hon Lao and several of the other islands are heavily forested, the natural resources of the islands went largely untapped. Today, the Forestry Protection Department of Quang Nam protects the lush virgin forests.

Scuba Diving in the Cham Islands

The waters surrounding the Cham Islands include 135 species of coral, 202 species of fish, 4 species of lobster, and 84 species of mollusks. With such an ecologically diverse marine environment, together with the marine protected area status that's been extended to include all eight islands, it's easy to understand why scuba divers and snorkelers are eager to visit the Cham Islands.

The Cham Island Dive Centre comes complete with their own guesthouse to offer accommodations to visiting divers. The dive instructors and guides have a reputation for being very knowledgeable – not just about the local diving spots but also about the history and culture of the Cham Islands themselves. Courses on scuba diving are available through the Dive Centre, ranging from beginners to advanced levels. Most of the instructors are Brits, while others are English-speaking Italians and French.

After a fascinating dive in the morning, you can relax on the semi-private white sand beach in the afternoon – definitely one of the most beautiful in Vietnam. And if you don't want to stay in the Cham Islands, or if you already have a hotel in Hoi An, you can be back in Hoi An by dinner time. While the Cham Island Dive Centre is not as well-known as other dive centres in Vietnam, it is just as professional, and a trip to the Cham Islands for a dive is certainly worth it.

Hiking in the Forests

With such extensive and unmolested forests covering more than a quarter of the Cham Islands, hiking through the forest sounds like a good idea but is not officially sanctioned. Because the Cham Islands remain very undeveloped, there are no easily accessible, safe hiking trails through the forests. However, there is a road that links Bai Lang and Bai Huong. This road is a safe place to walk, and you might spot one of the island's famous monkeys on your trek!

Getting to the Cham Islands

If you'd like to visit the Cham Islands, plan your trip for the summer months. Water levels make it extremely difficult to access the islands from September through December, and from January through April the islands are only sometimes accessible. From May through August, however, the Cham Islands are always accessible. You should also be aware that weather conditions have a tendency to change during the day. The mornings are the calm period, but stronger winds and waves begin around one in the afternoon. For traveling to the islands, you'll need your passport in hand to make it past the checkpoint, plus a dive or snorkeling permit (easiest to travel with a dive operator who already has these permits).

Once you're on the island, there's not much to see or do beyond the excellent scuba diving, snorkeling, and beach lounging. In Bai Lang, you'll find a few authentic Vietnamese restaurants, and in the smaller village of Bai Huong you can find a coffee shop or two. Other than that, don't expect to find much shopping or dining in this part of Vietnam.

The remote Cham Islands are a must-see for any diver visiting Vietnam. Visit now, before westerners discover the Cham Islands and turn it into another Asian tourist haven.

The History of Hoi An's Ancient Town

Today, westerners know the Vietnamese city of Hoi An mostly as a tourist destination. Thanks to its proximity to the Marble Mountains and lovely China Beach, Hoi An draws many visitors each year. But at one point in its history, Hoi An was far more than a tourist destination; in fact, it was one of the most important seaports in all of Southeast Asia.

Early History of Hoi An

Hoi An was first settled by the Champa people, a Malay-Indonesian people who arrived in Vietnam from Java originally around 200 BC. In the first century AD, the Champas founded Hoi An. At that time, the city was called “Lam Ap Pho”, or Champa City.

The Champa Kingdom was a large and powerful one, and although My Son (which no longer exists except for a few ruins) was the Cham's spiritual capital, Hoi An was its commercial capital. In the first century, Hoi An was the largest harbour in Southeast Asia. From Hoi An, the Cham gradually built control over the spice trade, bringing great wealth to the city. From the seventh to the tenth centuries, Champa-dominated Hoi An ruled the trade in spices and silks, with their influence stretching as far west as Baghdad. The Cham exported aloe and ivory, and supplemented their trading income with calculated acts of piracy and caravan raids.

The Decline of the Champa Kingdom

Unfortunately for the Cham and Hoi An, great wealth brings great jealousy. Riches, combined with raids, didn't make for good relationships with their neighbours. The Cham frequently came into conflict with the Viet people north of their kingdom, and the Khmer people in Cambodia. Fighting between the Cham, Viet, and Khmer weakened the kingdom, and finally in the thirteenth century, Kublai Khan, the Mongolian warlord, invaded and occupied the Champa Kingdom. In the late fourteenth century, the strong Cham leader, Che Bong Nga (“The Red King”) managed to unite the Cham one last time and led a brief resurgence. In the fifteenth century, the Cham fell once and for all to the Viet people.

Hoi An's Return to the World Stage

Under the leadership of the Nguyen dynasty, Hoi An gradually began to recover, and rose to prominence once again. During the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, Hoi An, which at that time was called Hai Pho (meaning “seaside town”), once again became the most important port in Southeast Asia. With a Japanese settlement on one end of town and a constant influx of Chinese, Dutch, and Indian merchants, Hoi An was a centre for global trade before such a term existed. In the early eighteenth century, Japanese and Chinese traders in particular considered Hoi An the best place to go for trading in all of Asia. A key stop on the Silk Road, Hoi An exported its ceramics as far afield as Egypt.

Fall of the Nguyen Lords

But Hoi An was destined to slip into decline and obscurity once again. The Nguyen dynasty eventually became opposed to open trade, in an attempt to limit the influence of foreigners in the nation – an ongoing problem that would plague Vietnam for the next two centuries. The closed trade policy led to Hoi An's stagnation, and by the time the Nguyen lords changed their policy, Hoi An's decline had already become irreversible.

Simultaneously, French influence in Danang was rapidly increasing, making Danang the new centre for trade in Vietnam. Furthermore, the new trading vessels constructed during the eighteenth and nineteenth century required a deeper port, something that Hoi An couldn't offer.

Although Hoi An's days as an important trading centre were over, there was a benefit to its decline: as other cities in Vietnam modernised and followed the European lead in culture, style, and wealth, Hoi An remained an example of a traditional Vietnamese port city. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Hoi An was all but forgotten, allowed to continue its ancient traditions with little influence from the modern, European-dominated world.

Hoi An Today

As a result of its isolation, Hoi An remained a small city with its history intact. In 1999, UNESCO named Hoi An a World Heritage Site, because it was such a well-preserved example of a 15th - 19th century Asian trading port. With UNESCO's recognition came tourist recognition, and the last decade has seen a different kind of commercial resurgence for Hoi An, as western tourists gradually rediscover the charm of this old Vietnamese city. Today, Hoi An is a common stop along the trail for backpacking adventurers, and meanwhile, a number of bars, restaurants, and internet cafes have opened to cater to tourists. Many craft shops can be found in Hoi An, including traditional Vietnamese ceramics and fabric production. In particular, Hoi An has become known for its tailors, who can produce custom-made clothes for a fraction of what it would cost in the west.

In short, if you're planning to visit central Vietnam, Hoi An should definitely be at the top of your list. Rich in history and culture, and only a stone's throw from China Beach, the Marble Mountains, and the Champa Islands, Hoi An remains one of the only gems of Southeast Asia not yet overrun with tourists.

My Son Cham Ruins, Hoi An

My Son Ruins

Mankind builds marvelous and imagination-defying cities and structures, then erases them again as the centuries, along with the fickle loyalty of scholars, priests, kings, and common people render them either obsolete or irrelevant. The ruins of My Son in Vietnam, not far from Da Nang and Hoi An, fall into this category.

My Son was once an impressive place, a holy valley of impressive Hindu temples and burial grounds of the royalty of the Champa people. My Son was the Vietnamese equivalent of places like Cambodia's Angkor Wat and Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In its heyday, My Son included over seventy temples, along with a number of monuments with inscriptions in both Sanskrit, the holy language of ancient India, and Cham. In 1999, UNESCO named My Son a World Heritage Site.

History of My Son

The My Son site dates back to the fourth century AD, when the Champa king, Bhadravarman, erected the first temple there. He named it Bhadresvara, which was a combination of his own name and the Hindu god Ishvara, another name for Shiva. On the temple, the king added a request for subsequent generations to respect the temple and not destroy it. For many centuries, his request seemed to work; for generations after Bhadravarman's death, the My Son site was the hub of spiritual activity for the Champa people. Even when the original temple was destroyed in a fire two hundred years later, a later king made sure to rebuild it. The temple lasted in one form or another until it was obliterated during the Vietnam War.

In the fourteenth century, the Champa were conquered by the Viet people, for whom the modern country is named. The disappearance of the Champa also meant the gradual dissolution of the My Son site, which the jungle slowly started to reclaim. Ignored and largely forgotten, My Son was discovered again at the turn of the twentieth century by a French scholar.

In the 1930s, the French began to restore the My Son temples. The French scholars and archeologists were able to identify a total of seventy-one temples, with various groupings of temples belonging to different eras of development of the Cham kingdom.

My Son Today

Unfortunately for both visitors and world history, much of what remained of My Son in the twentieth century was bombed out of existence by American B-52 bombers during the American Vietnam War. The temples that had been so lovingly restored by French archeologists and local people were quickly devastated by the American bombs. In fact, local people are still wary of the area surrounding the My Son ruins because of the still unexploded bombs and land mines.

Nevertheless, My Son is still one of Vietnam's most important historic sites. Visitors with any interest in Southeast Asia's history will enjoy the bus trip from Da Nang or Hoi An to the ruins. Most tours of the My Son ruins range in price from £30 to £47, depending upon the size of the group and the city of origin.