THE month of June this year was among the hottest months in Vietnam. According to the weather forecast, the maximum temperature could reach 34 degrees Celsius and feel like 44 degrees Celsius, due to the heatwave from the South China Sea. This worried us, a tour group from Kuching, before the departure in the middle of June, as the trip has been planned since the beginning of the year.
Luckily, the weather turned for the better, with reduced heat due to cloudy weather on certain days and heavy rain while we were there. However, it was still hotter than the weather in Kuching.
Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon (the locals and even outsiders still commonly call it Saigon), is located in the Southeast region of Vietnam. It is the economic and financial hub as well as the cultural centre of Vietnam, with many historical landmarks.
Its present name was given in honour of Ho Chi Minh, the former prime minister of Vietnam and the revolutionary leader of the communist party, when his North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon and won the Vietnam War in 1975. It was once the capital of the Southern region of Vietnam under the French colonial government. The present capital of Vietnam is Hanoi, in the northern region of the country.
Ho Chi Minh City is the largest and most populous city in Vietnam. Covering an area of 2,061 square kilometres with a population of over nine million (in 2019), as compared to only about 2.5 million people (in 2020) for the whole state of Sarawak!
The large population is no doubt providing good business opportunities for traders selling consumer goods, household and daily essential items, as well as food and drinks.
Eateries ranging from mobile hawkers, roadside food stalls, traditional food shops, cafes, and restaurants are flourishing all over the city to cater to the city’s residents and tourists. There are also indoor markets and modern shopping complexes that sell merchandise to both locals and tourists.
Among the favourite items much sought after by tourists are clothing, hats and capes, shoes, bags, souvenirs and handicrafts. Walking along the streets of the city was a “scary” experience at first sight. To see such a large number of motorbikes that swarmed the streets, especially during the peak hours in the late afternoon. According to the available statistics, there are some 7.3 million motorbikes in the city, with one family owning at least one, with some even up to three or more, according to my tourist guide, Siaw Kiew.
Amazing traffic
At the traffic junctions outside the city centre, where there are no traffic lights, traffic police, or traffic roundabouts, we could see motor vehicles moving freely non-stop in all directions without having to stop and wait (unlike in Malaysia).
It looked chaotic, but it was amazing to see these vehicles, including motorcycles, driving at a moderate speed, giving way to each other whenever necessary in an orderly manner without interrupting the continuous flow of traffic. They are indeed expert riders and drivers in their own right!
Heritage buildings from the French government era
As Vietnam has been ruled by the French colonial government, many of the prominent buildings as well as shophouses have architecture of French influence, including the Ho Chi Minh City Hall building, the Saigon Central Post Office, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Saigon Opera House, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, and Ben Thanh Market, just to name a few.
On some of the streets in the city, huge trees as tall as 10-storey buildings are growing neatly on both sides of the narrow streets. These trees, mainly dipterocarp trees and teak wood trees, were planted during the French colonial era back in 1863, to provide greenery and shading from sunlight to reduce the heat from the hot tropical weather so that the city folks could live more comfortably in this city.
The trees were chosen because they do not have fibrous roots that grow close to the surface of the ground and would damage the road surface. These trees are protected by the law of the city and are still thriving well in the city, forming a unique cityscape.
