• Vietnamese traditional medicine museum
    Provided by: Tran Qui Thinh/Shutterstock.com

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Central Post Office

Central Post Office

The historic Saigon Central Post Office, which has long been one of the city's symbols, continues to offer postal services such as mailing and money exchange to-date. One interesting fact about the Post Office is that it was designed and constructed by the renowned French architect Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who is best known for the eponymous Eiffel Tower. Eiffel derived artistic inspiration from Western neoclassical architecture and Asian decor styles before harmoniously fusing them during the construction of the Central Post Office.
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Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral is a harmonious combination of Roman architecture and late medieval Gothic features. The most unique features of the Church – the two 60-meter high bronze bell towers – were added years following original construction in to magnify the Church’s beauty. Until now, the Church still remains in a near-undisturbed original state due to the special bricks used in its construction: they were originally created in France and shipped directly to Vietnam.
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Cho Lon (Chinatown)

Cho Lon (Chinatown)

Cho Lon, also well-known as Chinatown, is an area of Ho Chi Minh where many Chinese immigrants reside and earn their living. Within Cho Lon, the biggest and most crowded trade hub is Tan Binh Market, where you can find a wide range of clothing and knick-knacks at very low prices (although be warned the assortment is mostly made up of obscure dried edibles and Chinese ritual paraphernalia). An interesting time to visit Cho Lon is when locals celebrate the Chinese New Year Festival. During Tet, all shops and eateries are lavishly decorated with multi-coloured lanterns, and streets seem to become deluged with the lucky colour red.
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Scooter Tour

Scooter Tour

There are multiple local companies offering scooter tours of the Vietnam capital. These tours range greatly in thematic focus (street food to historic landmarks) and duration, and depend on the individual provider, but details can often be agreed upon on an individual basis. On these tours, an individual driver is normally assigned to each visitor, who then hops on the back of the scooter as a passenger. Helmets should normally be provided. One motorbike tour of Ho Chi Minh personally tested out by the editor is Non-profit Student Tour, an incredible initiative that works surprisingly well. The coordinator links up tourists with available local student volunteers, allowing the students to practice their English and bringing overseas visitors into contact with locals. Each traveller is assigned an individual driver (this even works with larger groups). Drop them a WhatsApp message to arrange the date and time.
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