Ho Chi Minh City, or, Saigon as it is once again commonly known, is a relatively young city for Asia, founded just in the 18th century. Settled mainly by civil-war refugees from north Vietnam and Chinese merchants, it quickly became a major commercial center. When the French took over a land they called Cochin China, Saigon became the capital. After the French left in 1954, Saigon remained the capital of south Vietnam until national reunification in 1975.

Saigon is still Vietnam's commercial headquarters, brash and busy, with a keen sense of its own importance. Located on the Saigon River, it's Vietnam's major port and largest city, with a population of almost 5 million people. True to its reputation, it is noisy, crowded, and dirty, but the central business district is rapidly developing in steel and glass precision to match any city on the globe. The old Saigon still survives in wide downtown avenues flanked by pristine colonials. Hectic and eclectic, Ho Chi Minh City has an attitude all its own.

Some of Saigon's tourism highlights include the Vietnam History Museum; the grisly War Remnants Museum; and Cholon, the Chinese district, with its pagodas and exotic stores. Dong Khoi Street -- formerly fashionable Rue Catinat during the French era and Tu Do, or Freedom Street, during the American war -- is still a strip of grand colonial hotels, chic shops, and cafes. The food in Saigon is some of the best Vietnam has to offer, the nightlife sparkles, and the shopping is good. The city is also a logical jumping-off point for excursions to other southerly destinations: the Mekong Delta, the Cu Chi tunnels, and Phan Thiet beach.