The saucy South Whether it was to the croon of Edith Piaf, the swoon of James Brown and now the globo-dance-pop of Kylie Minogue, Saigon -- make that Ho Chi Minh City -- still swings. Economic austerity turned the volume down for many years, but HCMC has made up for lost time.
Even though its population is only 6.6 percent of the national population, the city accounts for almost 20 percent of overall GNP. What the city lacks in the kind of steeped tradition and culture to which capital city Hanoi lays claim, it more than makes up for in high-voltage lifestyle.
The city has birthed an even richer culinary scene, swish bars and clubs, cell phone toting school kids and the "Honda dream" i.e. no bike, no girlfriend. Just be wary of the relentless street traffic that the economic revival has exacerbated: seven million people plus three million mopeds equals madness that claims some twenty lives a day.
Off the street, Vietnamese law enforcement makes sure everyone behaves. As with any big city, snatch-and-grab pick-pocketing is to be expected -- though it's more likely that a hooker on a bike might try and yank you off the street without stopping.
If you're a first timer in HCMC, chances are that you'll wind up in Pham Ngu Lao -- the backpacker's quarter -- a bit of a headache but a huge step up from the strung-out squalor of Bangkok's Khao San Road. The area is teeming with westerners and many of the comforts of home, albeit much cheaper.
If you're in the mood for some shameless consumption, make a beeline for the Compact Disc/DVD shops blasting the latest album from boy band Westlife. Don't be put off at the door; once inside you'll find thousands of must-haves, imports and obscurities, hot off Hong Kong burners for a dollar each (approx. 15,000 Dong).
At the end of the street, you might do a double take when you arrive at the art ateliers. Only Dali can do Dali, right? For $30 to $100, take home one of the painstakingly accurate reproductions of Picasso's Blue Period, a Titian, Rubens or anything you've got a picture of, and people back home will be convinced you heist fine art in your spare time.
No need to feel guilty about dropping 50 bucks in less than hour -- you have 50 CDs or a Renaissance masterpiece to show for it. A bed in any one of the mini-hotels around Pham Ngu Lao will cost less than $15 a night, and the array of shops, laundries, 24-hour Internet cafes and ex-pat bars make it a convenient place to sell out and go western for a couple of nights.
Grab your goodies and head over to the Mai Phai Hotel (209D Pham Ngu Lao), spotlessly clean with AC doubles for $12. Otherwise, have someone point you to "mini-hotel alley," where over a dozen family-run options are available for even less.
Although mid-range hotels may appeal to those who want to escape the beaten trail, it's better to sleep on the cheap, save up for meals and dine like a dictator. HCMC is where you'll find the best that Vietnamese cuisine has to offer, which is saying something if you've ever eaten stateside.
There are over 500 traditional dishes in the culinary repertoire, and HCMC is home to almost as many viable establishments. Mandarine (11A Van Ngo Nam) is a perennial favorite that features traditional dishes and live music from every region of Vietnam. If you're looking for beef, try bo tung xeo, tender strips of the red stuff basted in a soy, garlic and chile marinade at Bo Tung Xeo Restaurant (31 Ly Tu Trong).
Ethnic Chinese have had deep roots in HCMC since its founding, at one point controlling 90 percent of the local economy. The Cholon district is home to a thriving Chinese community that brought its woks and recipes for Peking duck with it. Go to My Huong (131 Nguyen Tri Phuong) or Tiem An Nam Long next to the Binh Tay Market for dishes under $3.
On the upscale end, HCMC now has a number of restaurants where style at last matches substance. Quan Com Ngon (88 Nguyen Du St.) is a moody, multi-level space with a soothing tropical vibe that serves classics, like lemongrass chicken, with eclectic twists.
As far as the after-hours are concerned, street-side beer stands withplastic chairs are an essential HCMC experience, though upgrades are available at places such as the newly opened I-Box, a DJ bar that attracts a hip clientele with its velour sofas and Turkish pillows; Q Bar (7 Cong Truong Lam Son), a sweet spot for down-tempo grooves and cocktails on its breezy terrace; and Temple Club (29 Ton That Thiep St.) -- though no place can match the sultry bar-restaurant for indochine ambience and eye candy.
The beat goes on
A common question I was asked as an American returning from Vietnam was whether the Vietnamese were friendly. Having known a half-dozen or so Viet Kieu (expatriate) émigrés settled in the DC area -- a handful of the 2.4 million living abroad -- I initially expected nothing less. And yet the more I learned of the calculated brutality endured at the hands of American and French forces not long ago, I had to scratch my head.
Although HCMC moves fast to forget its past, it is important that outsiders know what really happened in Vietnam (read Bao Ninh's "The Sorrow of War"). Interestingly, you won't get many details directly out of most Vietnamese for they are too rational to live in retrospect.
To get a remarkably straightforward version of the "other" perspective, no visitor to HCMC can afford to miss the War Remnants Museum (formerly the Museum of American War Crimes). Tanks and guillotines are on display, but so are dead Vietnamese babies preserved in vials of formaldehyde, bearing grotesque birth defects caused by the U.S. military's use of the defoliant chemical, agent-orange, during the conflict.
These images, and many others, need no translation. The exhibits here are long on content, short on propaganda and anything but Smithsonian. Also featured is a photo tribute to work of fearless war correspondents like Robert Capa, Larry Burrows and Sean Flynn.
For those who really want a vivid experience, join a tour leaving from Pham Ngu Lao out to the Cu Chi tunnels, a claustrophobia-inducing network of underground passages used by the North Vietnamese to stage attacks on Saigon during the war that once ran for over 200 km. Crawl around on all fours like a tunnel rat, and then expend your nervous energies on a dummy target with the help of an M-60 at the shooting range nearby.
The black-and-white Viet Cong promo video screened at the outset of the tour is a highlight. It's not everyday that a visitor gets accused of being a "cowardly American devil," though our tactful guide made sure to send a well-timed smile in our direction.
Back in town, do yourself a favor and pick a custom tailored suit at Thuy Nga (7-13 Lam Son Square) for less than a c-note, or a modern take on oriental/floral dresses at Tha Ca (106 Nam Khoi Nghia St.), before catching the Reunification Express train northbound to the seaside retreats of Nha Trang, Hoi An and beyond.
Last stop: Hanoi, 1726 km later, though not nearly as far away as it once seemed.
Note: Your best bet is to fly to Bangkok or Hong Kong and buy an open-jaw connection to HCMC via Vietnam Airlines (www.vietnamairlines.com). This allows you to fly into HCMC and depart from Hanoi without the necessity of backtracking. If you cannot yet make the trip overseas, there's no reason why you can't have a taste of things to come. Falls Church's own Four Sisters (6769 Wilson Blvd.), located at the largest Vietnamese mall in the U.S., has an excellent menu over 10 pages long. Their deli next door sells sugar cane bubble tea and fresh $2 baguette sandwiches that are one of the few gifts of French colonialism. In Richmond, try the caramel glazed shrimp pot at Mekong (6004 West Broad St.) and if you ever happen to pass through Greensboro, NC stop by Saigon Restaurant (4205-B High Point Rd.), a real diamond in the rough.
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