Saigon Strolling Tours in Vietnam
By Fred Tittle

Really not the best city for walking it is better for strolling so you can save your strength for when you have to cross a major street where the lights don’t say “Walk” they say instead “Run For Your Life”! but if you plan your trip right you can minimize the street crossings especially in the downtown center as there is a ton of stuff to look at and to poke around inside which is a good thing as it gets really hot here in the noon day sun.

The Ben Than market is just such a place where you take your life into your hands getting to it, if you are on the wrong side of the street as there is a tremendous circle that is buzzing with traffic, this should not be attempted by the meek. Inside you will find the usual tourist trap junk but there are also some very interesting things to find if you poke around a bit like the glass sellers stall. I was stuck here for 5 minutes which with my MTV attention span is a lifetime. Fascinating glass dolls with such detail all glistening and sparkling under the bright lights. The Vietnamese like the Chinese like to eat some very interesting stuff, I like trying to guess what it was when it was still animated.

The Carevelle and Rex hotels both of these hotels go back to the French colonial time and like the Raffles hotels you can feel the history seeping out of the walls, a good choice for a drink is the rooftop Saigon bar of the Carevelle.

Between the Carevelle and the Rex is a small park inside you will find a statue for Ho Chi Minh. Also all around this area in just about any direction you go you are going to run into a landmark like the reunification museum the Post office the old city hall and the historical museum which covers all of Vietnam's history which is quite a lot they been around for a long time.

You should also stroll over to Bu Vien street which is where the backpackers hang out it is a bit of a walk from the downtown core but the street scene here is very interesting with the 10 ft wide buildings very interesting to view during the day take a walk through one of the blocks and like cruising around the hutongs areas of Beijing you are going to see real Saigon at its best I highly recommend the street side café just remember don’t drink it after 10 am or you will be up all night!

Fred Tittle has lived and worked in holiday vacation resorts his entire life, from Lake Geneva’s Playboy Club, as a rock jock for KSPN FM in Aspen Colorado, he became a PADI Pro Scuba Diver in Hawaii, diving on Maui, Kauai, Kona on the big island, and Waikiki on Oahu. He now owns EcoSea Dive in Sihanoukville Cambodia where he teaches SSI and PADI scuba diving courses and runs liveaboards in the gulf of Thailand and Asia adventure tours, http://www.ecosea.com

Fred’s new project http://www.CheapCharliesHotels.com where he reviews cheap hotels, budget guesthouses, discount accommodations and cheap international flights, but is really an excuse to go scuba diving on vacation more, Fred is in Beijing China with Xiamen China the next stop.

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