Ho Chi Minh City is a city of contrasts: the city along the Dong Koi becomes a western face since major labels are opening establishments and shops, old infrastructure gets replaced by modern tower buildings, whereas e.g. the chinese quarter Cho Lon reflects Asian lifestyle in a clear way. Also interesting to see pure commerce side by side with symbols of socialism.
Our hotel was located in the Pham Ngu Lao quarter of Saigon. It is the most tourism adapted area in Saigon, but it offers cheap accommodation, good and reasonable priced restaurants and the infrastructure you need for the next steps of your journey. It is also nice for meeting other travelers. Unfortunately the development of sex tourism is already noticeable but still not dominating this area.
Some of the most impressive temples we visited during our journey are located in Ho-Chi-Minh-City. To reach some of them hireing a taxi was necessary. The Quan Am Pagoda in the Chinese quarter was the temple that impressed us most because of the quality of practiced and lived religion.
