Over Christmas break, my family and I travelled to Vietnam. We stayed in Ho Chi Minh City for a few nights, and got to walk around the area near our hotel before we travelled to an island to relax by the beach. The interesting thing about Ho Chi Minh is that is a combination of two very different cultures: Southeast Asian and French. The city (which was still referred to as Saigon by all the locals we met) had the architecture of its colonial heritage in some areas, such as the stores, the wide boulevard, and the churches. But the filling of the city was distinctly true to Vietnamese culture. Walking down the streets, there was an astronomical number of motorcycles that were consistently trying to kill all the pedestrians, and lively sidewalk restaurants and vendors. What I particularly liked about the city is something that a lot of modern cities lack, particularly in Asia. It seemed to embrace all aspects of its history and culture, from French colonialism to war to its Socialist regimes that seems hardly present on the forefront of its society. Ho Chi Minh was messy and nuts but incredibly fun as well.
