a guide to hồ chí minh city's districts, architecture, and cafés

this is not my first guide to hồ chí minh city. last summer, I wrote a guide to sài gòn too. later, I realized that people may not know sài gòn as hồ chí minh city, so I wrote this guide using the city's official name. in case you wonder, sài gòn is like the city's stay at home name, like philadelphia being called philly for short.

this guide started out of frustration and ended with appreciation. cancelled travel plans, the lack of good guides into the city's districts, traffic that is unforgiving to new drivers. but at the same time, it's also this sense of homesickness and reminiscence of things that once were. the food, the cafés, the people. especially the people.

I write this guide for many people. expats, locals, and the likes. while each of them have different ways of using what they've learned, a thing I hope they all get is a new way to look at the city. for my part, I think no matter what it ends up as, it will have already done myself justice by allowing me to pay tribute to the city and grow as a traveler.

what this guide is about

this guide is a chimera with three parts. in the first part, I'll give you an introduction to the city's districts. then, I'll tell you the stories about the buildings and the roads in this city. we'll be looking at famous figures that visited this city, its architecture, mainly french, chinese, vietnamese, new landmarks and forgotten buildings. lastly, I'll give you a few spots to chill.

hop on and let's look at sài gòn through the eyes of a local.

chapter 1. hcmc and the tale of two cities

we'll talk about hồ chí minh city's geography outside in and use some old maps as it's easier that way.

the outside of hồ chí minh city has 5 suburban areas (huyện). these are bình chánh, cần giờ, củ chi, hóc môn, nhà bè.

the inner city has 19 districts (quận). there are 12 districts name with numbers and 7 districts name with words. the number districts are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. the word districts are bình tân, bình thạnh, gò vấp, phú nhận, tân bình, tân phú, thủ đức.

in 2021, district 2, 9, and thủ đức are merged to form thủ đức city. so from the 5 suburban areas and 19 districts that we had, we now have 5 suburban areas, 16 districts, and 1 city. so you now have 2 cities, where a city is within a city. kinda like new york city within the new york state.

is this confusing? yes, definitely. this is how it is in the current 2024 administrative map of the city. people still refer to district 2, 9, and thủ đức as actual districts when they ride bikes out in the road.

map of hồ chí minh city with annotated suburban areas (huyện)

map of the inner city (the unannotated part in the previous photo)

quận vs huyện? vietnamese naming culture

quận and huyện mean the same thing when you translate them into english: district. huyện has a lower rank than quận (quận > huyện). I translated it as suburban areas to help you visualize this better, but huyện has a negative connotation.

this form of administrative division divides a place not only geographically but also economically. this exists on levels in the country.

→ = is divided into

nước → tỉnh, thành phố trực thuộc trung ương 

• tỉnh → huyện, thị xã, thành phố thuộc tỉnh
• huyện → xã, thị trấn
• thị xã → phường, xã
• thành phố thuộc tỉnh → phường, xã
• thành phố trực thuộc trung ương → quận, huyện, thị xã
• quận → phường
• huyện → xã, thị trấn
• thị xã → phường, xã

country → province, centrally run city

• province → district, town, provincial city
• district → commune, town
• town → ward, commune
• provincial city → ward, commune
• centrally run city → district, town, provincial city
• district → ward
• district → commune, town
• town → ward, commune

notice how some words have the same translation? calling the same subdivision different names depending on whether it's in a city and what subdivision it belongs to makes this very confusing.

these are further ranked into I, II, and III levels based on its population, cultural development, and economy. I is the best and III is the worst. I find these administrative division standards to be very stupid.

what can you find in D_?

there're sayings about each district's vibes in the city that go like

ăn quận 5
nằm quận 3
xa hoa quận 1
trấn lột quận 4

(eat in d5, lay in d3, luxury in d1, get robbed in d4)

or,

nhất quận tư, nhì quận tám

(d4 the first, d8 the second... in terms of gangsters)

I've read a few guides by vietcetera, my saigon city, adventure faktory when doing research about the districts. the problem with these guides is that they are very tourist- and expat-centric. a thing that these guides all do is mention 7/21 districts and suburban areas and call it the guide, sometimes even the complete guide. I live in tân phú district, and my district is never featured in there, nor are the districts that my friends live in.

while these guides are not wrong, they present the danger of the single story because they are incomplete. you would not know the stories about the young people that lived other provinces that moved here for college and hope for a better life. a way to look at the city is by affordability. the places mentioned in these guides are places that an average vietnamese would not live in.

while the guide that I'm going to present to you is by no means perfect, I try to include all the districts. I also read the vietnamese guides by districts by sài gòn của tôi (click onto next photos to see), which consist of mostly shitpost but I find them to be quite accurate and more representative.

1-12 (except 2 and 9) = district 1-12
2 = thủ đức city (includes d2, d9, and thủ đức)
the remaining districts are in brackets as I talk about them

consulates general of most countries are located in d1 (9), d2 (6), d3 (5), d4 (2), tân bình (3), bình thạnh (2)

d1 - past french influence so a bunch of tourist attractions

d2 - the newer area, most western families work and live here

d3 - gets the rizz from d1 because it's close, famous roads include trường sa road with a view of the river, which flows through tân bình, d3, and d1 (fun fact: trường sa is also the name of the hoàng sa and trường sa archipelago that we keep having dispute over), famous landmark includes turlte lake (hồ con rùa), where jack j97 promises his fan to eat bánh tráng trộn with them there in their next lives

d4 - smallest by area (coincidentally also 4km2), street food kingdom that looks like an island/slice of pizza on the map, past gangs and mobsters were here (shout out to đại cathay and năm cam), also home to the dragon wharf where hồ chí minh left to make vietnam great again

d5 - chinatown so a bunch of follow-up chinese pagodas, temples, markets, which I adore. top high schools/high schools for the gifted are also here (phổ thông năng khiếu and lê hồng phong). I don't know if this correlation something to do with asian culture. highest number of hospitals in the city (15). also home to an abandoned water park (shout out to đại thế giới), delicious bạc xỉu (white coffee) and also the name sài gòn

d6 - d5 twin as it is also home to a high chinese population

d7 - the suburban residential area, lots of koreans live here so you see ktown

d8 - lots of rivers so lots of bridges (like 44 in 19km2), d4 twin in terms of gangs, largest wholesale market (chợ bình điền)

d9 - there's a meme saying that d9 is only known for cows, suối tiên water park, bửu long pagoda, and vietnamese silicon valley (saigon high-tech park)

d10 - home to the largest prison (khám chí hoà) and national pagoda of vietnam (highest pagoda tower). also home to the largest stadium, park, flower market, electronic market, opera house. rumored to have the most number of manholes in the city

d11 - d9 twin as it's home to the remaining water park, đầm sen

d12 - western vietnam vibes

the bìnhs

bình thạnh (13) - sandwiched between d1 and d2 so has this traditional yet expat feel, vietnam’s highest skyscraper is also here (landmark 81)

bình tân (14) - tân phú twin. born from merging bình chánh and tân bình in 2003. also has an aeon mall. name comes from merging the two communes (xã) bình hưng hoà and tân tạo, which are now both wards (phường). weird street name includes rocket (tên lửa). this neighborhood once claimed that they’re like d7’s phú mỹ hưng

bình chánh - also known as the little kingdom of bình chánh (tiểu vương quốc bình chánh), bình chánh is often ridiculed as it forever remains a huyện. in fact, after its struggle from 2016 to 2020 to get to district level remains unanswered, it aspires to get to CITY level by 2025 in 2021. this became a widespread meme, of course

gò vấp (15) - named after the vắp tree, gò = hill, so gò vấp = hill of vắp trees. a gò vấp native once tried finding the vấp tree in the city but he only found 2 in the zoo

phú nhuận (16) - means more abundance, transition district sandwiched between d3, bình thạnh, gò vấp, and tân bình so lots of traffic jam

the tâns

tân bình (17) - airport town, also the mother of tân phú and bình tân. in 2003, tân bình was the biggest district in the city but it was divided into tân bình, tân phú, and bình tân

tân phú (18) - bình tân twin because we’re all born from tân bình and have aeon malls (tân phú has the first one). name comes from merging the two communes (xã) tân sơn nhì and phú thọ hoà, which are now both wards (phường). hidden gems include a pagoda built by thích nhất hạnh with several national records (chùa pháp vân), củ chi tunnels 2.0. designated national site (phú thọ hoà tunnels, pretty lame but you get the tunnel experience without going far). also home to pretentious street names (freedom, democratic, independence, the peoples, charity, success, ten thousand happiness, etc.)

thủ đức - home to university village (25 universities can be found here) hence high student population. belonged to gia định back then instead of sài gòn, so it remains detached from the city’s history till this date

cần giờ - means need time in vietnamese. if you’re on a tight deadline go here. also the only place in the city that has a beach

củ chi - the tunnels. go to tourist areas in the city and you’re guaranteed to find at least 1 person with the sticker from củ chi. it’s like they belong to this secret club or something

hóc môn - sounds like hormones, famous for hoằng pháp pagoda and cơm tấm bưu điện (a dish, roughly translated as post office broken rice)

nhà bè - means raft house in vietnamese. as its name suggests, expect lots of river and travel on water here

chapter 2. in search of old sài gòn

there are two parts to this. the first part is where I try to recreate the moments where famous people set foot to sài gòn and events that marked the turn of the city. the second part is the architecture and building guide to the city.

I did the first part after the second part, a few days before flying, but we’ll jump into it first because it’s just fun.

the photo above is nixon’s visit to vietnam on 30th july, 1969, 6 years before vietnam’s complete independence (2nd september, 1975). note the flag on top of the landmark, it’s not the vietnam flag, but the flag of south vietnam, 3 red stripes on a yellow background. the landmark behind is the independence palace, which is designed by ngô viết thự, a vietnamese architect. its exterior is inspired by french architecture and its inside is inspired by eastern architecture. 6 years after that photo was taken, some tanks would break open the gate and south vietnam then became a thing of the past. 1975 is a transition year for a lot of vietnamese people. that’s also why I relate to the 1975’s name on another level. it’s an element of change (I still mentally read the number in vietnamese when I read the band’s name).

this photo could’ve been taken at a better angle, but I came to the place when it was closed, so I could only stand from the outside, behind the gates, and take my best shot. it ends up looking pretty interesting. the bend in angle suggests a different turn of history if the south vietnam government didn’t collapse.

this photo is taken when angelina jolie and brad pitt visited vietnam on 23th november 2006. they stayed at room 901 in park hyatt hotel. the motorbike seen in the photo was borrowed from the hotel guard, who warned them against it as riding bikes can be pretty dangerous, especially if you’re not used to it. they did it anyways and had a good time. it’s also on this visit that they adopted pax thiên from an orphanage in tam bình.

the photo above is taken when bill clinton visited vietnam in november 2000. the restaurant itself still exists, but the old location opposite to bến thành market was closed off. it is now a café called pha lê. it’s said that bill had phở gà and a mango smoothie then. according to newspapers, he ate on the second floor. however, it looked more like the first floor to me. it’s a pity that the restaurant owner, alain tấn, was in the us at the time and therefore didn’t have a chance to meet the president.

an architecture guide to sài gòn

as I couldn't go far this summer, I decided to go near. my initial plan was to visit french buildings using this wikipedia list as a guide to learn more about the city's history. I ended up adding a few more chinese and vietnamese sites to it. go here for my planning document. together with phanh, we visited 24 sites on the first day. a week later, I visited the remaining 9 places when learning how to drive. there are 11 other unofficial sites that was spontaneously added to the list, 3 of which I have not visited.

altogether, I've visited 2 prisons, 5 high schools, 7 churches and convents, 3 museums, 2 palaces, a bunch of tourist sites, 3 chinese temples, 1 neighborhood, 6 vietnamese sites, 8 forgotten sites (actually just 5 as I haven’t made it to the remaining 3).

I found myself in the frames of trần anh hùng's cyclo, a movie in the vietnam trilogy that was dedicated to sài gòn. I feel like after participating in the city's traffic, I too, has become a true local. even though I'd lived in the city for 17 years last summer, I remained largely a tourist. I know the city, but I haven't understood it. however, after these summer trips, I have finally understood it.

the thing that most places in my list share is that they are not tourist sites. they are either closed off or repurposed as schools or offices, or off limits and can only be looked at from afar. this combines with the lack of parking space and hostile guards make the experience an ultimate adrenaline rush for the urban explorer lover. you don't know what is going to happen, how and whether you would make it into the building before guards notice something unusual.

sài gòn deeply lacks parking spaces so if you want to speed through the checklist and avoid cops, the best way to go is by motorbike. I was very lucky to have phanh as a companion, who was very patient with me taking photos and helped me break into a couple buildings.

i. the francosphere

these are buildings built under the french rule in vietnam. however, keep in mind that not all their architects are french. the lad behind the independence palace, for example, is a vietnamese that studied abroad in france.

the most interesting places on my visit turns out to be prisons. I know this sounds weird but I find them very comforting somehow. in hà nội, hoả lò prison also built by the french is now a tourist site. for sài gòn, I feel like they have a difficult time accepting their past, so they often try to erase it or rewrite it in interesting ways. most prisons are also off limit so they give me the highest amount of adrenaline rush exploring them.

there are two big prisons built by the french government in sài gòn, khám chí hoà (chí hoà prison center) and khám lớn sài gòn (sài gòn great prison center). although khám chí hoà is finished by the french, it's actually started by the japanese to keep prisoners after rising up against the french, but they left vietnam after finishing the job, so the french government finished it off. khám chí hoà is located in a hidden road. its architecture is stunning: it looks like a giant octagon from above. there is no google maps photo for this place. the closest spot that I could use google maps street view was a field nearby. when I got there, it turned out to be a golf area. the guard looks hostile af but I pretended to be a visitor and he happily let me in to check out facilities. I took a few photos of the golf area to be normal, then I take the time to walk all the way back and get a grand photo of the prison from the outside. it was a very rewarding experience.

khám chí hoà was built after khám lớn sài gòn was closed off. the story about khám lớn sài gòn is even more interesting. it is now repurposed as the city's general science library, but it retains most of the omnious atmosphere. phanh was in there before, and she told me that it was really dark inside. it is located on 69 (lmao) lý tự trọng street (keep this dude in mind). opposite to it is the city's people's court. so, historically speaking, if you were convicted of a crime in the court, it takes you one cross the street to go from freedom to jail. due to the political scene at the time, lots of people that spent their time here were patriots and revolutionaries. lý tự trọng was one of them.

on 9th february 1931, at the first anniversary of the yên bái uprising in sài gòn, lý tự trọng shot le grand, a french spy, to protect phan bôi, who was giving a speech at the time. 9 months later, he was given the death sentence when he was only 17 years old. you can see his statue in the prison, which is now the general science library. the street was renamed to lý tự trọng, right where his life ended. lý tự trọng was heroized in the public conscious and in schools that I attended. I remember a song with a line "anh lý tự trọng yêu nước, vì lý tưởng cách mạng" (lý tự trọng the patriot, for the ideal of the revolution) but I can no longer find the song online.

on the map, khám chí hoà is an octagon. the blue spot to the left is the closest street view could get to it.

khám chí hoà from afar exuding an omnious presence

the city's people's court from across the street. it takes one cross the street to get from freedom

to jail. khám lớn sài gòn is now repurposed as the general science library.
as an chem major I think they are the same.

other things that the french built a lot of were high schools and churches. they are both beautiful, but I love their lycées more. thanks to phanh, we broke into lê hồng phong through the back gate, which is her high school and my past dream high school, also where a bunch of people I knew and loved attended. from my friends in secondary schools to teachers that taught me in high school or their spouses, they all went here.

in lê hồng phong (also intimately called phong lê), you can find in every classroom a map of france gifted by the french consulate general in the city. I've been to other french buildings in the city, and my favorite parts of these buildings are les couloirs, or the hallways. and of all the hallways I've seen, my favorites are in lê hồng phong. with a diagonal arrangement of the tiles, the space fades into the distance, leaving a strong feeling of longing. transitional space when badly designed can give off a liminal feeling. feeling of being unwanted and wasted. in lê hồng phong, however, these are painted by the color of nostalgia. this is also where the film l'amant (1992) was shot.

lê hồng phong festival 2023 is also the first, last, and only time I ever saw ngọt live before they disbanded in 2024. in 2022, lê hồng phong festival was cancelled due to the pandemic, so lots of people went to the school named after his wife (nguyễn thị minh khai) instead for the festival. when applying for high school, some people left their second choice as ntmk in case they fail lhp, as their crush likely entered lhp. it's pure superstition, but that's what makes it fun.

tragically, the more extensively I got to walk and look at lê hồng phong, the more hostile his wife was to me. the moment I pulled into nguyễn thị minh khai, I was told out. this is probably because I went there on sunday.

lê hồng phong's bangers photography club's name is also lumière, which means light, an element that they have truly mastered in every walk in the school.

other schools that I visit include trần đại nghĩa, which is also another high school for the gifted. other non-gifted high schools are nguyễn thị minh khai, lê quý đôn, and marie curie (yes, it's named after the famous scientist).

how many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your life like this, some afternoon that's so deeply part of your being that you can't ever consider your life without it?
— paul bowles, the sheltering sky, adapted from her 86m2 description

ngọt at festival lê hồng phong 2023,
my first, last, and only time seeing them live before they disbanded in 2024

thank you phanh for baoing me

I <3 ngọc huệ

the only photo of ntmk that my sister could sneak in her phone when I was backing out

as lê hồng phong is intimately called phong lê, trần đại nghĩa is called that way as trần chuyên

as phanh told me, in this corner exists a tree that is older than the age of sài gòn. its friends got moved elsewhere, but for some reasons, it was still kept there in the school's backyard.

lê quý đôn's four sides all face the main roads. this is a gate by its side that, as phanh said, looks very apocalyptic.

in a nutshell, lê quý đôn was a big nerd. you can read more about him here.
a prize that was also named after lê quý đôn is a prize featured in khăn quàng đỏ (the red neckerchief), a magazine for secondary school students. the competition itself was a staple of my school days.

the interior of the school was taken from outside the gates. it looks so pristine inside but I was refused admission to the building.

next, we'll move on by talking about the churches of the city. the most classic church out there is the notre dame cathedral of sài gòn. however, it's been undergoing renovation since 2017 and is estimated to be finished after 2-3 years. in the end, its new estimation is 10 years, or 2027. now I'm doing a little race to see if I will graduate college before it's getting fixed and reintroduced to the public.

another church that is also undergoing renovation is st francis xavier church. this is a striking church, as its implement elements from eastern culture, which results in a church that looks like a pagoda in terms of color schemes and decorative elements. however, it's estimated to be done by next year, so you won't have to wait too long for it to be back.

for those reasons, the spotlight has been yielded to the other churches in the city. my favorite and also a local classic is tân định church, which is marked by its soft pink appearance (even its stacked chairs are pastel pink). it seems to have a very cool jesus merch shop too. other churches include st. jeanne d' arc church and huyện sĩ church, which respectively shared a silver and gold color scheme.

a convent that I wanted to go in but was not admitted was the sisters of st. paul of chartres convent, which is built by nguyễn trường tộ and considered the first solid architectural work designed by a vietnamese architect. it's situated right across the street from my mom's university, the university of social sciences and humanities. according to my mom, there were historically grilled beef in betel leaves shops nearby, so the nuns end up smelling the beef like all the time. these stores were still there when I visited.

although I couldn't make it inside, I discovered another building that was not on my list that I could freely roam in. it was the saint joseph seminary built by a french priest wilbaux, which was later handed to the city. the seminary trains catholic clergy specifically for the archdioscese of the city. I happened to be visiting this place and tân định church when they were singing in choirs, and it sounded so heavenly.

3 things may happen in 2027. first is this thing will finally be done. second is I'll graduate. third is william penn will finally get a shower (he gets one every 10 years, last time was in 2017).

calling all architects, do we want to build a church or a temple?
priest pierre d'assou: yes

the prayer even comes in chinese, right next to the angels.
there's also an incense burner in front of the statue.
geography now mentioned this melting pot of architecture in his vietnam video.

because the priest who built the church was also the first parish priest, people often call it nhà thờ cha tam, or father tam's church. I initially thought tam is a number (means three in vietnamese), so I was confused why the first priest was the third father.
it turns out that he also goes by tam assou, and don't let the name trick you because he's neither french or vietnamese but chinese. remember the lores from the districts? this church is located in d5, sài gòn's chinatown. the gate is chinese but there are angels carved into marble.

pink church. pink chairs. this is lowkey the barbie church.

jesus merch store

I still find the coincidence between the name of the resting home and the prison funny

the back of the church sign reads: return in hope and in joy
technically speaking this will be what you see walking out of the church
I forgot to take a photo of this, so I asked my sister to, photo credits go to her
(this was added with the update on 18 october)

jeanne d'arc church and its silver color scheme

huyện sĩ church and the license plate inspired cave
(they're not license plates but the size looks like it to me)

I don't think churches are ever the same without pigeons. the statues serve as places for them to perch on. the animate and inanimate. it's a harmony that gives life to a static structure.

the exterior of the sisters of st. paul of chartres convent was downgraded and covered with graffiti. every building sort of has a fate. some become tourist attractions, others fall out of remembrance and the public conscious, into forgetfulness.

this saint joseph seminary was close to the convent above

my conspiracy theory is that this is the breeding ground for priest in the notre dame cathedral of sài gòn

so far I've talked about french prisons, high schools, and churches. now I'll wrap up the french series by introducing us to the museums, palaces, and just legislative places in general. after that, we'll move on to the sinosphere and then discuss the future of the city based on current landmarks. I've already written about some sites below in my previous guide to sài gòn, so check the old blog out if you want more photos of the interior as this blog will mainly focus on buildings' exterior.

onto the museums. remember khám chí hoà the octagon prison? in eastern architecture, feng shui is a big thing. the octagon is more religiously known as the bāguà (bát quái), or 八卦. the national history museum also has the same lore. the idea of balancing different forces of energy is integral in eastern culture's collectivism, which values social harmony. there's also a mummy in here if you want a budget friendly egypt experience. the mummy is not from egypt though.

the museum of fine arts is the ultimate space for people to take aesthetic photos thanks to its aesthetic stairwell. as phanh told me, this museum was once home to a man called chú hoả, a chinese businessman that was once in the top 4 richest of sài gòn (hence the saying đi tàu chú sỹ, ở nhà chú hoả = board uncle sỹ's train, stay at uncle hoả's home). however, the most famous among couples for wedding photos is the hcmc museum even though you'll be charged ~$20/couple to take wedding photos. this is lowkey 10 times the normal ticket for a person.

the national history museum is also unfortunately under renovation. you can still visit it though ;)

the museum of fine arts

this wavy stairwell is the only valid source of suffering for me to get through all seasons of calculus
photo credits

another fricking bāguà. this one is the bāguà wall built and demolished a long time ago in old sài gòn (before it was even sài gòn). however, there are speculations that the cathedral of notre dame is the heart of this bāguà after its demolition. its traces can also befound on streets like đồng khởi, lý tự trọng, etc.

sài gòn on its way to be a megacity
this graph is capable of answering the many questions of existence of an average sài gòn inhabitant:
why is the rent so high? why is housing so unaffordable? and most importantly,
why is there traffic congestion all the time?

onto the palaces, where we'll be talking about the classic independence palace and thượng thơ palace. before it was called independence palace, the place actually went by the name norodom palace. the palace was named after the king of cambodia at the time, and it was understood as the palace of the cochinchine (dinh thống đốc) and eventually the ultimate power palace (dinh toàn quyền). after a heavy bombing, the whole palace was rebuilt as the president palace (dinh tổng thống) by ngô viết thụ. ngô viết thụ was the first vietnamese architect to be awarded the prix de rome, which allowed him to study architecture in france. after 1975 and vietnam regained independence, it's renamed as the independence palace as it is nowadays.

the independence palace is a mix of eastern and western architecture. it looks western on the outside, but implements lots of eastern cultural elements on the inside (shoutout to khanh for the marvelous ee that you wrote on this palace). the shape of the general outline and the front also emulates chinese characters.

thượng thơ palace was once the headquarters of the french. after the war, it was repurposed many times and now remains a traditional house of the city's people's committee.

thượng thơ palace

we'll end the french series here with footage from the city's people's committee, post office (built by gustav eiffel), bến thành market, majestic hotel (also built by chú hoả, the same lad that built the museum of fine arts that was his home), opera house, and the pasteur institute.

this may piss some people off but I hate how touristy this area has become. I don't know if the post office itself still deliver mail, but the whole thing itself just became a giant souvenir shop. cutthroat prices in bến thành market doesn't help either. this area feels very commercialized for me. so my dear friend, if you want to experience the true sài gòn experience, don't waste more than a day treading the streets in d1. go somewhere else that you can actually touch the city's texture and culture.

the city's post office is built by gustav eiffel. around the buildings, you can find the name of famous scientists such as volta, gay lussac, ampère, etc. you can also find the maps of old sài gòn and times of different cities around the world to the left and right of the building's interior.

this place feels like a tourist trap my dude. if you want to buy something in there, take a photo then search for it on shopee to get a much more reasonable price.

built by chú hoả with love

built by dr albert calmette, an actual student of louis pasteur, in 1891. this pasteur institute de saïgon was the first branch of the institute to be built outside of france.

kinda irrelevant but we also have yersin in nha trang. we learned about his story of moving to nha trang to study more about the plague and tropical diseases in our 3rd grade textbooks.

ii. the sinosphere

my obsession with chinese temples comes from me running into a green temple on my way back from school on the bus during high school. as the arriving and returning buses' routes depend on who's going home with me, and whether I or them go home early or late on that day, I end up having a bunch of interesting combinations of routes on my way home. as my home is among the furthest from school, I'm almost always the last one to get off the bus. several times, to drop off someone, the bus would go across this green temple that doesn't have an obvious sign telling me what it is. I keep relying on nearby landmarks, but I forgot the landmarks altogether. I vaguely remember that it has a green appearance. several temples and several attempts asking grab drivers later, I still haven't found it. that is, until a day where a grab driver drove me past it one more time and I remembered that it was close to bà chiểu market. it turns out that the site is not even a chinese temple, which you can read more about it in the hidden and forgotten buildings part.

anyhow, in search for it, I visited lots of chinese temples and grew a special liking for them. from bà thiên hậu to ông bổn or ông temple, I enjoyed being inside these temples and looking at the light. if the french mastered architecture by curving the way the light soaks onto its arches and highways, then the chinese approach depends on creating an atmosphere. in photography, atmosphere can deepen the depth of field (dof) and gives the subjects greater focus. this can be achieved by burning incense, a thing that’s omnipresent in these temples. the early morning light soaks into the temple yard. the temple and the atmosphere created by the burning incense filters the polluted air of the city and render it purely pristine.

I also have a theory that churches, temples, and pagodas were, and still are, beta therapy sessions, when mental health was not thoroughly understood or an accepted concept. having a space dedicated to pure presence is a lost art in modern architecture, where we build more malls than temples. we don’t pay to be, we are already ourselves.

I also visited chợ lớn and realized that it’s not an actual market building like bến thành market, but more of a neighborhood.

also a little advice for y'all, don't try to visit all of these temples in a day like I did as it may not be too good for your lungs and hair.

ông (grandpa) bổn temple, also known as nhị phủ assembly hall.
my favorite par about this temple is their giant lanterns at the entrance.

bà (grandma) thiên hậu temple, also known as tuệ thành assembly hall.
my favorite temple, probably due to the feminine energy, but also due to the simple design of the incense burner and the way it permeates the area.

you can try to convince me but there is no better incense burner than this

this is my another favorite thing in this temple. the pink color creates a soft contrast with the green and red around the place. it's like a calendar as it has dates on it with donator's name. it serves as a reminder of impermanence as there are no two consecutive days with the same names in this temple.

and candles, too. hope and remembrance.

ông (grandpa) temple, also known as nghĩa an assembly hall.
this one has the most vivid colors in my visit.

iii. the vietnam sphere and an outlook into the future

let me pull out my last octagon: turtle lake. this site is also an octagon from above. strategically placed with the independence palace, it’s theorized that the independence palace serves as the dragon’s head, and the lake as its tail. there is no turtle in the lake these days and there weren’t in the past too. its name comes from a turtle statue with a board of country's names on it. it is now removed but the name stuck. as in the temple of literature in hà nội, smart people would get their names carved on turtle’s boards. it’s a ritual to touch these turtle statues for good luck before important exams such as the university entrace exam as well.

turtle lake from above, another giant octagon
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the turtle left but its name is here to stay
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the turtles with examinaiton records of top graders in the temple of literature in hà nội
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moving on from the waters of turtle lake, we step into the fires of thích quảng đức. the vietnam war was a game of picking sides, north or south, and lots of people didn’t have a choice or didn’t see the bigger picture, where neither side is ethical. similar to trịnh công sơn, buddhism was neutral on this. and guess what, each side blamed the monks that they were supporting the other side, where they supported none (even thích nhất hạnh's was exiled for 39 years for a reason). in reaction to the south vietnamese government’s restrictions on religious freedom and the massarce of the believers, thích quảng đức set himself on fire on the street. his self-immolation became a symbol of antiwar in vietnam back then. legends also had it that where every part of himself burned, his heart remains intact and kept in the national bank today. he’s now referred to as a bodhisattva.

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everything burned, except for his heart. this reminds me of chopin's heart too.

his other temple just across the street

in the footsteps of the vietnam war, visit the củ chi tunnels. the experience will speak for itself ;) if you want some details on the tunnels, check out the phú thọ hoà tunnels part in my kinderszenen blog. I wish there were english guides though. after climbing the tunnels you can hike the minh đăng quang pagoda complex to stretch your legs and get great views of the city (like landmark 81 and bitexco but it’s free). and please don’t do it on a rainy day as I did.

its beauty primarily comes from having space. it’s 60,000m2 large, 4 times larger than my high school. as d2 was a lame district in the day, it wasn’t as expensive. in its early days, the pagoda complex was only a small sanctum built from bamboo, but from the efforts of the monks put into growing trees and crazy renovations (the biggest was in 2019), it has become as pretty as it is today.

I love pigeons. they may shit on you but they make temples and churches so much better.
they're a blessing in disguise.

there isn't a day where my friend chloe hangs out with me and it doesn't rain.
I manifest that rainy sài gòn weather.

we climbed all the way to the top of the cremation tower. it was better than most cardio workouts at the gym, as you now have added adrenaline rush as the floor and the stairs are very slippery

the top! then you can have fun climbing down.
it's only after climbing all the way down that we realize this tower has an elevator

travel hack to vietnamese skycrapers: waste no time paying them. climb pagodas instead

let’s take a break by chilling out in the dragon wharf, where hồ chí minh left to be the ultimate racingboi of vietnam. this is the best vantage point in the city offering the view its landmarks like ba son bridge, landmark 81 (the highest in vietnam and 17th in the world), and the likes. it’s not merely a look into the landmarks, but also into the city and the possibilities that it has beyond the french rule in the past.

I only understand the significance of landmark 81 once I start driving in the city. when you return to the city from the countryside, it’s the first thing you see. unlike the other buildings that can only be seen from near, landmark 81 is meant to be seen from afar, a symbol of change and moving on in the city’s history.

the thủ ngữ flagpole overlooking from the dragon wharf. it's built by the french and is now nearly 160 years old. it was recognized as the national historic site in 2016

look at all the possibilities. I wonder what hcm saw when he embarked on that ship to leave for marseille

iv. forgotten and hidden sites

places that were forgotten include the tax trade center of sài gòn, the air france building that I saw on my way to a spa, the geological museum, phở 2000 (where bill clinton ate and is now a coffee shop called pha lê close to bến thành market), and old house home to a gióng café.

there are also sites that I haven’t been to but have heard of or passed by like cà phê givrah (opposite to the city’s opera house, famous scholars like phạm xuân ẩn would hang out and write in the vietnam war), lăng ông near bà chiểu market (the one that inspired me to visit the temples), and the alley that leads to trịnh công sơn’s home. the more I travel, the more I realize I don’t know about my city. sài gòn is like a lover with layers of history that you pass by during your commute everyday unknowingly. it feels great to understand it, however little I may know.

I find out most of these places by simply being curious and stubborn. however, if you still want more forgotten sites to see, this and this guide are good guides to check out.

what is this? you might ask. isn't it just a blue wall? wrong.
up until 2014, this was the sài gòn tax trade center. think about this as the city's beta mall.
its closure in 2014 was so emotional that people hauled all the way up there to take the last photos and many newspapers wrote about its closure.

what it once were on phanh's phone for comparison

I discovered this building on my way to a spa as its always show up on the drive app's route. it's not available on google maps, but you can find côn sơn restaurant and it'll be right across the street.

tourists know the war remnants museum, the national history museum, the museum of fine arts, etc. but they seem to have forgotten this gem. it's now among my visiting list once I'm back to sài gòn.

phở 2000 then
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and now

phanh showed me this building dating back to 1924. she has an eye for old things ;)

opposite to the city’s opera house, givral cafe was where famous musicians like trịnh công sơn and scholars like phạm xuân ẩn would hang out and write in the vietnam war. phạm xuân ẩn is a journalist for reuter, time magazine, new york herald tribune
I like to think about this café as the vietnamese version of the french les deux magots and le flore, where sartre, simone, camus, hemingway, wilde, etc. would hang out

it's now planned to be a hotel. I feel like conserving sites like this would be more interesting than having another bến thành market. at the same time, I think doing so is better as tourists (myself included) can't ruin a place

lăng ông, or the tomb of lê văn duyệt that I kept looking for all my high school years

the alley that leads into the home of trịnh công sơn at 47C duy tân (now phạm ngọc thạch)
you can visit his home virtually here or his resting place also in the city. there were plans of moving his tomb to huế, but I have no updates regarding this. khánh ly was against this, however, as she thinks he's already there, and he's for everyone to share.

chapter 3. chill zone

history isn’t necessarily the history of people with big names and do big things. my favorite form of history remains the sort that you write every day as you live your little life. the best place for these to happen is nothing other than cafés and restaurants. after all, who would turn down a cup of vietnamese coffee? I wouldn’t, unless I need to sleep.

spots to chill, as I promised. I either found these places myself or people took me here. either case, I loved them. the last spot, phường cà phê, is the only exception as I haven't drunk there before. however, it looks like a decent place to me.

art coffee @ song hành st, d2

where my friend gathered enough strength to conquer ib in here high school days. great layout with a very santorini feel without the tourists. delicious drinks too <3

runam bistro @ trần ngọc diện st, d2

great atmosphere but a little expensive imo. a trend I've seen is that its guests has a higher foreigners to local ratio.

the dreamers bakery @ thảo điền st, thủ đức

pretty shop with reasonable prices. haven't tried other stuff but I fucking love their croissants. would try their macarons next time.

angels milk tea @ lê thúc hoạch st, tân phú

friends that went to the same school with me will understand the trauma behind this place. situated right next to our secondary school, it's where a ton of teamwork gets done by one person. its offer of free ac rooms to the school's students still stand (external guests pay 5k, or 20 cents).

catfe @ nguyễn thị minh khai st, d1

life is simpler when you have cats around you. period.

go to the ground floor for more cats and less noise.

caztus ice blended @ nguyễn thị minh khai street st, d1

bad decisions make good stories. bad waiter's handwriting makes great drinks.

soo kafe @ phan chu trinh street st, d1

I chose this café because of the bookshelf. up until the moment I got there, I only knew that it had a bookshelf and was in d1. I had no idea it was right opposite to bến thành market. located in a sketchy location, however, up a few staircases and you'll have the most amazing views of the city by night. the bookshelf is also a great addition, you can find books dating back to the 2000s or before that here.

this café taught me that the best way to experience bến thành market is to be out of it, as insight increases with distance.

this sent me slight goosebumps as I thought it was closed

cửu long quán @ trần xuân hoà st, d5

remember the saying? eat in d5! at least that's what we did on the day that phanh and I visited like 24 sites in the city. it tastes heavenly. both the price and quality were better than in d1.

marrakech riad moroccan restaurant @ nguyễn giản thanh st, d10

there was an era of me being obsessed with moroccan culture. out of boredom I found this place on google maps. the thought of trying it out has always been on my mind, and I did a day before leaving for the us. this is to show how much I trust this restaurant's food. we tried out couscous and the thirsty camel soda. they were amazing. pretty find in the alleys of sài gòn with great owners, beautiful decor and authentic moroccan atmosphere.

phường cà phê @ nguyễn thị minh khai st, d1

haven't tried it yet but it looks very organic as I passed through it. on my trying list once I get back for sure.

cà phê đỗ phủ @ đặng dung st, d1

a week after the post was published, I updated this blog by adding this café and also the fact that the moviet l'amant (1992) was shot in lê phồng phong high school for the gifted. I've never been to cà phê đỗ phủ, yet it's a pretty interesting place you should check out. it's known as the tunnels café in vietnam, which once served as a bunker with lots of weapons in it. it's like a café with a built-in củ chi experience in it.

epilogue

we’re now standing at 8,5k words, making this the second longest blog I’ve written after the american blog. it took a lot out of me, but it felt really rewarding. I cheated a bit writing this, as I finished it 1st or 2nd of september, but published it on 31st august to break my personal record. anyhow, I was happy to finish it in time for vietnamese independence day, of which I celebrate abroad by moving in and before school starts, where I wouldn’t have time to write blogs these lengths.

I wrote this blog in doses, and you’re meant to read it in doses too. no pressure to rush through everything ;) if you made it all the way here, thank you for putting up with my bs. also a huge thank you for phanh for guiding me through almost everything <3