SAIGON

Explore the streets of Saigon and see some of the gorgeous old colonial architecture, the stunning Opera House, the former Hôtel de Ville town hall, Notre Dame Cathedral and the lovely Continental Hotel, made famous by Graham Greene’s novel The Quiet American.

Take a museum tour of Saigon to The History Museum; The War Remnants Museum; and The Reunification Palace Museum.

Lunch at the bustling Quan An Ngon, an amalgam of the city’s best street vendors that the owner found and hired before the restaurant’s opening in 2001. Now 20 or more former vendors stand in the restaurant’s open-air dining area preparing specialties. Or at any one of a number of delicious Chinese eateries in the huge Chinese neighborhood named Cho Lon; we recommend My Huong, a bustling restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating that serves superb, authentic fare, including a noodle soup with duck.

Go shopping in the lively Ben Thanh Market, where you can buy some lovely handmade silk goods and other Vietnamese handicrafts.

Explore the district’s many religious sites, which include places to worship Chinese, Christian, Islamic and Buddhist deities, Giac Lam Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Saigon, Thien Hau Temple pays homage to a special psychic lady who was said to be able to predict the weather and protect sailors.

Visit a local family of musicians who are members of a famous theater in Saigon where homes to talents of performance art in Vietnam. Learn about traditional musical instruments through conversations with the artists and listen to the performances from each family member. You then have the chance to try the instruments with the musicians- a memorable if somewhat noisy experience.

Discover the famed Cu Chi tunnels, an interconnecting network of subterranean passageways under Saigon used during the Vietnam War as a means of evading the American military and staging campaigns such as the infamous Tet Offensive.