//
Photo: Dragfyre, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Hindu temple build by Tamil Indian immigrants in the late 19th century. Although most of the Tamils fled Vietnam following the Fall of Saigon, the temple remains in active use, and today most of the devotees are ethnic Vietnamese or Khmers.
The Mariamman Temple in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mariamman. It was built in the late 19th century by the Nagarathar a trade community from Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is now under the management of the Vietnamese Indian Children brought up by Late priest Attangudi Lakshmanan Chettiar who previously used to be the priest who managed the Thenday Yutthapani Temple at 66, Tôn Thất Thiệp Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, near Saigon Centre.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Also known as Reunification Palace
This is a restored 4-floor time warp to the 1960s left largely untouched from the day Saigon fell to the North; construction started in 1962 and finished in 1966. It was South Vietnam's presidential palace. The war ended on 30 Apr 1975 when Tank 843 crashed through the gate. A replica of that tank is now parked on the lawn outside. Be sure to check out the aggressively 1960s recreation room on the third floor, featuring a circular sofa, and the eerie basement, full of vintage 1960s phones, radios and office equipment, supposedly left exactly as it was found when the North took over. There is also a photo gallery and a propaganda film recounting how the South Vietnamese supporters and American imperialists succumbed to Ho Chi Minh's indomitable revolutionary forces, at which point the South Vietnamese supporters were forgiven and everyone lived happily ever after. Free guided tours and an audio guide are available (90,000 dong). The audio guide is extremely informative, but not necessary. There is a nice outdoor café on the grounds outside the palace.
Running along Phan Ngu Lao St are a number of parks which fill up with locals before sunset, after work. They play a variety of games which you can participate in: badminton, kicking a shuttlecock and women's group aerobics to music are all very popular, and are great to watch. If you sit down by yourself in the open area near the Ben Thanh market a number of young university age locals will come and ask to practice English with you, this is a great way to spend an evening and the best way to meet intelligent interesting youth, they will question you either individually or in groups and share with you a lot about their country. Beware of those men who want to introduce you to their "sister" who's working as a nurse and wants to move to your country. They will try to make you come into their home so you can reassure their parents, but will actually gamble and cheat at cards with you and/or ask you for money after telling a sad and fake story about some dying relative.
The museum, housed in a French colonial-era building, narrates the history of Ho Chi Minh City from pre-history to the present and also has exhibits on local culture and traditions. Outside, on the museum grounds, you will find cars and military vehicles of historical significance. The museum also relates the life of the modern-day father of Vietnam. The exhibits include various personal possessions of Ho Chi Minh but are mainly photographs. You may find it a little jingoistic.
Dedicated to the god of happiness and virtue. The pagoda is dusty and dwarfed by high-rises under construction nearby, but the small, sculpted grounds are a good place for a rest from the hectic city.
Built as the Hôtel de Ville, it's a striking cream and yellow French colonial building beautifully floodlit at night. No entry, but the statue of Uncle Ho in front is a very popular place for photos.
The museum was opened in a hurry, less than five months after the fall of the South Vietnamese regime. It has moved to new premises with 3 storeys of exhibits and various US military hardware (tanks, jets, helicopters, howitzers) on display outside the building. This disturbing display of man's cruelty during the Vietnam (American) War includes halls full of gruesome photographs, a simulated "tiger cage" prison and jars of deformed foetuses attributed to contamination by Agent Orange. An exhibit on the 3rd floor tells the story of the war journalists from all over the world who documented, and often disappeared or died in the war. Watch out for the amputees who will try to sell you their wares on the museum grounds, though largely their wares take the form of only somewhat overpriced books on historical topics relevant to the museum, and are less of a scam than more of an informal gift shop. The museum is a short walk from Reunification Palace — see the museum pamphlet for a map.