Top 6 Markets in Saigon

Top 6 Markets in Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City is a “must” destination for shopping enthusiasts! Here at local markets you can buy literally everything – from handicraft souvenirs to fake world luxury brands. How not to get lost in such a variety of goods, what are the largest markets of the city and where to go firstly – read in our guide to markets in Saigon! HCMC & Mekong delta 4 days

Ben Thanh Market
Ben Thanh is the largest market in Ho Chi Minh City and is one of the symbols of the city: locals visit the market to buy goods for everyday life and personal use, while tourists are usually searching for local handicrafts, textiles, souvenirs and local cuisine. This is a place where you can buy EVERYTHING. It is loud, lively and it never sleeps. Ben Thanh Market is open even during the night and welcomes its visitors with a big choice of goods and great atmosphere. AMALOTUS CRUISE
Address: Lê Lợi, Bến Thành, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open: Daily 6 am – 7 pm. The Night market is open till 12 am.

Top 6 Markets in Saigon

Binh Tay Market
Binh Tay is another central market in Ho Chi Minh City. It is located at the place where years ago “The Old Market” existed. It was destroyed by fire and some time after, “The New Market” was built. It is not so famous among tourists as Benh Thanh market, so the prices here are much lower. But it doesn’t mean that the choice of goods is smaller as well! Here you will still find everything you may potentially want to buy! Pelican Cruise
Address: 57 Tháp Mười, 2, Quận 6, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open: Daily 6 am – 7 pm.

Dan Sinh Market (Yersin Market)
It is also known as War Surplus Market. The market sells genuine and authentic surplus of Vietnam War. The price for one item starts at $5. Here you can buy war memories from both, Vietnamese and American sides. As experts say, 99% of everything what is sold here are copies and reproductions. However, these items don’t lose their value and still remain important historic relics.
Address: 104 Ð Yersin, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open: Daily 7 am – 6 pm

Cai Be Floating Market
Outstanding Cai Be market is not only a destination for shopping, but also an important place for those who want to see and understand Vietnamese culture and everyday life. It is located not exactly in Ho Chi Minh City and you will need approximately 1.5 hours to get there. But it definitely worth your time! It is located in the Mekong Delta and people are exchanging goods, fruits, vegetables and many other commodities on their vessels. Many companies organize full-day tours from Ho Chi Minh City. This is a chance and experience you can’t miss in Vietnam!
Address: Vinh Long, Vietnam
Open: Daily 5 am – 11 pm

Russian Market
The market’s name speaks for itself, so obviously, it is focused on visitors from Russia. This is the largest stock of discounted winter gear in Ho Chi Minh City. But actually you can buy here not only winter outfit, it also sells ski clothing, sportswear, casualwear, shoes, accessories, souvenirs, etc. The market is new, it was re-established in 2012.
Address: 328 Vo Van Kiet, District 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open: Daily 6 am – 7 pm

Flower Market
After a long shopping day in Ho Chi Minh City, visit a Flower Market and make a surprise for your dear one – a bouquet of beautiful flowers, which are exotic, colourful and absolutely adorable here! You can always have a short walk through along the narrow flower-lined alleys, and for sure it will be a pleasure itself! The market is open since early morning and usually the flowers are the freshest in the beginning of the day.
Address: Ho Thi Ky, District 10, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open: Daily 5 am – 9 pm

Top 7 activities in flooding days

All travelers should be aware that annual monsoon season is from 1 September until mid-December at least! Great care by all visitors should be taken during extreme rains & when there are strong onshore North East winds during lunar calendar days close to 1st or 14th – this is when danger of flooding in Hoi An and surrounding areas are highest. In truth, there is no bad time to visit Hoi An. Even it is unusual , but you will get a special experience that not many tourist have.  There are some activities for those day. Danang – Hue – Hoian 4 days

1. Do a special trip around town.

When the old town is under water, it has a unique and special charm. If you are an adventurous guy, just take the life vest, pick a good and reliable boat and start your trip around the town enjoying one of the highlight of your trip. Remember do not take the old or ruin boat, and life vest is necessary item to you. If you want to walk with the water around, you can get some plastic boots from local market or local shops. They are better for your toes! Avoiding the low lands, An Hoi  and Cam Nam Ward are the places that you should not go which are seperated from other areas of Hoian. MEKONG EYES

2. Café and Bar

Unfortunately, most of the good bars located in the town, and most of them are under water when it is flooding. Most shops in the old town close for sercured reasons. In the day time, you can visit some nice coffee shops in the high lands. Café Shop in Hoian historic hotel
This shop is located on the left side of Hoian hotel, nice coffee, good environment and you won’t be bothered by vendors. Pelican Cruise

Top 7 activities in flooding days

Google Coffee shop: located at 10 Phan Chau Trinh street, this one mostly open because of its high location. Serve different types of local coffee, soft drink and good ginger tea (so good with this weather)
Nep Café 62- Phan Chau Trinh street: another nice coffee shop with amazing decoration!

3. Restaurant

We need to accept that most of nice restaurants in town are not available. So finding some nicer and more local one will be our solution.

Madame Phuong Bread  - 2B Phan Chau Trinh.

Famous for the recomendation of Anthony Bourdain with his show, this is one of the best banh my in Vietnam with terrific gravy that they put on the sandwiches. Luckily, it does open in the flooding days. You should go to this shop as early as possible because most of the locals go their for their food too.

If you are a vegan, or just want a quiet place for finishing your book, just go to Minh Hien Vegetarian restaurant, one of the best ones in Hoian. Located in a high area, no worry, this is our option for flooding day. Start out with one of the set menus (I prefer the first one, for one person). You get to sample delicious veg versions of Hoi An’s local specialities, including white rose dumplings, cao lau noodles, fried spring rolls, and wonton.

4. Go to Danang

The town is flooding, so let discover some places in Danang that not sinked into water. Marble Mountain, Cham Museum and Linh Ung pagoda with big statue of Laddy Bodhisattva or Goddess of Mercy will make your boring days gone! And there are more restaurants in Danang open in this kind of weather. If you have kids, they won’t get bored with many shopping and entertainment centers open in Da Nang.

5.  Join Foodtour

Event haft of Hoian is under water, there are plenty of local places that you don’t know (and don’t try without guidance of local buddies). Hence, by taking part in a custom foodtour, this is a great time to learn about the culture, local life and different things of locals. I’m sure, this one will brighten your day.

6. Get your tailor made clothes.

Most of the tailor shops are still open in flood season. Just hang around and pick some tailor shops you like and get your dress or shirt,… made. Some good ones are Yaly Couture, A Dong Silk with the highest price in town but best quality. The other recommendation ones are Mr. Xe, Bao Khanh Silk, Thu Thuy Silk, Kimmy,…

A tip when shopping: avoid tailor recommendations from unreliable sources. You will most likely encounter locals offering to tell you the best tailors.The prices you will be quoted by the tailor shop will be padded with this extra cost, which means you will probably pay about 40% or maybe 50% more if you take their recommendation than you would otherwise. So be wise!
 
7. Watch DVD or reading books.

If your heart is set on a lazy day ensconced in your room, check out some DVD shop or bookshops in Hoi An, buys some discs or books and enjoy your days indoors. Legends DVD shop on Phan Chu Trinh Street has the best selection of movies and box set series for a dollar a disc. For those who love reading, grab a book from Randy’s book exchange over on Cam Nam Island.

Vietnam unveiled as the fastest growing tourist destination

Vietnam unveiled as the fastest growing tourist destination When the Post Office recently revealed their list of the fastest growing currencies in the UK, I was not surprised to see which destination was at number one – Vietnam!

The index is a good indicator of hot tourist destinations for Brits this summer and like us at PureTravel it appears they too love Vietnam holidays! In fact sales of the Vietnamese currency, the dong soared by a massive 68% this summer (June-August). The findings come from the highly respected UK Post Office which has 11,500 local branches across the UK. Southern Vietnam with extension to Cambodia 10 days

In my opinion this should put Vietnam right at the top of the must-see destinations list for some wintersun and into spring 2013. The weather is distinctly autumnal right now in the UK so a long haul trip to Vietnam is ideal and even easier now that direct flights are operating between London Gatwick and Hanoi as we reported last year. And right now 1 GBP equals 33,760 VND which means that with just 29.61 GBP you can be a millionaire in Vietnam! Dragon Pearl Junk

The rise in popularity is also attributed to the fact that several luxury resorts have also opened up in various locations throughout Vietnam. There is also a new airport planned for the southern Vietnam province of Kien Giang; the Phu Quoc International Airport is on schedule to open late 2012 and will dramatically increase accessibility of the Mekong Delta region. The Vietnamese government has pledged to invest more money on key tourist infrastructures such as leisure and entertainment complexes, even if the addition of tuk-tuks on the city streets of Hanoi has been vetoed.

Vietnam unveiled as the fastest growing tourist destination

At a recent meeting, tourism ministers of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar debated the feasibility of creating a ‘unified visa zone’ for the four countries, which would ease red tape for tourists visiting southeast Asia. If the system gets the go ahead its estimated that more than 25 million international travellers will visit the 4 countries, compared to 12 million foreign tourists last year (and 14% more than 2010). Of course once western travellers have made the journey it’s all the more attractive to combine several Southeast Asian countries at the same time. In fact many western tour operators already offer the multi-country trips so this move would be very appealing. AUTHENTIC MEKONG

I’ve been lucky enough to have explored Vietnam, spending time in the usual Vietnamese tourist haunts; Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Danang, Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay and I absolutely loved my visit! I hope more travellers discover Vietnam for themselves and for some inspiration check out some of the weird and wonderful hotels you could opt for.

Imagine my excitement as well when I caught the BBC Top Gear Special which featured the three famous presenters; Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James |May traversing Vietnam on motorbikes travelling 1,000 miles from Ho Chi Minh City to Halong City. They had just eight days to complete the journey with various challenges along the way but I won’t reveal who won – all I can say is that you definitely need to catch up with the episode either on a cable TV station or via the BBC site. Fantastic viewing and very funny!

And if you’re curious as to which destinations came in positions 2-10, we have published the list; Top 10 Fastest growing holiday destinations revealed.