EAT STAY PLAY

Ho Chi Minh City Delicious street food and dynamic neighbourhoods are never hard to find in Ho Chi Minh City, writes Brett Atkinson.

Explore Vietnam’s kinetic southern supercity, sombrely reflecting on past conflict, but also celebrating a more positive present and incessantly dynamic future. It’s also a city with a youthful population keen to show visitors Southeast Asia’s best street food and craft beer scenes.

STAY

In a busy Asian supercity, Fusion Suite Saigon’s location on a quiet street lined with tall, decadesold trees is a relaxing surprise. Enlivened with black and white photography of Vietnamese life, spacious rooms lined with blond wood are cool and calm.

Spa and wellness services are available for endof-day rejuvenation, and location-wise, you’re near leafy Tao Dan Park, Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum.

For accommodation near the Saigon River, stay at The Myst Dong Khoi. Look forward to vintage Indochinese style imbued with art deco influences and a centrally-located stay near the riverfront. There’s a compact rooftop lap pool, and the 14th-floor Bar Bleu has expansive views of the sinuous river and the city’s impetuous 21stcentury sprawl.

For good-value, mid-range accommodation, book in at the Little Saigon Boutique Hotel in the bustling, downtown heart of District 1.

PLAY

To learn about the Vietnam War, visit Ho Chi Minh City’s Independence Palace, formerly South Vietnam’s Presidential Palace, and a fascinating building imbued with vintage 1960s decor and architectural design. Descend into a subterranean labyrinth of communications bunkers and war situation rooms, and take in the balcony where a North Vietnamese soldier signified the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 by unfurling a conquerors’ flag.

From the palace, it’s a 500-metre walk to the War Remnants Museum, a sobering showcase of moving exhibitions about the Vietnam War. Confronting images of the conflict are displayed alongside antiwar posters from many countries, including New Zealand, and the exterior garden is littered with American war detritus, including armoured vehicles.

Around 70% of Vietnamese were actually born after 1975, so for a more positive and progressive view of modern Saigon, take in the action along District 1’s Nguyen Hue Boulevard.

After dark, it’s a popular pedestrians-only walking street, and the raffish 1960s apartment block at

No 42 – actually where American military officers stayed in the war – now houses a ramshackle gathering of cafes and interesting shops. The scene is ever-evolving, so just follow the crowds up faded staircases. There are good boulevard views from Meraki Cafe’s balcony.

EAT

Pho (noodle soup) is the breakfast of choice for many Saigonese. Try it southern Vietnamese-style – loaded with fresh herbs including coriander, basil and pungent fish mint – at Pho Binh in District 3, a humble decades-old spot where Vietcong insurgents gathered for clandestine meetings in the Vietnam War. Check out the upstairs room, where they used to meet for interesting photographs and a minimuseum.

Reached via a labyrinth of staircases near busy Pasteur St, the Old Compass Cafe is a relaxing place to start the day. Order a robust Vietnamese coffee and banh mi op la teaming fried eggs, pâté and a warm baguette, and ask about occasional live music gigs in the evenings.

A recommended lunch spot to break up urban

adventures is The Secret Garden, where more stairs meander past faded 1960s apartments to a leafy rooftop framing the restaurant’s herb garden. Homestyle Vietnamese dishes are served with city views. It’s so popular the owners have opened a second branch on nearby Calmette St.

For dinner, book a street-food experience with XO Tours, Vietnam’s first all-women motorbike tour company. Book the Saigon At Night tour to venture south of the river to District 4, where laneways are packed with local diners enjoying grilled seafood and frosty bottles of Bia Saigon.

On the back of a vintage Vespa scooter is also the best way to explore HCMC’s craft-beer scene. Hook up with Vespa Adventures for after-dark thrills coursing through neon-lit streets to hoppy highlights including BiaCraft and the Heart Of Darkness brewery.