Tâm Lê in Saigon
Street Cred: Phan Đình Phùng, My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
An unassuming street named Phan Đình Phùng runs through Saigon’s Phú Nhuận District. It is named after a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in the 1880s and 1890s. He is also my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Lycée Marie Curie: The High School That Has Stood the Test of Time
Marie Curie High School, also called Lycée Marie Curie in French or Trường Trung Học Phổ Thông Marie Curie in Vietnamese, is a public high school located in Saigon’s District 3.
Khôi Phạm in Saigon
Old Saigon Building of the Week: The Glitz and Glam of Tự Do Nightclub
While today’s Đồng Khởi Street is peppered with tourist-centric shops and restaurants, just half a century ago, the downtown street was the nightlife hotspot for Saigon’s cool kids to congregate.
Revisit the Colorful, Diverse Universe of Multinational Xe Đò in 1990s Saigon
Saigoneers who spent their formative years in the 1990s will remember an era of secondhand products of mixed origins. This unique feature of daily life also extended into the transportation realm.
The Double-Edged Allure of Indochic in Postcolonial Vietnam
Bordering the Temple of Literature in Hanoi is Nguyễn Thái Học Boulevard, where a number of art shops sit side by side. Among them, tourists and visitors can find an endless supply of varying iterations of socialist iconography, gold-plated replicas of Đông Sơn drums, and faux-impressionist paintings of colonial Indochina. In Mũi Né, a 127-room resort unironically called The Anam Mui Ne boasts its Indochine allure with “Indochine Charm. Modern Luxury” on its home page. Throughout the resort are paintings depicting women in traditional áo dài and scenes of tranquil fishing villages, gesturing toward the bucolic past of Vietnam. In Saigon, numerous cafes and eateries are decorated in encaustic cement tiles with intricate floral, pastel designs, while brandishing French names and wrought iron railings on their balconies.
Uyên Đỗ in Hanoi
A Slice of Life in Coupon-Era Hanoi via Colorful Vintage Lottery Tickets
What can tiny sheets of paper reveal about a whole time period?
Brian Letwin in Heritage
Tàu Cánh Ngầm: The Curious Case of Saigon’s Lost Soviet Hydrofoils
Not long ago, hulking “creatures” glided atop the waters between Saigon and Vũng Tàu. Like the dinosaurs that came before them, they slowly disappeared, until all that was left were their skeletons.
Tim Doling in Saigon
The Surprisingly Recent History Behind Bình Thạnh's Lonely 'Gia-Đinh' Gate
It’s claimed by several tourism websites that a gateway from one of the ancient Gia Định citadels has survived and may be viewed on the Lê Văn Duyệt-Phan Đăng Lưu intersection in Bình Thạnh District, close to the Lê Văn Duyệt Mausoleum. However, a little research into the history of that area reveals that the gateway in question has more recent origins.
Tim Doling in Saigon
Saigon’s Tour de l’Inspection - Part 1
An essential feature of life in early colonial Saigon, the Tour de l'Inspection was not so much a sunset promenade as an event designed to showcase wealth and power.
22 Photos Of 1994 Cần Thơ
The rustic beauty of Cần Thơ was captured through the lens of a Belgian photographer, Harry Gruyaert, on his visit to Vietnam in 1994.
New Book Highlights HCMC’s History And Architecture Through Walking Tours
Resident Saigoneer historian and the brains behind Historic Vietnam, Tim Doling, has just released a new book, "Exploring Hồ Chí Minh City" featuring a great set of walking tours around our fair city....
13 Rare Photos Of Old Huế (1919)
While most of the old photos we show here are from Saigon and Hanoi, we wanted to give a shout-out to the Hue, Vietnam’s capital until 1945.
[Video] 1993 Saigon From The Back Of A Honda Cub
Mark Bowyer, who runs the great travel blog, Rusty Compass, has been living and traveling in Vietnam for over 2 decades. Early into his Saigon tenure, he hopped on the back of a Honda Cub with a video...
16 Beautiful Photos of Old Hanoi
They may not be quite as old as the set of 19th century photos of Saigon that we posted earlier this week, but these images of old Hanoi from Flickr user, Manhhai, are plenty nostalgic in their o...
34 Of The Oldest Known Photos Of Saigon
Hanoi architect, Đoàn Bắc, and his father, Đoàn Thịnh, are known for their collections of old Vietnam photos. Among them is a set taken in Saigon, some of which date back to 1860 (the newest are from ...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Lê Văn Tám Park – The Former Massiges Cemetery - Part II
Cleared in 1983 to create the Lê Văn Tám Park, the former Massiges or European Cemetery (Cimetière Européen) was the most famous French cemetery in Saigon. To coincide with the release of hitherto uns...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Lê Văn Tám Park - The Former Massiges Cemetery - Part I
Cleared in 1983 to create the Lê Văn Tám Park, the former Massiges or European Cemetery (Cimetière Européen) was the most famous French cemetery in Saigon. To coincide with the release of hitherto uns...
23 Rare Photos of 1990 Hanoi
Between 1990 and 1993, German photographer Hans-Peter Grumpe traveled across Vietnam, taking about 1,600 photos in 20 provinces around the country. One of his stops was in a developing Hanoi where he ...
[Photos] An Inside Look At 3 Of Saigon’s Most Intriguing Tombs
Saigon is home to plenty of old structures, some which house the living, and others the dead. Many of the former are tombs of important scholars who profoundly shaped the country’s culture, language a...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Old Saigon Building of the Week: Ho Chi Minh City General Sciences Library
Housed in one of the city’s most outstanding modernist buildings, the former South Vietnamese National Library was the culmination of over 100 years of library development in the southern metropolis.
The Cinemas Of Old Saigon
Formerly known as “Pearl of the Orient,” Saigon once shone with elegance and prosperity, reflected in sun-soaked cafes, shiny cars parked on clean streets and crowded entertainment spots like discos a...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Old Saigon Building of the Week: The Former Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat
The Lê Quý Đôn Secondary School (Trường Trung học Phổ thông Lê Quý Đôn, www.lequydon.edu.vn) at 110 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai street is the city’s oldest surviving educational establishment.
12 Old Photos Of Saigon Street Vendors
No matter if you’re a local or a foreigner, one image from Saigon will always stay with you - street vendors - an integral weave in the city’s urban fabric, both culturally and economically.
[Photos] The Hiệp Hoà Sugar Refinery (1927)
Covering 200 hectares of land, the Hiệp Hoà Sugar Refinery was one of the first of its kind in Vietnam when it was constructed.
Brian Letwin in Vietnam
14 Beautiful Old Photos (And A Short History) Of Da Nang
Da Nang’s history can be traced back to 192AD when it was part of the Champa Kingdom, only becoming part of Vietnam after the culmination of Đại Việt Southern expansion in the 15th century. ...
The Story Of Saigon’s "Graveyard Of Traitors"
Under a windy dusk towards Mả Ngụy. Clouds and clouds of souls reign on. These words are from an old poem that depicts the ghostly atmosphere of a graveyard which was located in the area of present ...
Tim Doling in Saigon
Old Saigon Building Of The Week: St Joseph’s Seminary - Part 2
This is Part 2 of Old Saigon Building Of The Week: St Joseph’s Seminary. For Part 1, click here.
Tim Doling in Saigon
Old Saigon Building Of The Week: St Joseph’s Seminary - Part 1
One of the first Roman Catholic institutions founded by Bishop Dominique Lefèbvre following the French conquest of 1859, the rarely-visited St Joseph’s Seminary offers a unique oasis of calm in a busy...
