The South is dominated by the metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, still usually known as Saigon, once a small fishing village that has expanded to nicely over 2,000km2 of urban sprawl with a population someplace between 5 and eight million (many residents aren't registered).  

Its early history is hazy, but it surely seems to have begun as Prei Nokot, a small Kh’mer community on a patch of land in a forest surrounded by waterways on three sides. On the time, the area was dominated by Funan, an ancient southern port with an Indianised tradition that expanded to become a powerful kingdom. Funan was finally supplanted by Chen La, which was in turn absorbed into the Angkor Empire.  

As Empires rose and fell, the waterside location of Prei Nokor attracted boats navigating the Mekong River. By the seventeenth century, it was a thriving buying and selling neighborhood of Malay, Indian and Chinese language merchants.

The end of the seventeenth century saw the regular southwards advertvanced of the Viet people because it gradually overwhelmed the Kingdom of Champa, until it was absorbed into the Empire managed by the Hue-based mostly Nguyen Dynasty, and acquired a brand new name - Saigon. 

In the latter part of the 18th century, a peasants’ revolt led by the Tay Son brothers swept north and took control. Nguyen Anh, the Nguyen Emperor on the time, headed south, and fortified Saigon to be his capital in the south. When Nguyen Anh regained control, with assist from the French, he retained Saigon as

His southern administrative centre. 

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the French seized Saigon and made it the capital of French Indochina. Underneath French rule it grew to become a fashionable vacation spot, however in the course of the many years of the US-backed Saigon ‘government’, it was a byword for decadence, sleaze and corruption as money flowed in and the presence of large numbers of American GI’s stimulated the expansion of brothels and gaming dens. 

The top of the warfare, economic progress and a rebirth as Ho Chi Minh City has fuelled progress and created at the moment's vibrant metropolis. 

Its site visitors is dreadful, petty crime is rife, land prices are soaring, and social problems abound, but its bustling chaos makes it simply Vietnam’s most fun city. There's plenty to see and do, some of the best hotels in the nation, and an unlimited range of locations to eat and drink from easy street cafes to ultra swish (and ultra costly) Vietnamese and international restaurants.  

Ho Chi Minh City is a Mecca of commerce. Virtually something could be bought in its malls, shops and markets. Stylish shops bursting with famous international brand names all the way down to the wicker baskets of fruit and the trays of lighters and shoelaces carried by humble road sellers: something for everyone and prices for everything. Modern office blocks house the many trading and monetary businesses that have their headquarters in the southern hub. 

It’s also a city with a chequered history and a rich culture. Its pagodas, museums, public buildings, parks and boulevards make it a magnet for international tourists who arrive in increasing numbers at Tan Son Nhat, Vietnam’s busiest airport, or by street, train or ship.  

Visitors are hardly want-washy about their opinions of Ho Chi Minh City - they either love it or hate it but whatever they really feel, they’ll ignore it!