Every evening, as dusk settles over Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the sky darkens to a sultry cobalt blue, the kerosene lamps of food vendors twinkle in narrow side streets, and the city becomes a magical place; more sensual than Paris, more exotic than Bangkok.

Thousands of commuting Vietnamese flood the boulevards in a noisy, nonstop motorbike caravan of red and white lights, heading to apartments in urban Cholon or Binh Thanh, or to outlying villages where palm trees and rice paddies border the roads. Thousands more stroll the downtown streets around Lam Son Square. Young Vietnamese men in jeans and T-shirts have cell phones pasted to their ears or sit on park benches, smoking French cigarettes and talking with friends. Slender Vietnamese women, some in white ao dais, the traditional long dresses of Vietnam, walk with girlfriends or cruise around on the back of boyfriends’ motorbikes. Western businessmen, sweating in their European suits, head for the Blue Gecko, Lush or Apocalypse bars, or to the lovely, open-air Saigon Saigon rooftop bar of the Caravelle Hotel, for pre-dinner drinks.

Vietnam’s war with the French ended in 1954, most of the American soldiers left in 1973, and in 1975 the North Vietnamese army captured Saigon and officially changed its name to Ho Chi Minh City. Since then, Vietnam and its relationship with the United States and the rest of the world have changed dramatically.

With more than 6 million residents, Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s largest. About 1 million visitors came in 2007 — an increase of about 10 percent from 2006 — and tourism revenue, expected to total about $900 million in 2007, stabilizes the local economy and makes Vietnam itself more attractive for foreign investment. While exports such as seafood, clothing, shoes, coal and oil are reliable, the country is now working to persuade international high-tech companies to locate in Ho Chi Minh City. Intel, for one, will construct a $1-billion semiconductor testing and assembly plant near the city.

Plans are in the works for Saigon Hi-Tech Park, located about 10 miles from downtown, near the port and the airport. In addition, 55 smaller industrial zones are drawing foreign interest, and long-range plans include the construction of Internet-City, a commercial office park with a telecommunications focus.

Vietnam’s communist government’s market-oriented economic policies have led to increased national prosperity, and its major commercial center, Ho Chi Minh City, has emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting business cities, filled with stockbrokers who trade enthusiastically on Vietnam’s small, but vibrant, stock exchange. Yet beneath its money-oriented, fast-talking ambience, the city is still sultry and sensual, an alluring, exotic, tropical locale.

Although some Vietnamese and ex-pats living in Ho Chi Minh City are aghast at the rapid construction of new hotels and office buildings, and the demolition of the older, French-era, colonial-style structures, there are still neighborhoods in the city that look and feel like old Saigon, where lunch-time customers sit on tiny plastic chairs, eating the ubiquitous pho (noodle soup) or cha gio (spring rolls) at sidewalk food stalls, and where 18th century Buddhist pagodas evoke images of Vietnam from an even earlier period.

LODGING

PARK HYA TT SAIGON

One of the newest deluxe properties in Ho Chi Minh City (opened in 2005), all 231 guestrooms and 21 suites have insulated louvered windows and ceiling fans, giving them a distinct Vietnamese look. Some have private terraces, and direct access to the pool deck. Guestrooms have flat-screen TVs, high-speed Internet access, and bathroom amenities displayed in beautiful bamboo boxes. Opera, the hotel’s Italian restaurant, overlooks the historic Opera House. Square One, a trendy, five-kitchen venue, offers Vietnamese and Western cuisine. The hotel’s Xuan Spa is quite extensive, as are the conference facilities. $$$$
PARK HYA TT SAIGON
2 Lam Son Square, District 1,
tel 84 8 824 1234
http://www.saigon.park.hyatt.com

SOFI TEL PLA ZA SAIGON

This 290-room property has a good central location, an 18th-floor rooftop swimming pool and fitness club, WiFi access and numerous deluxe amenities in its guestrooms and public areas. The Café Rivoli restaurant serves international cuisine, while L’Oliver Restaurant reflects the hotel chain’s French background with a menu inspired by France’s Provençe region. With eight meeting rooms and a full array of business services, the hotel’s meetings and conference department works closely with locally based international firms. $$$$
SOFI TEL PLA ZA SAIGON
17 Le Duan Blvd., District 1
tel 84 8 824 1555
http://www.sofitel.com

CARAVELLE HOTEL

When this 335-room hotel opened in 1959, it was the city’s classiest hotel. A favorite gathering place for Army brass and media during the war, almost every American TV network had offices here at one time or another. The hotel was completely renovated in 1998, including the addition of a modern 24-story tower, with great views from the upper floors and from its popular rooftop terrace bar, Saigon Saigon. The hotel’s ground-floor restaurant, Nineteen, has created a real buzz downtown, and its other fine dining venue, Reflections, offers views of the Opera House and Lam Son Square.$$$
CARAVELLE HOTEL
19 Lam Son Square, District 1
tel 84 8 823 4999,
http://www.caravellehotel.com

DINING

NAM PHAN

Considered one of the best restaurants in the city, Nam Phan offers more than 100 dishes in an elegant setting within a converted 19th century French villa. There is a strictly enforced dress code — perhaps the only one in the city — but it’s well worth ditching the jeans and T-shirts to experience the food. Try the triangular spring rolls and grilled beef on lemongrass or shrimp paste on sugarcane. The wine list is extensive, flowers are everywhere and the staff is attentive.$$$
NAM PHAN
64 Le Thanh Ton St., District 1
tel 84 8 829 2757

TEMPLE CLUB

This restaurant is like a private club, French-looking and stylish in an old-fashioned colonial-era way, but the food is delicious and inexpensive for the quality and portions served. Arrive early for lunch or dinner to secure a table at the open-air rooftop barbecue, which is excellent, but often crowded. Reservations are also accepted. The downstairs restaurant and lounge areas are air-conditioned. Food is plain (fish and chips is popular), but shrimp, pork, chicken, duck and fish are well prepared, and served by Englishspeaking staff. $$
TEMPLE CLUB
29 Ton That Thiep St., District 1
tel 84 8 829 9244

HUONG LAI
This typical downtown Vietnamese restaurant seats just 20 and serves “home cooking” such as roasted eggplant, beef with chives and pork ribs. Nothing fancy here, just good food, nice ambience, clean and tasteful decor, a friendly wait staff and a convenient location. $
HUONG LAI
38 Ly Tu Trong St.
tel 84 8 822 6814

INFO TO GO

Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) is approximately 45 minutes from downtown Ho Chi Minh City by taxi (about $10). There is no mass transport in Ho Chi Minh City, so everyone moves around on two- or fourwheeled vehicles that careen through the city streets in a frenetic game of “chicken” with other drivers and pedestrians.

If you’re traveling through Vietnam, the popular Reunification Express train, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, takes about two days and is a great way to see the country.

DIVERSIONS

For visitors who lived through the Vietnam War, Ho Chi Minh City might have some unpleasant connotations. Nevertheless, you should make a point to visit some of the city’s war-era sites. The War Remnants Museum (28 Vo Van Tan St.) is an indoor/ outdoor museum where exhibits present the North Vietnamese side of the war with the Americans. Reunification Hall (Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, tel 84 8 822 3652) was known to the U.S. military as Diem’s Presidential Palace. A North Vietnamese army tank crashed through the front gates of the palace on April 30, 1975, symbolizing the end of the war, and the interior looks much as it did the day it was captured, with original furnishings, military maps and artifacts.

The Cu Chi Tunnels, probably the most visited Vietnam War-era attraction, are about an hour northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. The tunnels that once housed Viet Cong guerilla fighters have been restored slightly, but they remain chilling and claustrophobic. Former Viet Cong soldiers lead small groups of visitors through the winding underground passageways containing primitive field hospitals, bedding, military equipment and clothing. After the tour, there is an opportunity (for an extra fee), to shoot AK47s or other vintage firearms at a nearby shooting range.

Downtown Ho Chi Minh City is so colorful, and the people so friendly, that war memories fade under the bright sunshine. At the Historical Museum of Vietnam (2 Nguyen Binh Khiem St., tel 84 8 829 8146), built in the 1920s, exhibits range from ancient Cham sculptures to 1930s Communist Party posters. The popular water puppet shows are presented five times a day.

The large, covered Ben Thanh Market sells inexpensive souvenirs, food and Vietnamese-style clothing. In the early evening, the Ben Thanh Night Market opens, with hundreds of food and merchandise stalls set up in the streets surrounding the main market building — a good place to grab an inexpensive dinner, such as banh mi, a baguette that may be filled with charcoalgrilled pork, pickled carrots, radish, cucumber slices, onion, coriander and hot sauce.

On the outskirts of the city, the Phung Son Pagoda (1408 3 Thang 2 Blvd.), built in the early 19th century and surrounded by a pond, houses a large, gilded Buddha. The oldest pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City is the Giac Lam Pagoda, constructed in 1744. Most of the Buddhist monks there will be happy to answer questions (in English or French).