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Go to Vietnam   Main Towns The main towns are Hanoi, the political capital, which has between 3 and 4 million inhabitants, and Hô Chi Minh-Ville, the economic capital, which has a population of nearly 8 million inhabitants (source IMF). The other large towns are Haiphong (1.5 million), Danang (500,000), Nam Dinh (250,000), Hue (250,000) and Nha Trang (250,000). Buonmathuot Cam Ranh Camp Pha Can Tho Chau Doc Dalat Danang Dien Bien Phu Dong Dang Haïphong Hanoï Hô Chi Minh-Ville Huê Longxuyen Nam Dinh Nha Trang Qui Nhon Rach Gia Hô Chi Minh-Ville : ex-Saigon, nothing like the nostalgic portrayal in French cinema, Hô Chi Minh-Ville is constructing its future on dollars and new buildings. In the middle of this country run down by 40 years of war and hardline communism, Hô Chi Minh-Ville appears as an island of prosperity, with an annual income of $820 per inhabitant, four times above the national average. It is estimated that about $2 billion in black cash circulates in Vietnam, most of it in Hô Chi Minh-Ville, and this boosts the very restricted purchasing power. It comes from smuggling, black market and the uncontolled entry of money from Vietnamese living abroad (estimated at 3 million). Hanoi : (population 2 356 000) one of the most beautiful towns in Asia, Hanoi is the cradle of all the intellectual and artistic life in the country. Sheltered from all foreign influence from 1954 to 1992, Hanoi is described as 'virtuous' as compared with Hô Chi Minh-Ville which is 'provocative'. Miraculously spared by 40 years of war, Hanoi is slowly waking up to the realities of consumer society. Recently lots of bars and restaurants of all kind have opened, and hordes of motor bikes pollute the streets with their smelly exhaust pipes. To visit : - Lenin park - The Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), a Confucian temple which is a haven of peace and tranquility. - The Hô Chi Minh area : the museum, his house, mausoleum ... - The Western Lake (Hô Tay), with the pagodas of the Temple of Quan Thanh, the temple of Phu Tây Hô, the pagodas Tran Quoc and Kim Lien. - take a boat on the Western Lake, 'Nha Noi Hô Tay', Thanh Nien tel 823 97 71. - the Paper Bridge, Cau Gaiay - Tra Hoa Vien, the musical garden, 33 Lac Trung, bucolic. Huê : Huê has still some very beautiful relics from its imperial past (1802) scattered on the banks of the River of Perfumes which crosses the town. The citadel, with its triple walls surrounding the royal city, the court and the purple city : not much remains of the buildings which have been devastated by successive wars. The rows of frangipani trees, the pools covered with lotus flowers and the alleys shaded by banian trees or fruit trees make it poetic. In the town the atmosphere is peaceful once out of the main street, in front of each house is a little altar where offerings are made to the ancestors. Nestling in the greenery you can discover pagodas, little houses and other strange circular constructions which are tombs.

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