Thanh Da – the island within Saigon
Despite Ho Chi Minh City being one of the 40 biggest world cities by population, there is a pocket of it, just 8 kilometres from the District 1 heart of Saigon that is largely undeveloped, creating a rural oasis in the midst of the rapidly urbanising city. That area is Thanh Da – the island within Saigon.
Thanh Da – the island within Saigon
Technically, the Thanh Da area is a peninsula of land around which the Saigon River does a giant loop. However at some point (and despite my best research efforts, I haven’t been able to find out when exactly) a canal was constructed straight across a narrowish part of the peninsula, straightening out the path of the river and effectively creating a 500 hectare island in the middle. The penisula runs roughly east-west, and across the river to its north is the area of Thu Duc, and Thao Dien in District 2 to the south.
Access to the island is via one bridge from District 1. On the District 1 side of the bridge, the four-lane road is lined with shops, offices, high-rise buildings. Cross the bridge and the road rapidly narrows to the two-laned Binh Quoi Road, which is more reminiscent to me of rural parts of Vietnam than of a vast metropolis.
On the island, there are several multi-story apartment blocks closest to the District 1 end, but the rest of Thanh Da is populated with low level dwellings, official buildings and shops, and most of the interlaced network of roads and paths were not even marked on any map I could get my hands on. The island is dotted with rice paddies, market gardens, and fishing ponds and during a walk around the roads you’re likely to encounter geese, chickens and pigs just wandering about. It’s a big contrast to District 1 which is just a relatively short taxi ride away.
The reason why this little pocket has remained undeveloped is not clear. A couple of locals we spoke with said that the government has plans to create a ‘supercity’ on the island, and therefore no further development is allowed in case everything has to be demolished and the owners compensated for their new developments. On a Hong Kong architecture firm website, I found 2003 concept master plans for a whole island residential development project, so there certainly seems to be at least an element of truth in that story.
Nowadays, what brings many local visitors to this island are the three government-owned Binh Quoi Tourist Villages (I hesitate to add this link, as it’s really not a very helpful website). These ‘villages’ were set up initially in the 1970s and mimic traditional rural architecture and scenery in manicured gardens. Bamboo water wheels, fishing nets, wooden bridges, rowing boats…these villages have it all. And as a result, they seem to be the place that locals come to have photographs (especially wedding photographs) taken. While we wandered around Binh Quoi 1, we spotted numerous wedding parties with brides dressed in everything from traditional red Vietnamese wedding gowns, through western white meringue numbers, to hot pink frou-frou tulle and sequined attire.
There’s also a number of restaurants at the Binh Quoi parks, and an open-air buffet on the weekends. Stalls offer the same kind of handicrafts you can get at most Vietnamese markets, and if you want to stay in this rural idyll, there is a form of accommodation (it looked fairly basic).
Other attractions of the island include sport fishing ponds, both indoor (like swimming pools) and outdoor more natural ponds. From what we could work out, you pay to fish and get to keep the prawns or fish you catch, and can either take them home or have them cooked on site.
There’s also a colourful Cao Dai temple on the main road. Cao Dai is a particularly Vietnamese form of religion established in the city of Tây Ninh, southern Vietnam in 1926. It combines elements of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, Confucianism and Islam, and the visual symbol of its over-seeing god is an eye. Cao Dai temples are very colourful, the most famous of which is Tay Ninh, 96 kilometres northwest of HCMC.
The reason we discovered Thanh Da island, is because the third of our five HCMC hotels was Saigon Domaine Luxury Residences, which are located on the northern side of the island. We had intended our stay there to be four days of chill-out time, relaxing by the pool, and having some extra space where we could spread out, and Queenie could get some of her holiday homework done.
Saigon Domaine offers one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments with all the benefits of staying in a hotel (swimming pool, gym, daily housekeeping, room service etc). We had booked a two-bedroom apartment, but were upgraded to a huge three-bedroom, 3.5 bathroom apartment which looked over the island and the Saigon River to Thao Dien. In fact, we were able to see our fourth hotel (Villa Song) from the balcony of our apartment.
The apartment complex definitely met the chill-out brief. There was a mini-shop in the lobby, and the girls loved being able to wander down to the shop to purchase soft drinks or snacks. There was also a small supermarket a short walk away, which had a basic range of most groceries. We didn’t particularly want to cook, but the apartment had a full kitchen if we had.
Buffet breakfast was included in the room rate, and was served on a floating pontoon on the rivers’ edge. It was the most spectacular start to each morning.
And then, later in the evening most days, we made use of the Apartment’s own speedboat shuttle back to District 1, where we went out to a restaurant for dinner. The speedboat ride down the Saigon River at sunset was magic, and a holiday highlight.
If I was looking for great accomodation for my very first stay in HCMC, I don’t think this would have been my choice because of its relative isolation. Given this was our fourth time in the city, Thanh Da offered us a totally different and interesting perspective. It was almost like staying in a rural village, complete with roadside market stalls in the morning, selling all types of meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables.
In the mornings I woke to the sound of roosters crowing, dogs barking and the ever-present beep-beep of motorbikes and vehicles as they negotiated the relatively narrow main road.
For a total change of pace from the frenetic urban pace of District 1, it was a great location.
The details
Saigon Domaine Luxury Residences
1057 Binh Quoi Street, Ward 28, Binh Thanh District,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 8 3556 6163 / +84 8 3556 1145
Email: sales@saigondomaine.com
Do you prefer the bright lights of the city or the down-to-earth reality of a rural setting?
