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Showing posts from March 3, 2024

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 59 Mar 8, 2024, Saigon, Viet Nam, Scenic Ho Chi Minh City

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  Ho Chi Minh City  ( HCMC ), commonly known as  Saigon , is the most populous city in  Vietnam , with a population of around 9.3 million in 2023. The city's geography is defined by  rivers  and  canals , the largest of which is the eponymously-named  Saigon River . As a  municipality , Ho Chi Minh City consists of 16  urban districts , five  rural districts , and one  municipal city  (sub-city). As the largest  financial center  in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City has the highest  gross regional domestic product  out of all Vietnam provinces and municipalities, contributing around a quarter of the  country's total GDP .  Ho Chi Minh City's metropolitan area  is  ASEAN's 6th largest economy , also the biggest outside an  ASEAN  country capital. Since the early times,  water transport  has been heavily used by inhabitants in the area.  New car storage after unload from transport ship Busses waiting for us to go on excursions; Saigon, an hour ride away. Shopping area right out o

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 56 Mar 5, 2024, Semarang, Indonesia; Discover Semarang

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Semarang   is the capital and largest city of  Central Java  province in  Indonesia . It was a major port during the  Dutch   colonial era , and is still an important regional center and port today. The city has been named as the cleanest tourist destination in Southeast Asia by the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard (ACTCS) for 2020–2022. It has an area of 144.32 square miles and had a population of 1,555,984 at the 2010 census and 1,653,524 at the 2020 census, making it Indonesia's ninth most populous city after Jakarta, Surabaya, Bekasi, Bandung, Medan, Depok, Tangerang, and Palembang; the official population estimate as at mid-2022 was 1,659,975, comprising 821,305 males and 838,670 females.  The built-up urban area had 3,183,516 inhabitants at the 2010 census spread over two cities and 26 districts.  The Semarang metropolitan area has a population of over 6 million in 2020.  The population of the city is predominantly Javanese with significant Chinese presence. The history of S