Two decades back, one of Vietnam's notorious mafia bosses was executed by a firing squad. Truong Van Cam, more commonly known as Nam Cam, or Vietnam's "Godfather," oversaw a vast criminal network that controlled much of Ho Chi Minh City's District 4. It was the ideal place for him to base his criminal activities: It's centrally located, buffered by waterways, and chock-full of clandestine networks of alleyways.
This is a period the government would rather forget, which is perhaps why evidence of District 4's criminal history is hard to come by. "There's really no documentation about District 4 in that era," Tim Doling, a historian in Ho Chi Minh City who's the author of "Saigon-Cho Lon: Vanishing Heritage of Ho Chi Minh City," told me when I asked about the district. "It's all down to the personal reminiscences of those who lived there."
Ho Chi Minh City, designated a future megacity by the United Nations, is divided into 24 districts, half of which are numbered and half of which are named. The airport sits in Tan Binh District, but most visitors end up dividing their time between districts 1, 3, and 5, which contain the bulk of the city's heritage buildings and museums.
Some also venture into Thao Dien, an expat enclave in District 2. As a travel writer who primarily covers Vietnam, I make regular trips to Ho Chi Minh City, and I've found that some of the most interesting spots — including District 4 — are outside the popular tourist hubs.
At a little over 1.5 square miles in size, District 4 is the smallest district in Vietnam's most populous city; it's densely populated, though, with nearly 200,000 residents, by one count, as of 2019. With the district having shrugged off its reputation for crime, many characteristics that made it a handy criminal hub — the waterways, alleyways, and proximity to District 1 — now make it ripe for urban exploration. On my most recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City, in September, I spent a day exploring some fresh spots in District 4 and found it worth including in visitors' travel itineraries.