Route: Ho Chi Minh City-Singapore
--Before the trip--
We booked a city tour with hotel's desk officer. The city tour includes a very very simple lunch. Haha! Anyway, the small tourist bus was full of tourists, at least 20 of us. Most of my group mates were Westerners. We were the only Asians, together with another Msia gang of 3. Haha! The city included compulsory shopping stops at some stores.
--1st Stop: War Remnant's Museum--
This is the museum which you shld visit in HCMC. It showcases lots of photos and things left after the Vietnam war. Many photos showed the remains of the people who were killed by bombs, families (include lots of kids) killed by the American soldiers, people who suffered from the chemical warfare (missing limbs, legs, disfigured faces, stillborn babies) etc. Out of respect for the victims, I chose not to take any pics of the photos. For people like me, who does not know much about Vietnam war, this is the place where you can learn loads of stuff about the war.
A statue called "Mother", which is made of bomb fragments.
Before & after pictures of the Hien Luong Bridge. Many places which I visited in Central Vietnam were rebuilt after the war. You will see ruins of city, bridges, schs, churches...whatever.
Outside of the museum building, there were a good collection of fighter jets, tankers etc.
This is a showcase of "Tiger Cages", which are special cells in Con Dao jail.
This is where heads rolled off...Due to lack of time & there were too many tourists, I cld nt take pics of the cages. It's just pathetic to lock them up in those small cages.
--2nd Stop: Tien Hau Temple--
I think I don't have to intro this temple again. What caught my attention was the rooftop. Very exquisite carvings, but badly maintained. Perhaps they wanted to depict some kind of story....no idea ne.
The altar.
Main entrance.
We're near Cholon (Chinatown) area, and it's interesting to see "五福临门" outside people's home. Perhaps many local Chinese lives around this area.--3rd Stop: Binh Tay Market--
This is the place for cheap shopping. Binh Tay is a wholesale mkt and they sell everything from food to clothes. I even saw stalls selling Lunar calendars, new year printings etc. Lots of Chinese faces here, and don't be surprised that they cld speak dialects. Haha! Prices here are said to be cheaper than Ben Thanh, which targets at tourists.
We walked to the back of the mkt and saw stalls selling candies and dried stuffs. HM & KH bought dried lotus seeds and we had a gd laugh watching HM bargaining with the auntie, who spoke Cantonese with an accent. HM seriously cannot make it ....hahaha!--4th Stop: Lacquerware Factory--
This is one of the compulsory shops we visited.
We walked into the factory and saw how lacquerwares were made, step by step.
All handicrafts were handmade...impressive.--5th Stop: Reunification Palace--
Weather was not good when we reached the palace. It rained like cats & dogs again.
Reunification Palace used to be the President's office of South Vietnam. It was the site where Vietnam war ended as North Viet's army tank crashed through its gates in 1975.There are many rooms in the palace, and I chose some of the highlights.
Forgot to take note of the room's name. Probably a meeting room.
Probably a hall where President made important speeches.
Another room for them to discuss war strategies...
Vice President's reception room.
The credentials presenting room.
First Lady's reception room.
Cinema.
A helicopter model found on the highest storey of the palace.--6th Stop: Notre Dame Cathedral & Post Office--
Rain was still heavy. We cld nt enter the Cathedral as it was closed for some private function. The post office was just next door, and it looked quite grand.
ATMs. I nearly thought they were public phone booths.
KH bought her postcard, while I bought some souvenirs for colleagues, and a 2011 calendar for myself.
Notre Dame Cathedral.--7th Stop: Ben Thanh Market--
Our guide dropped us at Ben Thanh Mkt. Some parts of the mkt was flooded as it was raining heavily, but that did not dampened our mood to do some last min shopping. We bought our Vietnam flag t-shirts after some good bargaining. Haha!
We also bought some coffee powder too. I think we made a mistake by not bargaining for the price we wanted before they grind the coffee beans into powder. Haiz~~Really need ppl like E.W to bargain things for us ne :( (Kiddos can't handle them~lol!)
Anyway, I bought a small packet of hazelnut flavoured coffee. I wanted to buy some Arabica, but my VND was not enough, and I did not want to use my remaining USD.
--8th Stop: Beautiful Saigon Hotel--
We returned to our hotel and waited for a taxi to drive us to the airport. It was raining heavily, and their taxi drivers were unwilling to drive to faraway places as they wld be caught in traffic jams. The hotel offered an airport transfer with a discount, but we decided to stick with a taxi as we knew that it wld cost lesser than the hotel's offer.
--9th Stop: Tan Son Nhat International Airport--
We reached the airport early and had our dinner at the food court.
KH was still feeling unwell, so she had porridge w/ century egg. It smelled really nice!
HM's dinner.
I sort of regret ordering Oyakodon. It was not nice ne :(Our plane departed on time from HCMC and reached Changi a few mins earlier.
Overall, my first Vietnam trip was rather "tiring", but I was quite glad that my itinerary went smoothly. This is also my first trip with friends only. Quite memorable, but I also realised how bad we are at bargaining. We need aunties ard!!! Hahaha!
