I'd visited Ho Chi Minh City for a long weekend two years ago and given that I only had a month left in Asia at this point and two countries still to see, I decided to only spend one day there this time. I still made the most of the time I had, starting with the highlights of another Lonely Planet walking tour in the morning. I got around most of the main sights including the Ben Thanh Market, the Opera House, City Hall, the General Post Office and the (Saigon) Notre Dame Cathedral.
I was feeling in a pretty good mood as I strolled around: it's a big city, and I'm a big city kinda girl, and it's been a while since I was in one. Yes, Hanoi has more character, but Saigon feels more like a capital city to me. Oh, and I've mastered crossing the road like a local now i.e. just stepping out, apparently oblivious to the hundreds of motorbikes speeding towards you!
After a delicious Pho Bo lunch I headed for the Reunification Palace, once home to the President of South Vietnam. During the fall of Saigon, North Vietnamese tanks famously bulldozed through the gates, marking the end of the Vietnam war. I think I was expecting something more... well, palatial, but I guess it was home to a president and not a king. It felt a bit like a library, university or other government building (albeit a posh one). That said, it was interesting to see the cabinet rooms, president's living quarters, his private movie theatre and particularly the underground war rooms, and to imagine the president and his advisors poring over the maps and documents and making their plans.
One of the things I'd most enjoyed on my last visit was a sight-seeing tour with XO Tours: a company of female motorbike guides. Last time I'd taken a city tour/ foodie tour combo so I decided to try something different this time, with their Saigon by Night tour.
It was quite an unusual tour, in that we skipped all of the famous landmarks and headed instead to several areas of the city which are rarely visited by tourists. It was interesting to see District 7 in particular, which felt more like Singapore than Vietnam: luxury apartment buildings, up-market restaurants and more cars than motorbikes on the street! Needless to say, this was the expat area! Lots of the luxury apartments were sitting empty: the rich Vietnamese tend to put their money into property rather than the bank and will often buy these big apartments outright in cash! They don't even bother to rent them out. It's true there is not really a middle class here - everyone seems to be either very rich or very poor.
We also saw lots of loungers and hammocks along the banks of the river, where young Vietnamese couples go to "have some privacy". It's common for four generations of one family to live under the same roof, so young people rarely have their own room.
So yes, hardly a conventional tour but interesting all the same, and it was fun to fly through the streets at night and see the city all lit up. Despite having acquired a bit more motorbike (passenger) experience since my last tour with them, I still felt a bit nervous at times as there's FAR more traffic on these roads. But then I'd see a 1-2 year old child nonchalantly standing up on the bike in front of his Mum or Dad, and I knew I really I had to man up!
(Note: the War Remnants Museum in Saigon is excellent and a must-see, but I went there on my last visit - decided to leave the harrowing stuff until Cambodia this time).
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| The Ben Thanh Market |
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| The Opera House and the Continental Hotel (featured in The Quiet American book/ film) |
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| Inside the GPO |
After a delicious Pho Bo lunch I headed for the Reunification Palace, once home to the President of South Vietnam. During the fall of Saigon, North Vietnamese tanks famously bulldozed through the gates, marking the end of the Vietnam war. I think I was expecting something more... well, palatial, but I guess it was home to a president and not a king. It felt a bit like a library, university or other government building (albeit a posh one). That said, it was interesting to see the cabinet rooms, president's living quarters, his private movie theatre and particularly the underground war rooms, and to imagine the president and his advisors poring over the maps and documents and making their plans.
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| The Reunification Palace, Saigon |
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| The Presiden't War Room |
It was quite an unusual tour, in that we skipped all of the famous landmarks and headed instead to several areas of the city which are rarely visited by tourists. It was interesting to see District 7 in particular, which felt more like Singapore than Vietnam: luxury apartment buildings, up-market restaurants and more cars than motorbikes on the street! Needless to say, this was the expat area! Lots of the luxury apartments were sitting empty: the rich Vietnamese tend to put their money into property rather than the bank and will often buy these big apartments outright in cash! They don't even bother to rent them out. It's true there is not really a middle class here - everyone seems to be either very rich or very poor.
We also saw lots of loungers and hammocks along the banks of the river, where young Vietnamese couples go to "have some privacy". It's common for four generations of one family to live under the same roof, so young people rarely have their own room.
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| Obviously I wasn't REALLY driving - this is a "joke" shot |
(Note: the War Remnants Museum in Saigon is excellent and a must-see, but I went there on my last visit - decided to leave the harrowing stuff until Cambodia this time).
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