Public Parks

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam has so many verdant public parks. It is always jam-packed of tourists and locals especially at night. A number of tourists can be found snapping pictures while hoards of locals are unwinding (I guess this is one of their hobbies and pastimes), and some are selling post cards and trinkets.

In Lam Son Square ( in front of Rex Hotel), has an impressive statue of Uncle Ho cradling a child in his arms.

The City Cultural Park is near the Grand Cathedral Notre Dame and the Reunification Palace. The ground area is covered by green trees and flower plants, which create an airy and shady settings.

A park conveniently situated in front of Ben Thanh Market.

Ho Chi Minh City Hall or Hotel de Ville de Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City Hall or Hotel de Ville de Saigon was built in 1902-1908 in a French colonial style. It was renamed after 1975 as Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. The building is not opened to the public or for tourists.

The building is striking and beautifully illuminated at night. The place is adjacent to Rex Hotel and Lam Son Square.

Reunification Palace

REUNIFICATION PALACE formerly known as Independence Palace or Norodom Palace, is a historic landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was the workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the site of the official handover of power during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

The front yard of the Palace is a grass carpet in oval shape with a diameter of 102m. Running along the whole width of the great hall is a half moon shaped pond.




Admission is VND 15,000 for a descriptive brochure, which is available in several languages. Then we went on a guided tour of the palace. The guide explained about the architecture, decoration and historical contents. He showed us where the important meetings were held during the war, as well as some of the private quarters of the president and his family. There is a lot of Vietnamese arts and also nicely decorated reception where International visitors received.



The Palace consists of 95 rooms, each decorated according to its function. It features two exhibition rooms, a 33-room guesthouse, bomb shelter, Catholic chapel, helipad, tanks and numerous entertainment facilities.



The Office of the President of Republic of Vietnam.

Luckily, I got a snapshot with our tour guide wearing a traditional dress called "Ao Dai", literally means, a "long dress". Pronounced "ao yai" in the south, but "ao zai" in the north, the color is indicative of the wearer's age and status.

Young girls wear pure white, fully lined outfits symbolizing their purity. It is also the uniform for female tudents in many Vietnamese high scholls and universities (They looked cute with their long hair clipped back and riding their bicycles and motorcycles). As they grow older but are still unmarried they move into soft pastel shades. Only married women wear gowns in strong rich colors, usually over white or black pants. The Ao Dai is the traditional dress of Vietnamese women, consisting of a long flowing tunic that is slit on the sides and worn over loose trousers.

This was the first thing I noticed when I was in Vietnam. You can almost see everywhere women wearing ao dais. Many companies also require their famale staff to be attired in the Ao Dai. And I really love the dress it looks elegant, demure and yet sexy outfit. If we could only have it here in the Philippines, I would love to wear it.

Oops! Ok, let's get back to the most interesting section of the Reunification Palace, which is the basement. It has network of tunnels and rooms, including a War Room and a telecommunications room. This one is the "On Duty combat Office of the President".



The tour is approximatley 45 minutes. After the sight seeing program you may watch a documentary film of "Historical Witness" in the air-conditioned movie room.

Now, the Palace is both an ideal tourist sight seeing point and a place to hold meetings, seminars, receive guests from local and foreign agencies and businesses, and a restaurant serving entertainments, birthdays and weddings.

Ticket selling time is 7:30 to 11:00 am and 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Open everyday including Saturdays, Sundays and Tet Holidays.



ADDRESS:
Reunification Palace
106 Nguyen Du St.,
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Diamond Plaza Department Store

Diamond Plaza is Saigon's premier department store. The complex includes a 22-story building and a 15-story building and serves as shopping center, 6 cinema lounges, restaurants, bowling center, a mini mart, cafe and hospital. The complex was completed and open for business in 1999. There is a helicopter pad on the roof of the building.

Diamond Plaza opens at 10:00 am, and are closed to the public on Mondays considering the city's street stalls are busy from 6:00 in the morning. The prices are fixed so you can't bargain, but you will find genuine designer clothes from Vietnamese designers as well as imported brands. The famous brand 'Made in Viet Nam' can be found on the 2nd floor and KFC on the 3rd floor.

General Post Office

The General Post Office was built between 1886-1891 and Gustav Eiffel designed the French style building. With its huge clock on the center and a beautiful dome-shaped roof, the post office has the air of an old-fashioned railway station. Two huge maps show Saigon in 1892 and the telegraphic lines in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1936. Adjacent to Notre Dame Cathedral.

There's a huge portrait of a smiling Ho Chi Minh in the backdrop.

Notre Dame Cathedral

On our fourth day, we visited the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, which is situated in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. It is one of the tallest building in the city and the oldest Catholic churches in Vietnam. The cathedral is a much smaller than those in France.

A French priest set down the first brick for construction on Oct. 1877 and the last one in April 1880. These two dates are inscribed on a marble placard in the cathedral. The cathedral was built in accordance with specific designs and drawings. They made arrangements with France that the construction work be managed by a French Engineer named Baraud. The total cost of the construction was 2.5 million francs. In 1962, the Vatican gave the cathedral the title Basilique.

There are five chapels. The walls are made of Bien Hoa granite, combined with red tiles from Marseilles, all without coating. Red tiles from France were also used on the roofs, but they were later replaced with tiles of equal quality from Phu Huu.

This bright red-orangey brick edifice with twin spires will certainly attract your attention.



You can visit here anytime except during lunchtime and even attend the holy mass if you desire. And that's we did. We popped in for the English-Vietnamese mass at 9:30 in the morning. The priest speaks first in Vietnamese then translates it into English. Impressive! While the mass was going on, I observed a lot of opportunistic tourists were coming in and out of the church.



In front of the cathedral is the statue of the Virgin Mary made of White marble, symbolizing peace.



Outside the cathedral are the local street vendors selling colorful postcards, trinkets and native food delicacies.



A Vietnamese bridal couple preparing for a photo shot, all decked out in their wedding finery. And I got the chance to sneak in. shhh... hehehe

Ho Chi Minh Museum

After War Remnants Museum, we proceeded to Ho Chi Minh Museum, also called Ben Nha Rong. The museum was constructed in 1863, it was used to be the office of the French maritime transport firm Messageries Maritimes. It was at this place that Nguyen Tat Thanh, who later became Uncle Ho, embarked on the Latouche Treville to go abroad to begin the struggle for Vietnam's independence.

In September 1979, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City chose Nha Rong as the Ho Chi Minh Museum-Dragon House Wharf. The name was taken from the two dragon-shaped symbols on the top of the building.

Events such as artistic festivals and the introduction of new members into the Youth Union and Communist Party have been held in this museum.

Less than 10 visitors were there when we paid our visit. The museum wasn't all that interesting. The exhibit materials mostly contains pictures, objects and activities relating to President Ho Chi Minh, which I think are not very well presented. Frankly, the architectural design of the place are far more appealing than most of the museum displays.

So, in the end... I just contented myself posing for some souvenir shots in the courtyard of the museum.

The river view from the balcony

Outside the museum

ADDRESS:
Ho Chi Minh Museum
On Saigon Port at,
1 Nguyen Tat Thanh St.,
by quayside on Ben Nghe Channel
at far end of Ham Nghi Blvd.,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel. 08-940 1053

War Remnants Museum

We went to War Remnants Museum on our own, after spending a half-day Cu Chi Tunnel Tour. Entrance was 10,000 VND and we received a brochure introducing briefly about the Museum.

War Remnants Museum, formerly named "Museum of American War Crime", was established in September 1975. The museum is an organization in charge of studying, collecting, examining, preserving and displaying the remnants of the wars the invaders in Vietnam. The museum is a call for peace and and a hope that history is not repeated - visitors are even asked to sign a petition against the kind of aerial carpet-bombing that so devastated the people of Vietnam.

Once you enter inside you'll see a large collection of bombs, planes, tanks and war machinery in the main courtyard. (see photos below)



This is the M. 48 Tank (48 tons). To increase the course of war, the US army feverishly sent M.48 tanks to South Vietnam in 1965 and step-by-step handed over them to the Saigon former army. That was carried out according to the "Vietnamization Program". The Saigon Armored car Corps Number 20 and other units were equipped with M.48 tank.



The various weapons used during the war are displayed in this hall, like the Seismic bomb weighing 15,000 pounds (6.8 T) can destroy everything on the ground within a radius of 100m, and violently shakes up and down within a diameter of 3.2km. And the CBU-55B is a sophisticated bomb produced by the U.S. When exploding, the bomb can destroy oxygen in the radius of 500m. It was used at Xual Loc, Dong Nai province on April 9, 1975.



We got to see some relics as well as photographs showing crimes during the Vietnam War in the multiple themed rooms: American soldiers killing and torturing Vietnamese civilians and scattering poisonous chemicals, the bottle deformed fetus supposedly damaged by Agent Orange, a wall size photos of the My Lai massacre, the war against the North Vietnam. Some guillotine and two life-sized replicas of the "tiger cages" of Con Dao jail on the ground.

Ed told me to take a peek into one of the tiger cages, which I did. What the...!!! I thought I saw a living prisoner inside. My oh my... it looks so real! I was really shocked, disturbed and felt eerie by what I saw. Shucks, but it turned out to be a dummy. Thank god!

Then he asked me if i wanted to have a souvenir shot beside the cage. Even though I liked to have one, I completely declined since I was still pretty chilly at that time.

There are also halls focusing on the border wars and archipelago issues. There are also stalls showing cultural products of the ethnic's tribes in Vietnam and a room displaying Vietnamese water puppetry.


The War Remnants Museum is a must-see for foreign tourists.



Address:
WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM
28 Vo Van Tan. St.,
Ward 6, District 3,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel. 930-6325
Fax: 848 9305153
Email: warrm@cinet.vnnews.com

Open Daily:
7:30 to 11:30 am
1:30 to 5:15 pm

The Tunnel Experience

We went down on the FIRST TUNNEL (30 meters). We lined up in a single file and went into the hole. As we got into the hole, I just saw how dire our situatuion was. There were too may people inside the tunnel. Plus it was extremely hot, airless, dark and claustrophobic. The ceiling was so low that we had to move slowly in a squat position waggling like a duck. And because of muscular fatigue induced by the uncomfortable posture, we ended up crawling inside the pitch-black tunnel.

the entrance to the tunnel

Along the way, we encountered a pretty tricky dilemma. Whenever someone in front of us stops, I felt as if I was going to faint. I was already scared that panic attack would grip me. I was breathing heavily already (hah...hah...hah...). Even hubby felt the same way because there was no air coming down inside the tunnel. He was already shouting the people in front of us to hurry up. And when I saw a streak of light appeared ahead... it was like a heaven relief for me.

And here I am perspiring heavily...



And the funny side of our adventure - we were still able to smile and took some quick photos of ourselves. I tried taking picture of my hubby but my olympus camera wasn't working at all. sheesh!

Just a reminder, if you don't want to experience what we had experienced, don't go with big groups.

Afterwards the tour guide introduced us the SECOND TUNNEL, a bit smaller and longer than the first one. The hole was around 50 or 100 meters (I'm not sure). And I thought... "W-H-A-T?!!? Smaller than the first one? Are you sure? That is already more suited to Mahal and Mura (midget Philippine celebrities) and even Dr. Evil's Mini Me. If these were Survivor and Fear Factor challenge (reality tv shows wherein the stunts are designed to challenge the contestants both physically and mentally), and with a big prize at stake, I would probably do it." Hubby decided to go. I DID NOT.

After a few minutes of torture, hubby came out from the hole. He was drenched in his perspiration and his shirt all sopping wet and covered with red dusts. And to top it all, he had a sore leg for the rest of the day... until the next day. Too Bad. tsk... tsk...



Next we were taken downstairs to one of the meeting rooms.

And tadaaa... here I present the Commander-in-Chief! He is having a meeting with his subordinates and giving creative approach how to solve problems.

And here's the Assistant Commander-in-Chief, an enthusiastic advocate of strategic planning. Hmmm... she looks like she's sleeping. Nope, she's not! She's thinking of the major planning and operating functions for the defense workforce improvement.

Here's a photo shot with some of my Vietcong Guerilla officers. hahaha... Nope, just kidding. These are just dummies.

Then we went to National Defence Sports Shooting Range. We rested for a while there and watched the people who tried the shooting range. Available are M16, AK47 and pistols. Earmuffs are also available. A bullet will cost you a dollar.



I enjoyed the tour and I recommend you visit this place so that you will have the chance to see and experience the hard and protracted struggle of the Vietnamese people during the war.

Cu Chi Tunnels are certainly one of the most interesting things that we saw. It was an unforgettable experience that we had while in Vietnam.

Next: War Remnants Museum >>>

Cu Chi Tunnel

On the third day, we visited Cu Chi Tunnel. We booked our half-day tour the previous day at Delta Adventure and paid for US$4 per pax (rate as of 2004). We were put in a group with seven other tourists, who appeared to be Americans, Germans and Spanish. It is quite a long drive, located 40 kilometers to the northwest of Saigon. Approximately 1-½ travel but well worth a trip.

We arrived at 8:30 am, and we were led into a room where we heard a presentation and short brief history about the tunnel.

The Tunnel Structure.

The Tunnel of Cu Chi, is a well-known historical vestige of the Vietnamese revolution. As a distinctive architecture, this cobweb-like tunnel complex is a network of underground dugouts of over 200 kilometers long, consisting of many layers and turnings meeting rooms, living and fighting quarters.

The tunnels were an excellent way for the Vietcong to move around the countryside undetected by the Americans. The tunnel entrances was so small that American soldiers could not even get inside.

Then we watched a 20-minute black and white film documenting the Vietnam War which paints a one sided view of the conflict.

Afterwards we were brought across the street somewhat a lush jungle where we got to see and experience of what it was like to live during the war. However, there was another fee of US$5 to get in.

A secret and small entrance into the underground tunnels. It is 23 cm. wide and 35 cm. long. Good for very sporty fit, slim to medium built. And here is my hubby...



I wanted to try but I wasn't sure if I'm going to fit in there or if I can carry myself up. So, to avoid embarassment (since there were too many people watching) I just pose for a picture beside hubby. :(



Our tour guide showed us several booby traps, and here's a photo of open "tiger trap" showing deadly bamboo spikes.



It's a flat square door-like form on the ground covered with leaves, that swiftly swing around whenever someone steps either on one side thus letting the victim to fall.

Here are some of the different traps made.



Dummies of Vietcong guerillas making weapons.

Next: The Tunnel Experience >>>

Part II: Mekong Delta

Our first stop is the handicraft village. We saw how rice paper is made and we sampled some of these and other local delicacies with tea before moving on.

Back in the boat, we drifted along the river and then we docked in at a local restaurant named Tourist Ba Hung for our Vietnamese set meal lunch.



We had a little getting-to-know you conversations with our fellow tourists, a Japanese and two Australian guys. After we finished eating, my hubby had a grand time chillin in the hammock.



Cycling is another option and a great way to enjoy the quiet country lanes and see the villagers at work in rice fields.

And then we sailed again and stopped at An Bihn, a small candy house factory. We observed the local coconut candy production process. We tasted, sampled a little of everything that was offered to us.



Later on, we stopped in Vinh Long for our bus back to HCMC. And the rain poured down from above, pounding so hard and there was almost zero visibility. The ride seemed like an endless journey, it took us a 4-½ hour travel. It was a very long and tiring trip.

Our Mekong tour was a bit of a disappointment, probably bacause of my high expectations.

Next: Cuchi Tunnel >>>

Part I: Mekong Delta Tour

Second Day: Part I

After we had a wholesome buffet breakfast at the hotel, we went directly to Delta Adventure Tour where we had booked our one-day Mekong Delta tour package. Around the area, literally dozens of operators offer almost identical tours which vary from 1 to 4 days trip.

Our airconditioned bus picked us up at Delta Adventure office. While traveling I kept drifting on and off to sleep. But somehow I managed to grab my digicam and took a picture of the street.



After an hour, we stopped at a restaurant for a few minutes break. Then after another 1-1/2 hours travel, eventually we got to Caibe where we boarded a motorized boat.



The Mekong Delta is the region in Southeast Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of tributaries. The Mekong Delta region encompasses a large portion of southeastern Vietnam of 39,000 km². The area covered by water depends on the season.