The city of Vietnam with the most population, more than 9 million. From 1955 to 1975, Saigon was the capital of the Republic of Vietnam, commonly known as South Vietnam. Now, it is the financial business of Vietnam, it is very similar to any other big cities in the world, with skyscrapers, shopping malls a more western approach. The current name, Ho Chi Minh City, was given after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 to honor Ho Chi Minh, the vietnamese rebellion and politician, the first leader of Vietnam.
Hoang Lan Hotel. A 2 star hotel about 1.5 kilometres from Ben Thanh market, but very close to the War Museum. The hotel was not something special, I am sure you can find better options.
Sunday, 27th October. We arrived at Ho Chi Minh airport the night before. We didn’t do much that night but we woke up early the next day.
Ho Chi Minh Day 1
Back to our favourite habit, walking. Our first stop was The Central Post Office in Ho Chi Minh. A beautifully preserved remnant of French colonial times. Looping arches, red – wooden – old telephone booths, carefully painted walls and patterned floor travel you in the 19th century, when this building was constructed. While travelling back, think also about the importance of that building before telephones at home, internet and all the media we have today. And the best part? The post office is still functioning. Under the large portrait of Ho Chi Minh hanging on the wall facing the entrance, we both wrote a postcard to our families. It’s Daphne’s little something, she sends one postcard to her parents every country we visit.
Opposite to the post office there is the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon but we didn’t go inside.
Less than 500 metres from there, we passed by the Independence Palace, also known as Reunification Palace. Its construction started in 1962 and was delivered in 1966, built on the site of the former Norodom Palace with rich history.
Less than a kilometre further, another well reserved French colonial architecture building stands, the People’s Committee Building Saigon. Originally constructed as a hotel in 1898, it now serves as a city hall and one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
Another colonial building French left behind, the Opera House. Built in 1897, the 800-seat Opera House is used not only for operas but many kind of plays and performances. In its beautiful exterior the vaulted archway attracted our attention.
We grabbed something to eat and we continued walking, so much walking in this trip! Next stop, the Temple Goddess Mariamman. Built in the late 19th century, by traders from India, the temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mariamman. We removed our shoes and we got in. A very colourful temple, with figures of many different Hindu gods and goddess Mariamman in the centre. The descriptions of each god were very useful as they brought us a small step closer to understand the religion. That temple is considered sacred and both Hindus and non-Hindus believe in Mariamman’s miraculous powers. It’s easy to visit that temple as it’s the city centre and very close to Ben Thanh market.
We had a shower and we put the last clean clothes we had with us and we enjoyed the top view of Ho Chi Minh with a cocktail. The bar itself was not anything special but the view was great, Ho Chi Minh is huge. Looking down, we spotted a place triggered our interest, the Nguyen Hue Walking Street. It’s a nice square and walking street, the colonial buildings and the City Hall look beautiful lighted up at night. In that street there is also the popular 42 Nguyen Hue apartment block. It’s a building constructed in 1960s and served as offices for the Americans during the War to home of shipyard workers. Today, it’s a commercial space with many cafes, souvenir shops and workshops. It’s very unique and I suggest you visit it as the shops are illegal there and no one knows for how long they will operate.
Then, a walk to Cho Ben Thanh market. At night, there is an outdoor market outside the train station and that’s where KK got me the vietnamese traditional hat that I loved it from the first day we got in Vietnam. Ben Thanh market is a popular market in Ho Chi Minh, during the day it’s covered and you can find there everything, from vietnamese handicrafts to Eiffel tower keychains (yep, they were selling Eiffel tower keychains!). It’s a very big market and early in the morning you will see many Vietnamese buying fresh fruits and vegetables there, it’s worth a visit.
Ho Chi Minh Day 2
On our day 2 we decided to take a day trip to Mekong Delta. It was an amazing experience. You can read about it here, Day trip to Mekong Delta.
Ho Chi Minh Day 3
Tuesday, 29th October. Our last day in Vietnam and we got a bit nostalgic as we really loved both Vietnam and Cambodia. So different to the countries we’ve lived in which means we had more to take in.
We started our day with the most powerful, for me, experience we had in Ho Chi Minh, the War Remnants Museum. It’s the museum dedicated to the Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War. When we arrived at the museum, the F-5A and other authentic military hardware outside and in the entrance of the museum grabbed our attention.
A few minutes later we had forgotten about helicopters and the rest hardware. The photos with dead bodies, families grieving over the corpses of children, children being deformed from the use of chemicals used during the war, were just so real I don’t think I can ever forget them. I was feeling goosebumps prick my whole body. Some of the photos were in black and white and you think it’s a long time ago, but no. What we learn as history happened about 45 years ago, our parents were alive during that time, even our older cousins were. These shocking sights remind us how lucky we are living in peace but also that peace is not granted, unfortunately.
There are also photos of peace protests that happened in many countries during the war and there is also a section dedicated to the peace agreement between Vietnam and the U.S., it was great how there were photos, documentaries and speeches from Vietnamese politicians asking people to put on the side what happened in the past and work together for a better and peaceful future. A diplomatic trade off that hopefully will work.
After that shock, it was time for something cheerful and there is nothing better than our favourite markets and a walk to the city centre for one last time. On our way to the city centre and back we were always passing by the Tao Đàn Park. Something that I loved in Vietnam is that they have nice parks in the middle of the city where kids play in playgrounds, teenagers dance and play games and older people do some light workouts or walk around. All the parks that we saw during this trip was full of people and that’s amazing. We said goodbye to this beautiful country with a coffee in the beautiful Nguyen Hue Walking Street and I made a wish, to never forget everything I had seen in that trip.