Yesterday was spent on a full day tour that included stops at the Cao Dai temple and then the famous Cu Chi Tunnels. I was done with the day tours I had planned from Ho Chi Minh City so today was just going to be dedicated to exploring the other sights of this bustling city.
I hired a Grab bike taxi to take me from my hotel to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The short ride would cost me 13,000 VND (₹41/$0.57/€0.47)
This is the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon
Unfortunately, the Notre-Dame Cathedral was under-going renovation works and was closed off to the public.
A statue of Mother Mary
The church was initially named the Church of Saigon at the time of its construction by French colonists between 1863 and 1880. It was renamed in 1959 as the church looked similar to the Notre-Dame in Paris.
The church has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet)
Gates prevent people from entering the church
Which sucked, as I saw photos online that showed the church’s interiors and it did look quite nice. So it would have made for good photography.
There wasn’t much else to do here so I left after spending just 10 minutes
Close by the cathedral is the Saigon Central Post Office
Although it’s still called the Central Post Office, in today’s day and age, it’s mostly a tourist attraction
I stepped out later at night to visit Bui Vien Street, the popular nightlife zone in Ho Chi Minh City — for foreigners. I state that clearly because it’s not where Vietnamese locals frequent.
This is Nguyen Thi Nghia street, quite a busy and crowded stretch
Nearby is September 23 Park, a fairly large public park
Locals were out and about doing various activities like play badminton, exercise, walk, etc.
Central Market Taka Plaza is an underground shopping center near the park
I walked towards Bui Vien street
Bui Vien street and the neighbouring bylanes are chock-full of restaurants, hotels, hostels, tour operators, and bus services. It’s a convenient place for foreign tourists and I initially booked to stay at a hotel here. But when I read multiple reviews of hotels and many complaining about the noise, I cancelled my booking and chose to stay a bit further away.
Nguyen Hue Street is a 60 metre wide promenade and the largest such open public space in Saigon. I’ll showcase more from Nguyen Hue and its surroundings in a later post.
This is the People’s Committee building Ho Chi Minh City. It used to be a grand hotel during the French colonial era but now it’s a government building and not open to the public.
I came to this area because Citibank has an office right on Nguyen Hue Street. I wanted to use the ATM to withdraw cash as there was no withdrawal fee for Citibank card holders.
I withdrew 3 million VND for the above rate. There was maybe a ₹100 +/- difference compared to the rate quoted on XE.com. This was far more cost effective than buying USD in India and then exchanging them here.
I walked around the area to find a Vietnamese restaurant but one that had a menu in English. I wanted to eat anything besides Pho and Banh Mi, which I planned to eat later and both are dishes I could find plenty of everywhere around my hotel.
I sat down at a restaurant where most of the diners were Japanese for some reason… but I forgot to note down the name :/
I was most amused by these water-activated compressed coin/tablet towels. Apparently a Japanese innovation. You get them at Daiso stores but I managed to find them on Amazon India too.
When the waiter first gave me one, I nearly popped it in my mouth thinking it was a mint candy! The waiter told me to pour water on it but didn’t laugh at me. I’m guessing it’s a mistake he’s seen many make when first presented with such a novelty.
The Com Chien Toi (garlic fried rice) was crap… but the Tom Chien Sake (shrimp fried with sake) was delicious. Along with a beer, lunch cost me 270,000 VND (₹870/$11.25/€10.30) — a bit on the higher end for Vietnam but then again, I was in an expensive part of the city.
Post lunch, I hailed a Grab bike taxi and headed towards the War Remnants Museum. I did take videos along the way and you can watch the ‘vlog’ I made; it’s at the end of this post.
There are lot of US Army military vehicles and artillery on display outside the main building
A lot of them were abandoned after US forces fled Vietnam having lost the war
Now all this are on display as remnants of the tools US forces used on Vietnamese soil
And in the air. This is an F5 fighter jet.
There are more planes on display, some of which were shot down by North Vietnamese forces. I’m not going to upload all the photos I took. (Sorry, but it’s a lot of work)
