7.10.2010 - One day HCMC tour

We used the service of TNK Travel, whose beautiful office was just opposite our hotel room. Our one-day HCMC tour was to start at 8am. So we had some time to look for our first Vietnamese breakfast. The cost of the day tour was $7 per person, with a simple lunch thrown in. Very reasonable price I would say. Saved us lots of walking and sunburn.

We had our first bowl beef noodle soup at a Pho24 franchise shop. The beginning of many more noodle soups to come.

You would notice by now, they always serve the noodle soup with a big plate of vegetables. I only ate the beansprouts. Didn't like the strong-flavored vegetables.

Packed some buns from the bakery for eating on the bus.

That was our tour guide for the day. There was about 11 international tourists in the minibus for the tour.

Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum.

Lots of nice aircrafts and army tanks parked around the grounds for kids to play.

Inside the museum were photographs and stories about the Vietnam War. The theme of the museum was "arrogant and brutal American soldiers committed many war atrocities against harmless Vietnamese during the Vietnam War".

M16, AK47... you name it, they've got it.

Bombs, bullets, and hand grenades. Looked like lots of toys for Ryan.

Missile toys.
A huge guillotine for potong kepala of Vietnamese Communists (Vietcongs).

After that, the tour bus headed to District Five, also known as Chinatown, about 6km away from city centre.

First they brought us to visit a Chinese temple. The orang putihs were fascinated, but for us the temple was a big yawn.

"Burn one of these and it will bring you good luck." So the orang putih bought one.

Then we went to visit the Cholon market of Chinatown. It was a busy wholesale market, supplying stuffs to the other markets around HCMC. Prices of things there were very reasonable, unlike the cut-throat prices in the Ben Thanh tourist market.

Many kinds of hats and caps to choose from.

And the helmet industry to support the motorbiking population. In HCMC they don't use the full helmets endorsed by SIRIM that we use in Malaysia. Any helmet would do, with whatever creative designs you like.

"I got my daddy to buy me a Pooh helmet."

Then we went back to District One to visit the Reunification Palace. It was a gigantic five-storey building complex that used to be the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Got a spacious compound with a water fountain in the middle.

Vietnam War was quite complicated. First the Vietnamese were conquered by the Chinese, then the French. They beat the French at a battle at Dien Bien Phu, but entered Vietnam War with the Americans after that. North Vietnam were communism-supporters, known as Vietminh, backed by the communist party in China. South Vietnam was against communist ideology. The Americans wanted to block the flow of communism down South (domino theory), so they supported the South Vietnam government in the fight against communists in South Vietnam, known as Vietcongs. And they fought for 20 years, until in 1975 a North Vietnam tank bulldozed into the Palace compound and ended the Vietnam War.

The tour guide gave us a briefing at the conference hall.

Then we walked all over the huge building to explore the many rooms and halls inside.

Map room where the President and his generals planned their military moves.

Reception halls to welcome foreign dignitaries, or maybe to hold cabinet meetings.

At the rooftop, there was a bar, a mini theatre, a gambling room... also a small library. War time also must have entertainment ma. That was the President's escape helicopter.

There were things to see underground as well. We walked through the underground bunkers to look at more map rooms and communications rooms (with antique telephones and typewriters).

And we visited a Buddhist temple after that. They temple itself wasn't very interesting, so I took photos of the nice flowers outside.

Then the tour guide brought us to visit a lacquerwork factory. Lacquerwork was a very popular form of handicraft sold around HCMC.

Making these works of art was a painstaking affair. Broken eggshells were glued piece by piece correctly aligned, onto a block of wood.

A worker toiling with full concentration. I think I'll go crazy doing this kind of art.

A handicraft shop beside the factory.

The next stop was the Post Office. Yes you read it correctly, the Post Office. Pejabat Pos la. Nice architecture isn't it.

They sell handicrafts and first-day-covers in the post 0ffice. Got some nice phone booths too, the kind of place Superman would change into his red-underwear-outside costume.

Next stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral, just beside the Post Office.

A very nice cathedral built for religious services for the French colonialists. There were Vietnamese couples taking wedding photos outside.

Colourful stained-glass on the windows.

At the inside of the cathedral.

Playing around at the gates. We were so glad the tour has reached the end. It was very tiring, even with travelling in an aircon bus.

The bus dropped us back at the hotel after the tour. Had a bath, dinner, then walked to see a Water Puppet Show at a 'Golden Dragon' place. (Vietnamese could be so Chinese at times).

Along the way, we saw locals playing a shuttlecock-kicking game in the park. Looked like lots of fun.

The motorbike army of HCMC going home.

The Water Puppet Show place was about 20 minutes walk from our hotel. Tickets were $5 per person. And the show that night was a full-house. Very interesting show indeed.

The 'stage' was a pool of murky water (to hide the equipments maybe). On both sides were musicians and singers and narrators, which made the show seemed like a Chinese opera in Vietnamese language.

The guy on the right sang and played the drums.

A story about buffaloes and paddy planting.

Dragon boat race?

Water fairies dancing on the water.

The performers came forward at the end of the puppet show to receive applause. Hmmm... so those guys actually sat inside the water throughout the 45-minute show.

Late supper at the night market (pasar malam) beside Ben Thanh market: macaroni soup with sugarcane juice.