Ho Chi Minh City

Midday prayer at Cao Dai temple with many onlookers
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We really enjoyed HCMC and although it has a few more million people than Hanoi it was not any more obviously crazy on the roads or otherwise. The city is far more modern than the northern capital, cleaner, with more structured roads and big footpaths. There is still few road rules obeyed and plenty of near misses but at least we did not have to walk on the road and be amongst the madness!

There is so much to do in HCMC and surrounds and we only had 4 full days before flying to the next destination (in London now)...

Mike took the opportunity to shoot 10 rounds with an M16

Gardens at Cao Dai temple with clouds indicating rain on the way...
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Mon 22/10

After booking into the hotel the night before we went and booked a tour straight away, so on Monday we went to the Cu Chi tunnels and visited Cao Dai temple on a Sinh Cafe tour (our first tour group day for the trip). We departed at 8am for our "2.5 hr" trip to the temple but arrived at 12.20pm and only just caught the midday mass/prayer of the Cao people which is the main tourist attraction (on that note it was quite strange to have so many on lookers, some practically standing on the people, interrupting while they were in prayer). The delay in reaching the temple was 3 fold - the oldies who did not get back on the bus on time after the break, the usual poor state of the road that has to be shared with bicycles, and a bus window shattering due to some kid throwing a rock at it. We found it even more interesting (stupid?) that the bus just stopped in the middle of the road where it happened rather than pull into the adjacent petrol station seemingly wanting to cause more accidents?? Thankfully Mike and I had worn our seatbelts (and they were actually installed) for this trip as the entire day was a rough ride.

Underground in the Cu Chi tunnels!
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Our guide was pretty useless and had poor English for most of the trip, until we reached the tunnels and he started talking more and also lost the stupid microphone. It was really interesting learning about the different tactics the Viet Cong used and those traps they used were ruthless! Mike took the opportunity to shoot 10 rounds with an M16 and we both descended into the tunnels and crawled through a 50m stretch.

We arrived back at the Sinh Cafe office at 7pm - and not that keen to book with them again. It was the best bus we had been on (in terms of comfort) but it was a massive group which makes it difficult.

Mike at the grand Reunification Palace
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Craving Thai still we sought out a restaurant and took a taxi. Not the same of course as our encounters in Thailand but a very nice meal.

Tues 23/10

Sightseeing day in HCMC! We set about on foot to see different parts of the city and our first stop was the Reunification Palace where the President used to live and organised military operations during the war. Next we went to the War Remnants Museum which is a massive collection of photographs and displays showing all sides of the war - the troops, local people, agent orange victims, and political prisoners. It was very informative, emotive and gives a sense of the atrocities committed on all sides of the war. On a side note the the museum closes at 12pm sharp (lunch time!) so you need to get there at least two hours prior.

Helipad on the roof of the Reunification Palace
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We stopped at the Saigon centre for lunch which was quite expensive (surrounded by business men and women) by Vietnamese standards but it was also above standard western food. Went shopping and made some purchases - Mike a new mobile phone and perfume for me.

It had still been raining each day and this day was no different - took a taxi to the History Museum. A little museum-ed out and not interested in bowls and ceramics regardless of how many centuries old they were, we did find the images and information regarding the different variations of buddhism in SE Asia quite interesting. Next door to the museum was the botanical gardens and zoo - since it had been raining it was pretty dead. It was an average zoo but with all the usual inhabitants - monkeys, giraffe, elephants, tiger, lion, alligators, ostriches... Mike has been watching a bit of Discovery channel of late and advised that the three ton hippo look far too strong for the small thin fence enclosure between us and it!

HCMC botanical gardens - manicured animal shapes
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Taxi home and went to book overnight trip on the Mekong Delta to depart following day... Then went for a "splurge" dinner which lonely planet had noted as being about $10 US each for a meal. We were a little shocked to find the special set menu was $50 each!We did not quite spend that much on the meal but it was a splurge (Mike's treat) and we enjoyed the wine in the lovely restaurant which also had a live band. Oh yeah the cocktails were good too!