Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Independence Palace

We flew from Vientiane, Laos to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam with a 30-minute layover in Phenom Penh, Cambodia. On landing in Vietnam, we were struck by the number of people waiting to go through immigration lines. The entire section was full of people and similar to driving in these parts, there was a lot of line cutting without hesitation or care. It did not take us long to join in the action...when in Rome...not so fast. We got up to the counter and was told we needed to go through the Visa process. Darn! Though we had an invitation letter from a friend in Vietnam who organized the visas for us, we still needed to complete all the necessary paperwork, which was another 45 minutes of waiting in the visa line. Visas in hand, back to the immigration lines we go...still more line cutting.  Another 35 minutes and we were through to pick up our luggage, which by now was sitting all by itself off to the side. Will our ride still be waiting, we hope so because we have no idea where we are staying!  So Awesome to see the sign marked Sherry and Prov!

Driving on the sidewalk is very common

Ho Chi Minh City is the city of roads and motorbikes. A lot of turns, u-turns, backtracking. And the darn motorbike/scooters. It is the Cambodian traffic on steroids with motorbikes coming from all directions, including sidewalks.  Ok, enough about traffic.

Our hotel sits almost in the city center of the old city. Close to most of the cool stuff. Great local restaurants, markets (enter the main market at your own risk. You will be grabbed and pulled in all directions by sellers), Opera house, Independence building, the zoo, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the War Remnants Museum, to name a few.

Crab dish at the Golden Elephant Thia Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh

Sauteed Morning Glory w/Garlic

At the recommendation of a Toronto couple, We went a see an awesome and well done acrobatic show at the Ho Chi Minh Opera House.

Cast from the show at the Opera House

Remnants of War Museum 

We spent a number of hours at the Remnants of War Museum- it was powerful and informative. There were times we just had to sit down and take a break.  War is an ugly business and there are no winners.  The most interesting area was the one dedicated to photographers and journalists. They risked their lives to provide information and truth of the situation. Prior to this war, there were no colored photographs of war.  The hardest area was about the ongoing effects of agent orange.

Ho Chi Minh Central Post Office, over 100 yrs old and survived the wars. It continues to be a working post office and is a big attraction

Notre Dame Cathedral

Ho Chi Minh Skyline

Ho Chi Minh city, though big and busy, was worth the visit. Our friend Lan, took us around the city where we visited about three of the 14 districts. Riding around with someone pointing out the highlights of the city gives us an added appreciation. But alas, we have to leave Ho Chi Minh for our next destination. We'll be back...