Hello Ho Chi Minh City

Finally after a long stressful bus ride from Cambodia, I arrived in Vietnam but everything was worth the wait.

Ho Chi Minh City also known as Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam. It is the commercial, financial and entertainment city in Vietnam. Gone are the days when we think of Vietnam as a country full of rice paddies but Ho Chi Minh City is a growing to become truly cosmpolitan perhaps beating Manila sooner or later. 

After I arrived in my hostel, I immediately went on a tour around the city. I hired a Motorcycle and took me around Saigon although there are many tour operators that offers city tour but that it would start tommorow and as much as possible I have to utilize my time since I only have 3 days to explore this city and also travelling around like a local would be an interesting experience. Based on a map I took from my hostel, Saigon is such a walkable city. 

To start my journey, I was dropped at the Reunification Palace, a very popular landmark in Saigon. Right now, I am not sure if someone is living there but when I got there, they used the palace to host some conferences and conventions. There is a minimal entrance fee before entering the palace.

After the palace, I headed to a nearly Buddhist Temple. A very interesting temple because of the turtles, there were hundreds of them in the pond. I heard that turtles are considered a god here. This place is free.

Next, we were supposed to visit the Saigon War Museum but I decided to skip this since I am not a huge fan of a museum although very interesting for someone who wants to learn about Saigon and everything about the Vietnam war. 

So my next destination was the Notre Dame Catheral which is also a national symbol of Vietnam. Known for Buddhism, it was in the early 90’s that Vietnam gained a religious freedom and right now some Catholic minority are living in Vietnam and soon by Gods grace, G12 missionaries will soon conquer this great country. 

Just beside the cathedral is another uniquely Vietnam is the National Post Office, this building reflects a colonial occupation of France. Inside the building is a beautiful masterpiece full of artistic creations.