My Bejalai: Good Morning Vietnam!

I have been planning this trip since last year with my old housemate. She as usual, always manage to find a damn cheap flight ticket & she asked me whether I want to go to Vietnam with her, particularly to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. I was ecstatic of course because I always wanted to go back there since my last posting to the city back in 2004 when I am still with Jotun. So, I agree. Though we have to postponed our departure a day later, we still manage to cover as much sight seeing activities as possible and did as much shopping as possible.

We stayed at District 1, where all the main tourist spots are just a walking distance & there are also lots of restaurants to choose from. Another close friend of mine decided to join as at the very last minute & she arrived a day earlier. The first thing we did after we check in into our guesthouse is to search for a nice restaurant to enjoy a nice Vietnamese lunch.

I had Vietnamese spring roll & sprite. It's very cooling for a hot & sunny weather that greet us as soon as we came out from the airport. After finish our meal, we are ready to paint HCMC red! Despite the hot day we decided to walk to all the tourist spot, after all, we are on budget travelling anyway. Bring back so much of memory for me as we pass by similar places. It is quite safe to walk around in Vietnam because they treat tourist with respect & let you go about your own business.

Your visit to HCMC will not be complete without a picture with Unc Ho, a communist revolutionary leader, who are also the Prime Minister & President of Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Everywhere you go especially in the official building, you will definitely see his picture. Well, in case you do not know, he is the one that liberated Vietnam from the French colony back in 1940s.

Of course, for those who love to shop, you can't miss this place, Benh Than Market. It open from 9am until 7pm. There are lots of stuff that are on sales. I am not so 'gung ho' about it because I don't really shop when I travel. Furthermore, the stuff that they sell there are almost the same with other SEA countries. Nevertheless, for those who love to bargain, this is the place. The place also have some area dedicated to foods. Now that, I would love to go. Besides, Thai food, Vietnamese food is my next favourite food.

As I mentioned just now, Vietnam was under French colony for so many years before Unc Ho liberate the country from French people. The colonization of the French can be witnessed in the foods and architecture that they left behind and one of it is this church, Notre Dame Church. I found that it is pretty odd that the church is situated at a middle of a roundabout. But then again, back in those day, the roundabout probably non-existent. Despite the weird position, it is a very nice church. I can't go in that day because there was some service going on.

Next we went to the national post office. This is probably the most majestic and awesome post office that I have seen so far. It was build of course during the French era in Vietnam & it is still in use as post office until today. Going inside the post office is like going back to the past.

This is Boundain's favourite hotel, Hotel Continental Saigon. It is a very nice hotel but damn expensive. Not surprising because it is situated at HCMC most prominent area.

Went to the Reunification Museum. Nothing much here actually. For those who are not interested in getting to know the political history of Vietnam, then you can skip this.:)

This is the opera house. The opera house is situated at one of the high end part of the town. The opera house is more beautiful in the evening when the light is on. I was here 8 years ago & it look awesome at night.

After a long day, we stop by at Benh Than Market & have something to eat & drink. I have no idea what I had but all I know, both the food and drink are so good! Well, probably I was hungry and thirsty

On our way back to our hotel, we pass by few park and it's amazing how Vietnamese really enjoy their time at the park. You can see them either playing or talking or just simple watches life passes by. There are a lot of food vendors as well as it is almost time for dinner.

I wonder what this lady is selling. You get to see lots of food vendors carrying their products and just sit at the road side selling their foods/drinks.

The next day we followed a tour to the famous Cu Chi tunnels, just outside of the city. The journey was quite long but it was a great tour because our tour guide was very funny & very informative. I didn't go all the way in the tunnel because I rather found it's very suffocating being in a very small place. At the end of the tour at Cu Chi tunnel, there is a shooting 'arena' and I just have to try it. It's quite expensive actually but I won't miss my chance of firing any kind of weapon as I will not have that opportunity in Malaysia.Hhehehe...