Ho Chi Minh City Hall, Saigon Opera House & Goodbye Ho Chi Minh City

Date of Visit: 7th April 2012

Just like any other of my trips, there will always a time where it's hard for me to bid goodbye. Sames goes to my Ho Chi Minh City trip. The people and their culture, the local foods and also their amazing and spectacular architecture were among what I admired the most.

Since our flight back to Kuala Lumpur was 4.20 pm local time, hence we still got plenty of spare time to wander around the city. As usual my friends will do their last minute shopping in Ben Thanh Market where they bought few packets of lotus seeds. We noticed that there are many of Ho Chi Minh City's famous landmarks that could go and take a few shots before leaving this bustling city.

#1: A statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Ho Chi Minh City Day 6: Coffee, KFC, Night Market & Random Photos

Date of Visit: 06th April 2012

My friends and I were almost done with visiting all those famous attractions around Ho Chi Minch City, except for China Town which tucked in District 5 and 6 and I thought it wasn't necessary for a visit since I had visited the one in London and Manchester. Even in Malaysia, we have our own Chinatown located in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur. Hence, on the 6th day of our Ho Chi Minh City we just simply wandered around the city without any contingent plan. 

To be frank, if you wanna visit Ho Chi Minh City, 5 days and 4 night will be totally sufficient for you to cover all, including a day trip to Mekong Delta and Cu Chi Tunnel. Don't be like us, where we spend a week in Ho Chi Minh City itself and nothing much we can do around. So basically what we did on that day was kinda laid back and relax which watching the times goes by.

Since we didn't manage to visit any coffee shops for the past few days, therefore we decided to try at least once given that Vietnam is one out of the top 10 best coffee producing countries in the world. Forget all those global coffeehouse such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean and more cause in Vietnam itself, there are countless number of coffee shops for you to enjoy the authentic Vietnamese coffee.

#1: 10 stylish coffee shops in Ho Chi Minh City

#2: According to one of the tour guide, Trung Nguyen Coffee is the number 1 coffee in Vietnam but I found the coffee is kinda bitter for my taste.

Ho Chi Minh City Day 5: Cu Chi Tunnel & Cao Dai Temple

Date of Visit: 5th April 2012

Besides the One Day Mekong Delta Tour package, we also bought along a day trip to Cu Chi Tunnel from STA Travel. It cost 180,000 Vietnamese dong or USD$8 per person (aprox. to RM24) which includes pick-up and drop-off from where you stayed and English speaking tour guide. However, admission fee and lunch is not provided and we have to bear on our own.

The tour started at 7.30am where they picked us up in front of our hotel and the journey from city center to Cu Chi Tunnel took almost 1 and half hour. The tour package that we took included a visit to Cao Dai Temple. Hence, a short visit here before we reach the Cu Chi Tunnel.

#1: Cao Dai Temple

Cao Dai Temple is located in the city of Tay Ninh, a province 95km away on the south east of Ho Chi Minh City and it's very close to Cambodia border. Figuratively, Cao Dai means that highest spiritual place where God reigns. CaoDaiists believe that, before God existed, there was the Tao which was nameless, formless, and unchanging.

Ho Chi Minh City Day 4: Saigon Square

Date of Visit: 4th April 2012

From War Remnants Museum which tucked in District 3, we walked back again to District 1 for Saigon Square. Actually in between, we did wander somewhere else before we stumbled upon Saigon Square.

#1: The side entrance of Saigon Square

Saigon Square is another option for those who looking for shopping fix. If Ben Thanh Market is not your favourite choice, then you may consider here for a decent shopping as Saigon Square is equipped with air-conditioner, less crowded, wider space and of course, more cleaner and cheerful atmosphere. On top of that, the stall vendors won't hassled or pulled us if compare to those stall vendors in Ben Thanh Market giving us more freedom and relaxing feelings to scout around.

Ho Chi Minh City Day 4: War Remnants Museum

Date of Visit: 4th April 2012

To be frank, I am not the type who love history and if can, I would try to avoid by visiting those boring museum. I tends to prefer enjoy watching the amazing and beautiful scenery and landscape, visiting theme park or maybe watching the moving creatures in zoo or aquarium. But for this War Remnants Museum which situated in District 3, instead of feeling boring, turns out that my tears almost dropped by just looking at the photos from the past displayed inside the museum.

#1: The opening hours for War Remnants Museum

Ho Chi Minh City Day 3: One Day Mekong Delta Tour

Note: The winner who answered correctly on the wild guess from my previous post is Small Kucing & Mamarazzi. I will send the mystery gifts next week cause I believe this week the post office has closed. For the rest of the readers, thanks for participate and don't be upset, cause there will be another give-away again. 

Date of Visit: 3rd April 2012

If you have plenty of time just like my friends and I where we spend a week in Ho Chi Minh City itself (formerly known as Saigon), try opt for other tours such as Mekong Delta Tour and Cu Chi Tunnels which situated outskirts of the city center. After scouting around, we ended up booked two of these tours with STA Travel which tucked in District 1, not far away from our hotel. Previously, I booked my airticket to United Kingdom from STA Travel and because I think it's reliable and trustworthy, hence I did the same when I was in Saigon.      

One day Mekong Tour cost 210,000 Vietnamese dong or USD$10 per person (aprox. to RM30). The tour cost includes air-conditioner tourist bus, English speaking tour guide, boat trips (for both motor and rowing boats), entrance fees, 1 water bottle, some fruits and honey tea as well as lunch. On top of that, it includes pick-up and drop-off from where you stay.

The tour started around 7.30am and we waited in front of our hotel for the pick-up. The journey from city center to Mekong Delta took more than 1 and half hours. There are also plenty of foreign tourists in this tour - some from Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Europe and etc.

#1: Board on wooden motor boat from My Tho to the Unicorn Island 

Sabaidee from Laos 2013 (Sneak Peek)

Sabaidee and it means hello in Laos. Yup, I am currently having another travel adventures of mine in Laos for 8 days. And to be frank, 8 days seems insufficient for me cause I only managed to cover the central and northern part. But I believe perhaps, someday I might doing another revisit trip to Laos again to cover on the southern area.

Anyway, this is what I did throughout my 8 days trip in Laos:

#1: Arrived in Vientiane and visited Patuxay - Victory Gate of Vientiane