Exploring Ho Chi Minh City
By Justin Hayes and Lauren Hayes
Coffee, Phở, and Weapons
Today, we took a tour of Ho Chi Minh City, checking out local markets, sampling Vietnamese coffee, eating phở for breakfast and lunch, and learning a lot about the Vietnam War.
We’ll be adding more photos and commentary on our day later, but here are a few photos to get you started.
After a super long travel day from Nashville to Ho Chi Minh City (25 hours!), we anticipated that we would want a down day on our first full day of the adventure. But of course, we woke up excited and refreshed and wanted to do a bit of exploring.
After eating a marvelous breakfast at the executive lounge (did I mention I had Chicken pho for breakfast?), we wandered down to the concierge desk to ask about any tours we could take of the city. Given the options, we opted for a 4-hour private tour of the city (rather than a larger group tour) which only set us back $10 more per person. We were told we needed to pay in cash, so we went next door to a bank with an outdoor ATM where we promptly learned that Lauren brought an expired debit card and Justin had forgotten his PIN. Oof. After 20 min of panic and calling Justin’s bank to reset the pin, we were back in business, taking out 4,000,000 Vietnamese dong (approximately $162 USD). Lauren ended up finding a way to pay for the tour with a credit card so we were able to use the cash for tips, souvenirs, etc throughout the day.
After being picked up at 9:30am, we were whisked to a street market where we got to see (and smell) all of the meat, vegetables, flowers, and fruit that are sold daily. We were told that the Vietnamese love their food extra fresh (and also don’t want to carry a week’s of supplies), so they come every day for whatever they plan to eat.
At the end of the market street, our guide took us into what seemed like a small museum. which we were told was formerly a house. In reality, it was a hidden weapons bunker for the Viet Cong, the southern Vietnamese communists fighting the U.S.-backed government in South Vietnam. The museum had pictures of family members who used this bunker and a stash of old weapons.
After our guide showed us around the main floor of the “house”, our guide pointed out a tile with a small ring on it, which he then pulled and exposed a hidden passage to go down to the basement where all the weapons were hidden during war times. It was fascinating to see the lengths the Viet Cong would go to support what they viewed as liberation from Southern occupiers.
We then crossed the market street brought for a quick stop at a tiny open air coffee shop with some amazing Vietnamese coffee.
Back into the air conditioned car we went. Next stop: the War Remnants Museum. This one was a doozy. As an American, if you ever want to know how Germans feel when people talk about the Second World War, I implore you to visit this museum.
On the outside, it was exciting to see and pictures with all of the U.S. tanks, aircrafts, helicopters, etc that were displayed in the courtyard. Once you enter the museum however, the mood quickly changes. Every picture, every sentence, depicting the horrible atrocities that Americans and the U.S.-backed Southern government inflicted upon innocent Vietnamese civilians. From outdoor tiger cages to pictures displaying the effects of Agent Orange on humans to the explanations of all the war crimes committed — let’s just say Lauren couldn’t handle it. It’s hard to believe that we committed these crimes and simply used propaganda to lie to ourselves about how disgusting the whole thing was.
We jumped back in the car for a quick drive to The Independence Palace. This gorgeous building is where the Southern Vietnamese president lived and worked during the Vietnam War. The country was previously divided into North and South - two separate countries before being unified after the war. As we climbed to the top of the building, we saw many dining rooms (with circular tables for Asian guests to dine and rectangular tables for westerners), bedrooms, offices, game rooms, etc. Underneath the building was a huge bunker with old phones, telegraph machines, offices, and generally anything needed if there was a bombing expected at the palace. This building was so interesting and yet we could not wait to get out — there was no A/C and the lack of airflow in the bunker was stifling.
A half mile away, we stopped at the Notre Dame of Saigon which is being completely renovated so we could not enter and scaffolding hid the facade. Across the street from the cathedral was the Central Post Office of Saigon - a beautiful building which is mostly a tourist trap now, filled with tons of souvenir shops. We then walked down the book street of Saigon, which was drop dead gorgeous and had different bookstores lining the entire pedestrian-only street. After jumping back in the car, we rode to the Opera House for some pictures and then to the Ben Thanh Market to check out souvenirs and food. We ate some beef phở for lunch and concluded our tour.
Back at the hotel, I decided it was time for a nap while Justin decided to set up this website! The rest of the evening was uneventful. We had a nice massage at “Sen Spa” (90 min reflexology/hand massage for $25 USD and a 75 min Swedish massage for $35 USD). We could get used to these prices. :)
As soon as we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some free drinks/ appetizers at the executive lounge and then headed down to the first floor to eat at a restaurant that actually labeled the allergens in the food! Justin wanted to check out the rooftop pool, which was a wonderful relaxing ending to our first day in Vietnam. Tomorrow we have an all day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta — so excited for this one. Will (hopefully) post tomorrow if we are not too exhausted.
