Ho Chi Minh Tour Day 4

Ho Chi Minh pictures - another common sight

Ho Chi Minh Tour Day 4

We had a late breakfast today and made friends with Major Glenn MacDonald, editor-in-chief of militarycorruption.com who was also having a late breakfast. He was regaling us with his experiences in the war time when he was stationed in Vietnam and showing us his battle scars.

Breakfast

With our new friend Major Glenn MacDonald

Saigon Notre Dame Basilica, Ho Chi Minh

After breakfast, we took a 5 – 10 minute taxi ride to Notre Dame Cathedral or Basilica. Established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. Inaugurated in 1880, Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the oldest and biggest Catholic churches in Vietnam. This neo-Romanesque architecture, built with bricks and tiles imported from France, reminds you of the cathedrals in Paris. It is worth taking a look at this lovely red-bricked church that was built using bricks from Marseilles and stained glass windows from Chartres.

in front of the Cathedral

The entrance

Just inside the church

Sample of the stained glass
Donation box

The Cathedral is closed to visitors except during mass on Sundays. So if you would like to go right into the cathedral, the best time would be at the English mass at 0930 hrs on Sunday.

The interior of the church which is closed

Saigon Central Post Office

Opposite the Cathedral is the Saigon Central Post Office. The building was constructed by French colonists in the early 20th century during French Indochina. This building features Gothic architecture. It was designed and constructed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel in harmony with the surrounding area. Today, the building is a tourist attraction.

Saigon Central Post Office

Reunification Palace

Next we took a walk to the Reunification Palace, formerly known as Independence Palace, was built on the site of the former Norodom Palace. It is a historic landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was designed by architect Ngo Viet Thu as the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and was the site of the official handover of power during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

The fountain in front of the Reunification Palace And the main building
As we still had to do some last minute shopping, we did not enter the Reunification Palace. Instead we just snapped some photographs before walking to Ben Thanh Market to buy some gifts and souvenirs.

You must really shop around to get a feel of the prices as opening prices from the various stalls for the exact same item can vary by almost 100%.

(VND10,000 = USD0.572)
We love to spend our holidays shopping. So here are some shopping & bargaining tips:-

Ralph Lauren short sleeve men's shirt

For example, a Ralph Lauren short sleeve men’s shirt. The opening price can range from VND180,000 to VND350,000. After bargaining and if you buy more than one piece, you should be able to get it between VND70,000 – VND80,000 per piece.

sports t-shirts

The short-sleeve sports polyester t-shirts with Nike or Adidas logo – the opening prices range from VND90,000 – VND250,000. If you buy more than one piece, you should also be able to get it for VND70,000/piece.

This t-shirt costs VND100,000 at the Ben Thanh night market and USD11 for 2pcs at Ben Thanh day market (all prices after bargaining)

From BinhTay Market in Chinatown (Cholon), these 2 ladies' t-shirts cost total VND270,000

As it was burning hot outside, we agreed to take a taxi back to Lac Vien hotel. We hopped into one of the many taxis that were lined outside Ben Thanh market and told the driver to go by the meter. As our hotel was less than 1 km away, we were shocked to see the meter showing VND92,000. This was definitely a rip-off! Again, the driver stopped us at the park along the main road and insisted he could not go into the lane to our hotel. This was just an excuse. We were ready to go to the police but decided against it as we needed to get to the airport to catch our flight back to Singapore. Thus we were left with no choice but to pay the exorbitant price!
Travel rip off no. 4 ; (


The taxi driver who ripped us off & trying to cover his face when we wanted to take his photographHis taxi license plate number 52T-9832
Going to the airport, Ms Hang, our hotel receptionist told us that the price should be approximately either USD or VND120,000. She kindly helped us call for the taxi and arranged the price for us. In fact, if we had gone by the meter, the fare was showing as less than VND90,000, which was less than what we had to pay the other taxi driver earlier!

The lane at our hotel where taxis could definitely come through
Ho Chi Minh pictures - another not too uncommon sight of messy cables

Tan Son Nhat Airport

After getting our boarding passes and going through customs and immigration, we had lunch in Prima Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City airport, a Singapore restaurant serving Singapore food. We ordered the Bak Kut Teh (pork rib soup), sambal kang kung, fried spinach and beef in black pepper. Somehow the food did not taste like the original in Singapore. Guess they use certain Vietnamese ingredients which caused the difference in taste. However, they were still quality food. Prices were pretty high but we believe that was due to the location.


Bak kut teh (top left) and sambal kang kung (top right)

Fried spinach and beef in black pepper

We had a clear view of the runway and could see our JetSaver flight touching down before their turn around flight.
As our Ho Chi Minh flight was booked with JetSaver, we boarded our flight JetSaver 3K554 at 1430 hrs and departed Ho Chi Minh City at 1500 hrs. This was a trip that we will not forget considering the various travel rip offs that we experienced.

View of Ho Chi Minh City from the air
Above the clouds, so beautiful & serene

View as we were reaching Singapore

See how low the clouds were

View of Singapore, home sweet home