Photography: Zarwindo
At 8 a.m. , we were all ready to explore the town. But before that, we had our breakfast first at the hotel. The menu was a French baquette and a sunny side up egg. Itwas my first time eating French baquette and I didn’t really like it because it was really really hard to chew. French baquette is widely sold in Saigon because Vietnam was the colony of the French. You can easily find it everywhere in the street.
our hotel was in this alleyPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
Our first mission was to exchange our money. Luckily, there was a bank near our hotel. I gave US$100 to the bank then I got 1.900.000 VND! Yeah, suddenly I became rich! Anyway, I suggest you to exchange your money in the money changer because they have slightly better rates. Okey, we all had our dong in the pocket and we were ready to rock! Our second mission was to book the tour for the next day. We walked to De Tham street and we were looking for Sinhtourist office. From what I read in the internet, Sinhtourist offered so many tour package and their service is quite good. We chose to take a full day tour to Cao Dai and Cu Chi Tunnel. The price was 165.000 VND and we should ready at the Sinhtourist office at 8 a.m. We also bought the bus ticket to Phnom Penh here. The Sinhtourist bus to Phnom Penh only available once daily and the bus go at 6.35 a.m. The price was 195.000 VND. We got the tour and we also got the ticket to Phnom Penh, so let’s start the city tour!
@ SinhtouristPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
I started to observe this city. Saigon is the city of motorcycle. There were so many motorcycle. Saigon totally beat Jakarta in term of motorcycle population. Even worse, they always ring their horn, driving recklessly, and some of them use pedestrian as their way. Jakarta is chaotic but Saigon is even more chaotic! But the car’s population in Saigon is definitely less than Jakarta. That chaotic traffic made us difficult to cross the street. It was almost impossible to cross the Saigon’s streets. I swear that my heart beat so fast everytime I crossed the street. For the cleanliness, Saigon is much cleaner than Jakarta. I rarely saw trash on the street. I also noticed that there were so many parks in Saigon. Those parks were full of trees and really shady. People always gather in the parks every morning to do some exercise or just walking around.
anyone dare to cross this street?
Park in Pham Ngu Lao areaPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
One thing that I also noticed in this city was how chaotic the electricity cable. It was very unorganized. Some of them even went down until we could reach them. In some place, we even should mind our head because of the cable thing. Beside the cable, I also noticed many propaganda billboard in the street. It was the characteristic of a communist country. We could also see the communist mark everywhere in the city. An unusual scenery for us.
Chaotic cable
OMG...the cable!!!Photo (C) Zarwindo S,2010
In Saigon, the place of interest are mostly located in District 1 and the location from one place to the other is not far. We explored the district 1 by foot, no need to use the motorcycle or rickshaw. Besides, from what I read in the internet, the motorcycle and rickshaw driver in this city is always overcharged the tourist so I don’t recommend you to take those transportation.
From Pham Ngu Lao area, we walked to Le Loi street. In our way to Le Loi street, we passed the Trung Nguyen statue and the most famous market in Saigon, Benh Tanh market. We didn’t go shopping in Benh Tanh market because I heard that the price in Benh Tanh is more expensive than in Saigon night market. Back to Le Loi street. In this street, there were many international cloth store such as Bossini, Giordano, and Nike. Unfortunately, the price was as expensive as in Jakarta. I also went to Fahasa bookstore to buy Saigon map.
Le Loi streetPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
After some walks, we finally arrived at People’s Committee Hall. The building was an European-French style building. It’s a large and beautiful building. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enter into the building. In front of the building, there was a park which had a Ho Chi Minh (or everyone said Uncle Ho) statue carrying a child. Uncle Ho was the first Vietnam president. He was the most important figure in Vietnam. Eventhough he had died many years ago, he still has respect from the Vietnamese. You can easily find so many Uncle Ho picture in the street or in the public place. I recommend you to wear a hat or maybe use an umbrella in this park because the weather was very hot. Near the People’s Committee Hall, there was a historical hotel named Rex hotel. It was the place where Westerner press and soldier stay in Vietnam War period.
People's Committee Hall
Ho Chi Minh a.k.a Uncle HoPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
After finished at People’s Committee Hall, we walked to the Saigon Opera House. Before we got there, we passed the odd-shape-fountain. Until now, I wonder what statue is that. For me, the statue is like two or three people who are having intercourse hahahaha… Oke enough, so we finally arrived at Saigon Opera House. This building was another European-French influenced building. The Opera House wasn’t big but still beautiful. In front of the Opera House, there was a Louis Vuitton store. It was amazing considering that Vietnam is the communist country (and I assume that they don’t like capitalism). As usual, we took some pictures here.
The Opera House
Odd shaped fountainPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
From Saigon Opera House, we walked to Dong Khoi street. It was like Saigon upper class area. In this street, you can see many international brand such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Dolce & Gabbana and so many elite store and café. There was also Sheraton hotel in this street. Waw, this communist country had been lured to the capitalism. We walked on this street until wee saw Saigon River. Well, to be honest, Saigon River didn’t meet my expectation. From the photos in internet, I thought that Saigon River view was beautiful but in the reality the view wasn’t beautiful and I didn’t recommend you to visit this area. The only thing that you can do here is posing with cannons. That’s it.
Dong Khoi street
Saigon RiverPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
After visiting Saigon River, we walked to Notre Dame Cathedral. There was a funny moment. When we were walking to Notre Dame, Iroda bought some cakes from a street hawker. Iroda asked the price and the seller said “one five thousand”. Iroda thought “one package of cake was 5000 VND” and then she gave 5000 VND to the seller. The seller got angry because her definition of “one five thousand’ was 15000 VND. So Iroda paid 15000 VND for the cakes.
One five thousand!!!!
Can you count how many flag are there?Photo (C) Zarwindo S,2010
Finally we arrived at Notre Dame Cathedral. The Cathedral itself wasn’t as big as I expected but the architecture was quite pretty. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get inside the cathedral because the door opened at 3 p.m. and at that time, it was 1 p.m. This cathedral is often used by many couples to take pre-wedding picture. When we were there, there were a couple taking pre-wed shoot. Overall, this building is a nice old-European-esque building but I think Jakarta’s cathedral is much better than this.
Notre Dame CathedralPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
Next to the cathedral, there was Saigon Post Office. This is also a must-see bulding if you visit Saigon. It has a nice internal architecture. You must take the picture inside the post office. I don’t know, for me this building reminds me to Jakarta Kota train station. Eventhough it’s a post office, this place also sold many kind of souvenirs, from postcard, keychain, t-shirt, and so many handycraft. I even bought Trung Nguyen coffee here. Inside this post office, there was also Saigon tourist center. You can ask Saigon city map here for free.
Saigon Post Office
Inside Post OfficePhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
It was almost 2 p.m. We had walked for almost six hours, already feel tired and hungry. We decided to have lunch first. We ate at Quan An Ngon restaurant at Pasteur street, not far from Post Office. I really really recommend this restaurant. Totally superb. Eventhough it was a big restaurant and so many westerner ate at this restaurant, the food’s price wasn’t as expensive as I thought. The price range between 40.000 – 70.000 VND. I ordered spring roll and rice and the taste was great. Officially the best spring roll in the town. I also tried the other’s food and they all tasted so good. Conclusion: 9/10.
This is Zar's order
Photo (C) Zarwindo S,2010
After finishing our meal, we moved to the next destination which was Reunification Palace, a must-visit building in Saigon. This is an important place. It was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War ended when the North Vietnam Soldier succeed to take over this palace from the South Vietnam. This moments is widely known as “The Fall of Saigon” and happened on April 30th 1975. After that, North and South Vietnam reunited and hence this palace is called Reunification Palace. To enter this palace, you must pay 15.000 VND first. This building is a four stories building excluding the basement. Visitors are free to go to any floor but aren’t allowed to enter the rooms, so visitors can only look from the outside. This is an interesting place for history lover. Outside the building, there are tanks and helicopters which were used by the North Vietnam army to invade this palace.
This is Reunification Palace
Reunification Palace
Tank that was used to invade the palacePhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
We took another walk to War Remnant Museum. It is a must visit place for a military/ war/ history lovers. This museum contains so many information about what happened in Vietnam war. Outside the museum, there’re so many aeroplane that were used in Vietnam war. Inside the museum, there are so many photos and explanation about the damage that had happened in Vietnam War. You can see the effect of agent orange, a very teratogenic agent, to the Vietnamese children. There are also so many pictures about the victims who were killed, mostly women and children, and the pictures are so explicit, so prepare your mental. From this museum also, I knew that USA couldn’t achieve their objective in Vietnam and the Vietnamese were perfectly defended their country. To enter this museum, you must pay 15.000 VND. For me, it was a worth experience to be able to visit this museum.
US Air Force
Guillotine
The PrisonerPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
After historical session, we looked for another culinary things. Our choice was to go to Fanny Ice Cream. Some sources said that Fanny is the most delicious ice cream in Saigon. One scoop of ice cream would cost you 28000 VND. There were so many flavours. The Parfait’s price ranged from 50.000 – 70.000 VND. I ordered mango rhum parfait which costed me 65.000 VND. Overall, the ice cream was great but the price was a little expensive.
Time to enjoy some ice creams
Delicious!Photo (C) Zarwindo S,2010
It was time for dinner! We had our dinner at street hawker in the night market because we also wanted to do shopping. The night market itself is located outside The Ben Tanh Market, so it’s not hard to find. We had pho, fried noodle, fried rice, and spring roll. The food price ranged between 20.000 – 40.000 VND. Quite cheap but the taste was mediocre. After dinner, we went to the night market to buy some souvenirs. Do some bargaining. The seller offered me a Vietnamese-souvenir-shirt for 80.000 VND but I could get it for 30.000 VND after bargaining. Another example, Rio got a cheong sam for only 150.000 VND. Before bargaining, the cheong sam’s price was 590.000 VND.
Propaganda BillboardPhoto (C) Zarwindo S,2010
It was already 10 p.m. , time to go home. We took a walk from the night market to the hotel. On our way to the hotel, we passed a park. The park was full of couples who did the lovey-dovey thing. They kissed, touched, and hugged each other on the motorcycle. Well, it seems that Vietnam is much more “open” than Indonesia.
Ok, that’s the story from our second day in Saigon. See you in the third day!
My expenses
Cu Chi – Cao Dai full day tour package 165.000 VND
Phnom Penh Bus Ticket 195.000 VND
Circle K 27.000 VND
Buy souvenir at Post Office 149.000 VND
Lunch at Quan An Ngon 62.000 VND
Reunification Palace 15.000 VND
War Remnant Museum 15.000 VND
Fanny Ice Cream 65.000 VND
Dinner at night market 50.000 VND
Night Market Shopping 280.000 VND
Total for Day 2 1.023.000 VND = Rp 512.000 (yeah, I'm a big spender)
1 comments:
hey you're the vietnamese dams shirt socker commintee
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