I was pretty honest when I said before that there was not much planning for our trip to Vietnam. Although we booked tickets way ahead, like more than 2 months before our trip, I just booked our tours quite late; 2 days before we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. It was so late that the Sinh Tourist Office had to send me a payment link for the Cu Chi Tunnel tour because it cannot be booked anymore via their website. Oh well. The beauty of taking tours - you can just sit back and relax after booking one.
On the other hand, DIY tours are more flexible when it comes to time management. You can take all the pictures you want; there's no need to rush, unless your travel companions are impatient. Heehee. However, DIY tours are quite taxing; you need to research, research and research. And despite making all the preparations beforehand, you'll probably still end up asking locals for directions. For lazy people like me, DIY tours are a welcome challenge. But, there are still times that I just get so busy with no time to spare for planning a tour. And, that is what precisely happened in Vietnam!
I told my friends that we're probably better off if we do a DIY city tour of Ho Chi Minh. After all, according to just about everybody who has done a HCMC tour, it's relatively easy, and the attractions are nearby each other. Yipee! Hearing that, I was convinced I didn't need to thoroughly research our destinations. So, I just printed some Google maps and the wikitravel entries for HCMC. Really, that was all I did and I left everything else to chance.
We started our tour by taking a taxi to the Saigon Opera House. It's such a beautiful building, and it was a Sunday so there were not a lot of people and vehicles around. In fact, we were able to take pictures of one another in the middle of the street. Not knowing where else to head to, we went to the Caravelle Hotel, well, to use their wash room. Lol!
There is a fountain between the Opera House and Caravelle Hotel and it looked so picture perfect. We took some photos there, even stepping on the grass; there were no signs saying, "Keep off the grass." Apparently, we were not the only ones who thought that the area is good place for a photo op. When we got out of Caravelle Hotel, we saw a bride having her wedding photo shoot in the small garden/fountain area. Naturally, I did what most curious tourist would do; take photos of the bride. She was so pretty! But then she caught me from across the street and since my lens were zoomed in, I saw her not-so happy face. Heh!
A bride's photoshoot.
We wanted to go to the HCMC People's Committee Building, but we didn't know how, despite us having a map and all. It was easier to ask around, and easier to spot some tourist information officers on patrol. They're in uniform; if I remember correctly, they're wearing green. We asked one, and then another. They all know how to speak and understand English. We just pointed the place on the map and they answered in English.
So, apparently, the HCMC People's Committee is just on the next block. Our markers were the circular water fountain and the Rex Hotel. And, beyond the garden outside Rex Hotel lies the HCMC People's Committee! Yay!
We saw a statue of a man with a child, guess he's called Bac Ho, as the brass plate on his statue states. We were having such fun under the noonday sun in the garden but then again, some caucasian man past his prime shouted rudely at us, telling us to move away from of the statue. My temper flared and I wanted to shout back at the rude guy. Who the heck he thinks he is? The place is public; if he wants to have his picture taken, wait for a turn. I decided not to engage in a verbal tussle since he was quite at a distance (yes, he was like 15 meters away from us so just imagine how loudly he shouted). But I really, really hated that impertinent, impatient, rude tourist. There were only a handful of tourists loitering around the area, like, just us, so there's no need to crudely rush the people, us, who got to the statue first. Yeah, damn that caucasian tourist.
The statue the rude tourist was so intent to take a photo of.
Anyway, we moved, but only after shooting dagger looks. We asked a local who was sitting at one of the park benches for directions going to the Notre Dame Cathedral and she gladly helped us out. Apparently, we only had to go right from the People's Committee until we reach the end of the block, Dong Khoi Street, and from there, we just walk straight the road until we see the cathedral. Along the way, we saw the Vincom Center and a lot of art galleries. The roads were almost deserted and our walk had a leisurely feel to it. It reminded me of walking around the Makati Central Business District.
The cathedral was beautiful; it was like straight out of a foreign movie about something scary, or about the war bombings because the Blessed Virgin Mary's statue was in a small plaza outside the cathedral. I was half-expecting Mama Mary to shed tears of blood, and the red bricks just bring out the beauty of the church, and if you're a fan of horror/suspense movies, to its mystery. And the twin bell towers are so picture-perfect. Ah, really, churches are such works of art!
Street view of the Cathedral, Diamond Plaza and the Post Office.
We walked across going to the Post Office and it was open despite being a Sunday. There were a lot of westerners here. I think, I was the only Asian inside, aside from the staff and shopkeepers. My friends, the other Asians, were outside and didn't come in. I really did not know why the tourists were concentrated in this building. I get that the Post Office is structurally beautiful but really, the number of western tourists inside was astonishing.
There were shops inside, and two-rows of telephone booths reminiscent of the ones I see in the movies, you know, made of dark wood and all. And, with all the caucasians inside the Post Office, I had the weird feeling that I was in a western country rather than one in the East.
And oh, the street vendors outside have bloated prices for mineral water and other refreshments. I wanted to buy a mineral water and I was told it costs VND 20,000. I was like, lady, that's more than thrice the amount for a bigger bottle at that, and the same price for a Coca Cola on a plastic bottle. Of course, I didn't buy. I was stingy, and well, so what if I was thirsty? I mean, she called me out after I left the vendor's area, saying that I could get a discount. So, she was really just taking advantage of me being a tourist and all.
Our last destination for the day was the Reunification Palace. We just took photos outside and just sat at one of the benches in the park adjacent to it. We didn't have time to go to the malls or something, but we managed to hail and cab going to Ben Tanh Market for some last minute goodies. We bought some dried fruit and veggie chips and ground coffee, weasel coffee to be precise, to bring back home.
We went back to the hotel and freshened up. There were a couple of hours left before our flight so we shopped near the hotel and bought some souvenirs as well as some allegedly factory overruns Crumpler bags at Bagsvina a couple of steps away from the hotel. We also had some dinner before we finally said goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City.
