Hi,

So we move onto the third leg of the tour. Arriving in Saigon or Ho Chi Min City (HCMC) from Danang, you immediately felt the rise in temperature from moving south. It was 31 Celsius on arrival. Our hotel, the Renaissance Riverside was centrally placed and ideal for getting around. We checked in and had dinner at a French influenced local restaurant. To be honest we kept being told that certain restaurants were French influenced but I didn't notice a great difference from others visited! Spring rolls were always available!

Although the name Saigon was replaced by HCMC in 1975 it was still widely used, including by our guide. We stayed three days and four nights in HCMC.

Wednesday 29th March

After breakfast we headed out of the hotel on foot for a full days touring in HCMC. We passed the gigantic Btexco Financial Tower with its helipad. I did make a note to visit the observation deck later on in my stay but never fitted it in.

We walked to City Hall or the People's Committee Building as it's correctly called. A striking building from the early 20th Century built in French Colonial style. There was a fine Statue of Ho Chi Minh just in front of it and in a curious juxtaposition a Rolls Royce showroom about 200 yards away! Communism and capitalism rubbing shoulders. A common feature of this country.

This part of this city has wide pristine thoroughfares and the architecture is well, quite European. We passed the Opera House which has another colonial edifice and is a major city landmark. The bus picked us up and as the Notre Dame Cathedral was covered in scaffold, we skipped a visit and went to the Central Post Office. Built in the late 19th century has the outward appearance of a huge railway station. It is a sight to behold both inside and outside as you'll see from my photos. A huge mural of Ho Chi Minh overlooks the concourse.

Next up was the Reunification Palace or Independence Palace, previously inhabited by presidents preceding the revolution. This is a 1960s building and famous for the incident where the tanks crashed in and a soldier ran up and hoisted the Viet Cong flag in 1975. We had a guided tour of the Palace and I would highly recommend it. Check out the photos.

We had a number of stops before lunch. First we went to the Da Kao District and visited the Jade Emperor Pagoda (built 1909). It is a Taoist temple with an elaborate interior stuffed with idols. Moving on to Cholon District, which is the largest Chinatown in HCMC we visited Cha Tam Church. Cha Tam was a Chinese Roman Catholic priest and first minister at the church. The building is infamous for being the place where President Ngo Dinh Dien was seized and later killed during a coup in 1963. Final stop was the Thien Hau Pagoda. Older versions of this building date to 1760 making it one of the oldest Chinese temples in Vietnam. Thien Hau was born in China in 1044 and is worshipped for her 'miraculous' abilities. According to our guide Jimmy the friezes in the building depict Chinese life in the 17th and 18th centuries. They are detailed and fascinating.

We stopped for Phu Hoa food which is based on a type of noodles. As usual a banquet was provided. I found at least one dish very like ramen. We then pressed on to the Ben Thanh market. We had a quick look around but the temperature was up to 38 so the group voted to go back to the hotel. The swimming pool was on the 21st floor with views over the river.

As we had a banquet for lunch very little food was required in the evening. I did some exploring on my own. The streets were very busy but felt safe. I passed a cigar shop and don't think I've seen one since I visited Cuba. (The old communist connection?) I ended up meeting some of the group in the Five O'clock Follies, which is on the rooftop of the Rex Hotel. The place was the venue for military briefings to the press during the Vietnam War, and the Folllies name was reflective of the dubiety felt by many regarding the accuracy of the information given out! Given that the venue was mentioned on the tour and that the town was busy it was surprisingly quiet but with rooftop views over HCMC.

Thursday 30th March

Today's itinerary was a half day trip to the Gu Chi tunnels. We left at 0830 and headed north west. We stopped at a lacquer production factory/shop and saw eggshells being used to create art. Incredibly creative! The countryside was covered by rubber trees and we took about two hours to reach our destination. We visited the Ben Dinh site which is the most visited of the tunnel options. Mango and cashew nut fruit seemed to be all around us as we entered the site. We learned of the extent of the tunnel systems used in the war and I took the opportunity to get down into them for a short distance. A few points to note: we were in the jungle with all the regular insect noises, additionally there were bomb craters around us and finally there was a shooting range nearby where you could try out firing weapons, so gunfire was being heard all the time.. Add all of these together and although we were on a tourist site it gave you some idea of what it was like to be out there in a war situation. A really authentic experience.

After the tunnels we had a lovely lunch/banquet in Ben Nay restaurant beside a river. Then it was back to the hotel and hitting the 21st floor pool.

The hotel was very expensive and given we had a banquet for lunch I went out with some of the girls locally for some finger food and sampled the local brews. This was a really great day out.

Friday 31st March

This was our free day in HCMC. I teamed up with like-minded companions Brian, PJ, Tom and Patrick and headed for the War Remnants Museum which had been recommended by my friend Gill. This was a fascinating visit. I took the audio tour and spent about two and a half hours looking round. Obviously the information was totally skewed towards the Viet Cong position but the evidence especially in connection with US use of chemical weapons was more than horrific. The best part of the museum is the war photographers section on the top floor. Some pretty awful sights but a real testimony to some very brave war photographers many of whom paid the ultimate price for doing an essential job in letting the wider world know what happened during the war. This place is an absolute 'must visit' if you are in HCMC.

I wandered back to the hotel via the Ben Thanh market for photos and a small gift for great nephew Remy. I took a walk along the river but didn't find it that inspiring. An impressive city but it doesn't quite have the scale and grandeur of other high rise cities I have visited. I made every effort to get a special coffee called a Weasel but couldn't find a place selling it to drink and my use of the local lingo was inadequate to say the least. I ordered some coffee beans from Jimmy to take home but just regular not Weasel. After a time of day in HCMC it just gets too hot so I hit the pool and had a fairly quiet rest of the day, eating locally. This is the last night in HCMC/Saigon. Off to the Mekong Delta of which more in my next and final Vietnam blog.

As always please check out my photos and I hope I've given you some flavour of 3 days in this major city.

All the best.

Murdo