Price: $60 USD/night inclusive of breakfast
Transportation: Lots of walking & Taxi -->avg ride = $2 USD
We landed in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday night and did some exploring, but were caught in the rain and headed back to our hotel to rest up for the next day. We spent all day Saturday walking around the city to visit the War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Ben Thanh Market.
The War Remnants Museum is a war museum thatprimarily contains exhibits relating to the American phase of the Vietnam War, and is a major tourist attraction.
Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as the "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government[of South Vietnam]." Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization of relations with the United States, but the museum does not attempt to be politically balanced. The museum comprises a series of eight themed rooms in several buildings, with period military equipment located within a walled yard. The military equipment include a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, an F-5A fighter, a BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" bomb, M48 Patton tank, and an A-1 attack bomber.
Reunification Palace, formerly known as Independence Palace, built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, is a historic landmark in Ho Chi Minh City. It was designed by architect Ngo Viet Thu as the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the site of the official handover of power during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. It was then known as Independence Palace, and an NVA tank crashed through its gates.
The Ben Thanh market was a great market for shopping. Cheap house decor (the same as what you can get at Pier 1) and your usual knock-offs: handbags, jewelry, clothes, and shoes. Kaes and I were able to both find "NorthFace" rain jackets for $30 USD a piece...beats the $300 USD you pay back in the states :)
There are TONS of motorbikes everywhere here and to be able to cross the street, you must start walking right in the middle of the traffic. Luckily the riders of motorbikes are cautious of pedestrians and do a good job of driving around them to avoid any accidents. We are heading to Cu Chi tomorrow to see the elaborate tunnel system used during the Vietnam war.
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