Our second day in the wonderful city of Ho Chi Minh City ("HCM") was a day for the city tour. Originally planned to be our first day's agenda but had to be postponed to the next day due to some mis-arrangement with our tour operator and the hotel staff. The hotel management was very apologetic to the extent of sending apology note together with a rose and apples due to the mis-arrangement...see below...we were deeply touched as it was not in overall their fault....
So we were taken to venture around the places of interest in HCM.Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum.
help yourself to some info of the Vietnam War here.......Vietnam_War
The external facade of the museum represents 70s design which was simple and clean. There was a courtyard outside of the building where they displayed the warplanes, tanks, artilleries used during the war and also a replica of prison building of the war.
This is a recreation of the 'Tiger Cages' where the South Vietnamese (and Americans) kept their "stubborn" political prisoners of war. Most images here are of violent in nature whereby the methods of tortures were portrayed explicitly. It was really an experience being in this part of the museum where you can deeply feel the horror of the war and the sufferings that the Vietnam's people had to endure in their past years........
I made my way thereafter into the main building of the museum. It has 4 floors of exhibitions levels displaying historical items and displays from the early years of war until the post war era. There was also a souvenir shop therein. I was most interested in this exhibition though........
it was heart breaking to see the images of the aftermath of the war especially to the innocent citizen which were exposed to "Agent Orange" or chemical used by the US Army during the war. It was during the war that we could see humanity disappeared more sooner than the bombs could explode.........
I did not even venture into all the exhibitions floors of the museum...being a fragile person who could not stand seeing images of committed violence........moreover towards fellow human beings..i left the museum building with the feeling of sad, angry and sympathy.........and sat waiting for our driver to return and take us to our next destination........
local coffee factory and shop.....here you can find many varieties of coffee that Vietnam is famous for. I was really into the distinctive taste of their coffee which for me retained its strong coffee flavour though it is mixed with other condiments such as sugar or milk. For the note, im not a fan of black coffee nor coffee which is sweet. Balance between the two is what i like in a coffee.
our next stop was an ancient buddhist temple........no offence but i really could not stand the smoke and smell of incense and i stepped outside after snapping few pics........
Binh Tay Market was our next stop. It was a very busy market with shoppers looking for daily groceries, cloth, foods etc. I grabbed 3 packets of Vietnamese instant coffee here.
We were then taken to a lacquer painting factory and souvenir shop. Ever wondered how those shiny vases or paintings were made? Here you will be briefed on the steps of creating these beautiful ornaments which were distinctively Vietnamese.
different types of texture and materials used were displayed here.........
painting process......
crushed egg-shells are used to create some texture........
the finished products.....
we headed back to the city centre and stopped at the Reunification Palace. We didnt go in but just took external photo of the place and while waiting for the other people in our tour group to finish their visit of the palace, we took a stroll around the city area.
Reunification Palace...details history please click here........http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunification_Palace
Our last stop of the tour were the Post Office and the Notre Dame Church....
Notre Dame
Post Office
i almost felt like being in some European country while i was in these 2 buildings due to the heavy influence of European design of the 2 buildings.
After finishing our tour of the city, we spent our last night in HCM by taking a stroll around the city especially to the area that we have not covered.
We stopped by at this magnificent building........
and click our cameras to our heart content until we heard a shout from a uniformed man asking us to stop taking pictures..then only we realized it was a prohibited area..
Ho Chi Minh's statue with People's Council's Building as its backdrop.
I really had a wonderful time in HCM and really looking forward to return and venture into other parts of the city. Having said that i believe that Vietnam in general is an interesting country with so many interesting places to be visited with friendly people who are gentle yet strong at heart. Kay2011.
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