SE Asia Day 32: HCMC

/ alliwanders

Yay! An unscheduled day! It felt great to have the day to myself. A last breakfast with the 6 remaining members of my tour group who are departing at various times today then I went out exploring.

I stuck mostly to walking around as the heat + lack of sleep of the last couple of nights had depleted my energy level and I had no desire to go into any museums so the following pictures are not necessarily interesting but act as a record of my day….

Several large green spaces tucked between busy HCMC streets
Scooter parking lot
Ben Thanh Market – cheap souvenir heaven
Random mural
Imperial Palace was Vietnam’s capital until moved to Hanoi in 1976. Also site of the Fall of Saigon in April 1975 that ended the Vietnam War, when a Liberation Army of South Vietnam tank crashed through its gates. (Wikipedia)
From Google; decided I didn’t need to see 1970’s era reception rooms and offices
Notre Dame Cathedral still a photo op in spite of the scaffolding
The Old Post Office, now a souvenir market
Book Street
I was melting so ducked into a luxe shopping mall for an iced latte and A/C
Eponymous Ho Chi Minh and the Old Parliament

Old & New. Bitexco Tower and the Saigon Skydeck

Back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours before the Orientation Meeting for my next tour: Classic Vietnam. It’s a full group of 16 people but I only really had a chance to meet 6 of them properly. We had dinner together while the other 10 either had dinner with the tour group they were just finishing with or had other plans.

Tomorrow is an Optional Activity day and that consists of going to the Mekong Drkta. Since I just had 2 days there I’m skipping it and will find some more sightseeing to do here in town.