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War Remnants Museum
A visit to the War Remnants Museum is a must if you are visiting Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it is popularly known as. While not for everyone, it is an absolute must if you want to understand what transpired under both the French colonialists, and during the Vietnam War. A tank outside the War Remnants museum building Its history The museum originally opened on the 4th of September 1975 as the Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes within the former United States Information Agency building. However, with the normalisation of diplomatic relationships between the Vietnamese and US governments, it was renamed as the War Remnants Museum…
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Independence Palace
On the 30th of April 1975, at approximately 10:45am, Tank 390 from the North Vietnamese army crashed through the wrought-iron gates of Independence Palace. The first tank to break through the palace gates And with that, the Vietnam War came to an end, literally at its gates. Waiting for the North Vietnam soldiers in the reception chamber was General Minh and his cabinet. It was only 43 hours before that he had become head of the South Vietnam state. For those visiting Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it is popularly known as, Independence Palace is a must-see. Especially if you are interested in history and have a fair…
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Party all night long
As the sun sets over Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it is popularly known as, there’s one street that is slowly waking up. Bui Vien Street. A street vendor in costume If there’s one word that, to me, describes this street, it’s ‘Madness’. It’s loud. It’s bright. It’s seedy. It can get aggressive. And it goes on till the wee hours of the morning. It’s got to be one of the craziest streets I’ve ventured into. It’s no wonder, as it is also Saigon’s backpack quarter. Which means cheap hotels and hostels, and even more cheap beer and street food. Massage parlours flourish and disco lights light up…
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Cu Chi tunnels
There are two different Cu Chi tunnels. Yes, Ben Duoc and Ben Dinh are part of the same tunnel network. However, they are two different sites. Mannequins of Viet Cong women soldiers Your experience will be different, depending on which of the two sites you visit. I visited Ben Duoc. It is a bit further from Ho Chi Minh City, and is also less crowded. The tunnels are also a lot more authentic and closer to how they were during the Vietnam war. Ben Dinh on the other hand, is mostly reconstructions. Keeping in mind the large number of western tourists who visit, many of the tunnels are wider to…
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NAM Vietnamese Kitchen, BBQ & Beer
It was the last leg of our Indochina trip and with money running low, we wanted to stay in an area that wasn’t expensive. Which is why any decent place around Bui Vien Street made sense. It is, after all, the backpacker quarter district in Saigon, Vietnam. View of Bui Vien street from NAM Kitchen We also wanted it to be in District 1, which is what most reviews recommended. We chose a hotel next to Bui Vien Street. It’s where all the action is, we were assured by some well travelled friends. On hindsight, we should have asked what kind of action it is that they had in mind.…
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Vietnam introduces e-visa
I was in Vietnam in the last week of December, 2018. This was my second trip to the country, having visited, again exactly 11 years earlier, the last week of December, 2007. At that time, as a resident of Dubai, I had applied for my visa at the consulate. Once my Excel sheet itinerary had been scrutinised, and tickets checked, I was issued with a single-entry visa valid for one month. This time though, I opted for an e-visa. For those not in the know, this is something that Vietnam has just introduced for tourists from a list of 46 countries. If you are among the lucky ones, then opt…
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Sailing on the Ha Long Bay
Sailing on the Ha Long Bay after 11 years felt the same, and yet different. Things were a lot easier back then. The pace somehow felt a lot more relaxed. The boat may have been motorised, but the sails were very much old style, like the junk boats you see in picture perfect snapshots of Ha Long Bay. And it didn’t feel so crowded. But hey, that was a long time ago. This is now. We walked into the first travel agency that looked like it wouldn’t fleece us, The Sinh Tourist in the Old Quarter (there are several branches all over the city). Here, we booked an overnight package…
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Give me my bowl of pho
If there’s one dish I can have for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Vietnam, then pho it is for me. A bowl of pho After all that walking around the Old Quarter in Hanoi, dodging motorists on their mopeds and bikes, and generally making sure you’ve crossed onto the other side of the road safely, why not stop by and indulge with a portion of pho. Preparing a bowl of pho If there’s one dish I can have for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Vietnam, then pho it is for me. Pronounced as fe (like in fern), it’s a soup with broth, noodles, herbs and chunks of meat. Hungry eyes…
