Vietnam Vacation Part 3 (D5 & D6) - HCM City, Vung Tau

Good morning Saigon! Here's a snapshot of what I ate on Day 5 for breakfast :P

I know, you're going "she's never gonna finish that all", since my ant-size appetite is famous around my friends. =.= But surprise, surprise! I actually did finish everything in the photo above. Shocked right? :P

We visited the Reunification Palace today.

It's the home of former President Ngo Dinh Diem, the leader of Vietnam who was backed by the US (he's known as a puppet of the US) until his assassination in 1962. The Palace has a very symbolic role during the fall of Saigon in April 1975. Its gates were breached by North Vietnamese tanks and the victor's flag hung on the balcony. The tanks that crashed through the gates are still there at the entry. 

From top left, clockwise: the Map room; statue of HCM at Conference Hall; Banquet room; Cabinet Meeting room; Conferencce Hall.

The Palace was built on the old site of the French governor general's home, called the Norodom Palace. Our visit was to a series of rooms (private quarters, dining rooms, entertainment lounges, and the president's office, etc etc etc) that still have the furniture and decorations in place. 

From top left, clockwise: President's national reception room; carpet from Hong Kong as a gift to President; President's office; Credentials Presenting room; selfshot.

From top left, clockwise: Gifts for the president; one of the gifts for president; photo of me; inside garden on 2nd floor; me again.

From top left, clockwise: Heliport (circles shows bombs dropped in an attempt to kill president); dining room; bedroom; movie theatre; me again.

It felt like everyone just up and left suddenly one day (which is actually true lol, the people there escaped on a helicopter when the North Vietnamese tanks crashed in) 

From top left, clockwise: radio control room; me; basement office with maps; wooden piano; basement room.

From top left, clockwise: basement labyrinth; me along a basement corridor; president's basement war office; president's temporary bedroom in basement; a sign on the wall.

The basement is the most interesting part to me, where it housed the war command room, with its huge maps and old communications equipment, and a labyrinth through the underground.

From top left, clockwise:  Kitchen; an old car; room with display of pictures; the tank that crashed through the gates; airplane; and me with another old car.

After visiting the Palace, we headed off to visit Cu Chi Tunnels. Following excerpt from wikitravel:

The Cu Chi Tunnels are an elaborate underground community made up of 250 km of tunnels and chambers below the city.

The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the French occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the Vietnam War in the 1960s to provide refuge and a defensive advantage over the American soldiers. Despite all the bombings in their town, the Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, ate, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Some even wed and gave birth underground, but over 10,000 lost their lives here.

First up: we watched a screening on the history of Cu Chi first. Bottom right is a model of the tunnels dug (3 levels)

A hiding spot under the ground, dug by the Vietnamese. 

You can't really find the place if you don't know where it is.

A booby trap. Stepping on it will cause the board to swing up, then the person will fall and be stabbed through below.

From top left, clockwise: an airhole for underground; worm; a well; steps leading to underground tunnel; a tunnel opening.

The airholes have an interesting story.

As smoke will escape from the airholes whenever the people were cooking underground, the US soldiers soon noticed and started bombing those places when they saw smoke coming out. The Vietnamese people then tried to make the holes much smaller so that the smoke isn't visible. 

Realizing this, the US soldiers then brought German Shepherds to sniff out the holes and locate human presence, then bomb those places.

To combat this, the Vietnamese people then put a mixture of chilli paste and some other strong-smelling spices around the airholes, which caused the dogs to lose their sense of smell and eventually die. ;)

Life-sized mannequins 

US army tank destroyed by a mine at the back.

Various booby traps invented by the Vietnamese

Mannequins, demonstrating how the Vietnamese took apart bombs or slice wooden sticks to make their own weapons.

We then came to a site where people come to fire real guns and weapons with real bullets. The gunshots could be heard even before we went in. =.=

Site for firing real weapons

From top left, clockwise: entrance to the firing area; display of weapons available; price for each type of bullets; sample of bullets.

Mannequins, people on top passing stuff to the people in underground tunnels.

From top left, clockwise: separating rice from husks :P; shoes made from tyres in all sizes; tyres cut out to make shoes; equipment to make rice cakes; a woman making rice cakes.

The real live tunnel! We can actually go through this! About 10m. 

I went through one of the narrow underground tunnels, and it was REALLY narrow. It was already one of the wider ones, some you have to crawl on your stomach, but this one you can just bend over and crawl. I shuffle along on my knees though, much easier. :P

Bottom right: tapioca! Had some tapioca as snack.

Coming out from the Cu Chi tunnels I was so hungry. =.=
Thank God the next stop was lunch. :D

Note my tired, red, hot, sweating face on the top left, hahahaha.

After lunch I went out and took some selfshots with the scenery surrounding the restaurant. :D

It was starting to rain (again!) so we had to hurry back to the bus. Next stop, Vung Tau was about 3 hours +++ away so I fell asleep. Super uncomfortable when I woke up by the way.

From top left, clockwise: Snake and scorpion potions I saw at a rest stop; round flat sesame cake I got at a rest stop; me looking hungry at Vung Tau restaurant; my favourite way of eating rice: fill it full with soup :P.

Casino time again. :P
I almost couldn't get in due to my...small size? I look below 18, hahahaha.
I did play with a slot machine. Spent 3 USD. :P
Some people did win hundreds.

Checked into hotel just opposite the beach. The hotel looks wider and grander. Because it's not a tall thin hotel like those before, hahaha. After a bath walked along the streets and see the night scene of Vung Tau. Even bought a bread which is cut in half and filled with vegetables, noodles and egg. Quite yummy too! :)

2 more days to go only! :/

Good night! ;)

Good morning! Woke up very early on Day 6 to catch the sunrise at the beach. Since going to the beach isn't on the itinerary, had to go before breakfast. =.= 

Almost going to rain (again and again =.=) so we had to go back after like 15minutes. The one thing different was the sand. OMG. Soooooooo fine and soft and smooth. I took the picture of the sand above but you seriously got to feel it yourself. Major love.

After breakfast we visited a whale temple. According to legend, the whales protected the fishermen every time they went out to sea since a long time ago. Once the remains of a whale washed up on the Vung Tau beach over 100 years ago. So the fishermen pulled it ashore and display its bones which came to symbolize the protector of the coast. Now, every time a whale washes ashore, the bones are ceremonially hauled to the mausoleum. It is a quaint temple with its impressive display of all things whale. During certain events, the people from all over Vung Tau and even from HCM came to pay respect to the whales.

After that we visited a Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) temple. I offered some joss sticks. ;)

Below: Vietnamese dumplings. Not to my taste though. 

Visited White Palace, or Villa Blanche (Bach Dinh). It was built by the French as a summer holiday home for French Governor. Later the South Vietnam presidents also used it as a holiday home.

Sea antiques collected from shipwrecks around Con Dao Island, Vietnam.

Furniture and rooms in the White Palace. ;)

Corridors and the outside surroundings of the White Palace. There are some cannons on display there.

A French cannon and I :)

Also visited Phat Nam Pagoda where there is a sleeping Buddha. The first 42 pages of the Buddhist Sutra made their way to Vietnam in the 2nd century.

In the upper level hangs the giant bronze bell Dai Hong Chung 3.5 m high and weighing 3.5 tons (5000kg). Here you can ring the bell and make a wish (or write and paste it on the bell). I made mine, which is a very long one by the way. :)

Then we visited the Statue of Jesus Christ with outstretched arms. It is an enormous 28m figure of Jesus gazing across the East Sea with outstretched arms, on top of a mountain. 
According to wikitravel: The interior of the statue is hollow and contains a spiral staircase of 129 steps, ascending from the foot of the statue to its neck. The two shoulders of the figure are balconies, each able to accommodate up to six people, which offer a splendid view of the surrounding landscape. This is the largest sculpture in the Southern Vietnam.

Unfortunately we were all too tired to climb all the way up to see the statue, so we can only see from down there and also visit some of the statues of angels around the foot of the mountain. :)

See the statue on top of the mountain? 

Had our lunch next. We had fresh lychees as appetizers! :D 

The funny thing was a row of roasted ducks being cooled by a fan outside the restaurant. LOL.

Afterward headed directly back to Saigon.

Lots of traffic (motorcycles) :)

Visited the War Remnants Museum at Saigon. Not fun because it closed after like 20 minutes only. I barely had time to visit one floor, and there are three, complete with all the military transport outside and a prison reconstruction. =.=

Badges for US army, as well as clothes of the US army.
Note the bottom left photo. A US soldier donated his badges to the museum and wrote:
To The People of A United Vietnam, I Was Wrong. I Am Sorry.
*pfft*

So I ended up taking document photos like these below so that I can go home and read all I want. :P

Unfortunately there were too many. =.=

A part of the museum is dedicated to war correspondents, photographers and journalists who lost their lives/went missing on their job during the war. They should be commended for their bravery.

Sadly the museum closes because we reached 20minutes before closing time. =.= 

And I haven't seen even a third of it yet. It was supposed to be interesting, about the Vietnam War.

Oh well. Tomorrow's a shopping day. Hoping to trade shopping for it. :)

Later we visited the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office, which were just across the road from each other. :)

The Notre Dame Cathedral. In front of it is a statue of the Virgin Mary, and in front of that is me. :P

My mom and I; a makeshift stall on motorcycle selling cuttlefish. 

The Post Office. ;)

I love the architecture! <3

Gorgeous maps on the walls <3

*I miss my DSLR again*
Had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. First time in Vietnam, I didn't have a rolled hand towel, nor a cover for the chopsticks. :( Apparently Chinese too kiam-siap. (stingy) >.<

Visited the Ben Thanh night market before checking into the hotel for the last time. Purchased a bag at a fixed price, around RM16 or 17. No need to haggle yet so cheap <3. Don't really like haggling because it makes me feel like a pauper. :( 

But watching people haggle is really fun. Some people got the skills. And having someone with those skills around can be awesome. I got cheaper hair accessories and T-shirts that way. :P

Also they have lots and lots and lots of fruits, any kind you want. :D For us Malaysians, well we have most of the fruits over here too. But for Western tourists, they'll be spoilt for exotic choices. 

I tried something called star apples there. Something that Malaysia doesn't have. You eat it like an orange or a watermelon. Tastes sweet and has a soft yellowish texture. Quite nice, but really expensive. O.O Five for like USD5.

Checked into hotel for the last time! Last night in Vietnam. Good night!