Ho Chi Minh City Things to Do Tips by Blatherwick

The Cao Dai Holy See was founded in 1926. I took the tourist cafe tour in which you arrive there for the noon mass. It is an interesting and colourful place that is worth seeing. Most tours combine this trip with a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels.

Caodaism is an attempt to create the ideal religeon by mixing and matching all other religions. So you have pieces of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam all thrown together. The whole religion is based on a man named Ngo Minh Chieu who received messages revealed during seances. Most baffling is the reverence for people such as Victor Hugo in a religious context.

The religion does stress love for one another and the belief that God resides within each of us. There are now around 2 million followers of this faith.

Leave a Comment

Address: Tay Ninh
Directions: Tours from Pham Ngu Lao are $4

A museum not to be missed while in Saigon. As you enter the site, you are greeted with a number of US military planes, tanks, and other equipment from the American/Vietnam War. The museum itself is comprised of six rooms that exhibit vivid and sometimes gruesome memories of the war. This includes bottled fetuses deformed by Agent Orange and pictures from the My Lai massacre. You can take a look at a partial reconstruction of the Tiger Cages found on Con Son Island. Also outlined are protests from around the world that helped bring an end to the war. The best part of the museum is the exhibit on frontline photographers.

Some visitors feel that the museum is one sided and Communist propaganda. In fact, this museum was originally called the "American War Crimes Museum" which has been toned down for tourism purposes. However, as Basil Fawlty put it, "Who won the bloody war anyway?" So I guess that the Vietnamese can say anything that they want. I don't see many western museums dealing with issues such as Agent Orange and My Lai. Thus, we get to examine both sides and come to our own conclusions about western involvement at that time. No, the place doesn't outline VC atrocities and makes some interesting comments on certain pictures. However, what this museum does for me, and for some others that I know, is eliminate the notion that westerners always hold the moral highground. Take a look around and learn from what you see. That said, the museum is getting better at balancing out but it is what it is.

Admission - 10,000 VND

Leave a Comment

Phone: 8290325
Address: 28 Vo Van Tan Street, District 3

The tunnels at Cu Chi were originally constructed by the Viet Minh during the war against the French in the 1940s. The Americans happened to stick a base right on top of them during the 1960s. During this time the tunnels were expanded and the tunnels extended from the Cambodian border to within 30 km of Saigon. In this district there were over 200 km of tunnels. Air operations made this one of the most bombed places on earth.

There are actually two sites. The Ben Dinh area has a visitors centre, where you can watch a video of the activities in the area during the VN war with the usual hokey music and sad sack commentary.

From the video you move to the tunnel area. Here we are shown the different traps that the VC used. We are shown how the VC used to disperse their smoke that would come from the kitchens. We were able to see B-52 bomb craters and a destroyed US tank.

The Ben Dinh tunnels have the real deal tunnels in addition to the ones for us larger westerners. I saw a chick about 110 pounds go in one of the real ones and back out immediately. There was no way I was going in. The touristy ones are hard enough to duck walk through.

The Ben Duoc tunnels are what I visited in conjunction with the trip to the Cao Dai Temple. The only real difference is that these tunnels have been renovated for westerners and the relatively new (1995) Monument of the War Martyrs is nearby. Plus you don't get the destroyed tank but you do get a stripped Huey.

At the end of both tours you can shoot AK-47s or M-16s if you like. $1 a bullet.

Leave a Comment

Address: Cu Chi
Directions: Tours for Pham Ngu Lao District are $4 for both a half day and the full day that is combined with the Cao Dai Temple.
Website: http://www.sinhcafevn.com/

Tired of American/Vietnam war history? Jump into this museum that has displays on 3300 years of history in Vietnam. Of particular interest are some of the sculptures that come from Angkor in Cambodia as well as Thai and Cham. There is also a mummy that was found in the HCMC area that is worth looking at. Make sure to catch the water puppets here if you haven't already seen them in Hanoi!

Leave a Comment

Address: 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem
Directions: Just outside of the zoo.

Built between 1877 and 1883, this very European structure reminds you that Vietnam was a French colony at one time at that around 10% of Vietnamese are Catholic. It was constructed in a neo-Romanesque form with two 40m high towers with iron spires. Every stone used in its creation was shipped from France to Vietnam.

Often the gates are closed. However, they are open for sermons. Priests sometimes add a short sermon in French or English to their predominantly Vietnamese presentations.

In front of the cathedral there is a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Leave a Comment

Address: Dong Khoi, District 1
Directions: City center

This site was used as a residence for the French governor general of Cochinchina which was expanded to become Norodom Palace. When the French left it became the residence of the South Vietnamese president. The palace was bombed in 1962 (by members of the South Vietnamese Air Force!) in an attempt to kill President Diem. Upon Diem's elimination in 1963 the structure was renamed Independence Palace.

The palace is famous now from the pictures of North Vietnamese tanks storming through the gates and a VC flag flying from the palace on April 30, 1975. The building was renamed Reunification Palace.

The building is pretty cool to walk through as most of it has been left as it was back in 1975. The most interesting part is the basement that holds briefing rooms with war time maps of Vietnam and communications equipment.

The entrance fee is $1 US and it is open from 7:30 to 11 am and 1 to 4 pm daily.

Leave a Comment

Address: 106 Nguyen Du, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Is a Post Office really a tourist attraction? This one is. The largest of Vietnam's post offices, it was built from 1886 to 1891 by the great architect Gustave Eiffel. Large, open, and with a big picture of Ho Chi Minh overlooking the proceedings this place will remind you of being in a train station.

Leave a Comment

Address: 2 Cong Xa Paris, District 1

The tower of this market has served as one of the symbols of Saigon since 1914. Everything that your typical Saigonese person uses, wears, or eats can be found in this place. "Come on down! If you want it, we've got it!" Stalls nearby sell inexpensive food.

In the centre of the traffic roundabout is a statue of Tran Nguyen Hai, the first person in Vietnam to use carrier pigeons. Why he's on a horse I don't have a clue. There is also a small bust of Quach Thi Trang who was killed during antigovernment protests in 1963.

Leave a Comment

Address: Le Loi Roundabout
Directions: At the intersection of Le Loi, Ham Nghi, Tran Hung Dao and Le Lai streets, District 1.

Built in 1956, this was a centre of resistance against the Diem government. Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, attacked the pagoda in 1963 and 400 monks and nuns were arrested helping to solidify opposition among Buddhist to the Diem regime. The site was also the location of several self-imolations by monks protesting during the war.

The temple complex today is fairly large and is enclosed by a park. There is a tower inside that is an octagonal shape with 7 floors.

Leave a Comment

Address: 89 D Ba Huyen

Built in 1909, the Jade Emperor Pagoda is one of the more colourful temples in Saigon. There and many elaborate carvings which depict the 10 levels of hell and the equivilent of 'judgement' day' in Chinese mythology. The are great statues made from reinforced papier mache that represent characters from Buddhist and Taoist traditions.

This place is definately worth a look. It has a very peaceful atmosphere to it most of the time and there is lots to take in.

Leave a Comment

Address: 73 Mai Thi Luu St, District 3
Directions: Go to 20 Dien Bien Phu and head half a block NW.