My Travel Diaries: Ho Chi Minh

Hello dearies, 

I'm back again with my new post. This post is gonna be my first 'Travel Diaries' episode for 2016. Yup, i'm gonna share with you guys about my travel experience in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. First of all let me tell ya that Ho Chi Minh is a very lovely city. I love it a lot. Memang rasa nak visit sana lagi ^_^ The Vietnamese people are very friendly and beautiful. What i love most about Ho Chi Minh is their art crafts. Yup! Very unique and creative. Plus the price is very affordable. Yup! Shopping in Ho Chi Minh is really fun. Most things are affordable. You can also shop for fabrics, baju kurung, jubah/long dress, hijab and even telekung for solat. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But i'm gonna tell you more about that later. Now, let's start the story.....................

Day 1: KLIA to Tan So'n Nhat International Airport

Me in the flight from KLIA to Tan So'n Nhat. So excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

View of Ho Chi Minh city ^_^ Taken during our taxi ride from the airport to our hotel (101 City Hotel)

Dinner at The Daun Restaurant. Its Pho baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the 9 January 2016, we fly from KLIA to Tan So'n Nhat International Airport. Our flight only took 1 hour 45 mins. On our first day in Ho Chi Minh we didn't do anything much. Just relax at the hotel, have a walk at Ben Than street, and enjoy dinner at The Daun Restaurant. The Daun is a halal restaurant serving Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Thai cuisine. The food are very yummi-licious there. The restaurant is own by a Singaporean muslim name En. Sufian.  The Daun Restaurant is the place i first taste 'Pho'. Pho is Vietnamese traditional cuisine. It is a beef noodle soup. It taste so delicious :P

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City Tour (Binh Tay Market, War Remnants Museum, Lacquer Factory, Embassy of The US, Notre Dame Saigon, Saigon Central Post Office)

At War Remnants Museum

At War Remnants Museum

At The Embassy of The United States

In front of Notre Dame Saigon

Saigon Central Post Office

On our second day in Ho Chi Minh, we took Ho Chi Minh City Tour. The tour was fun. The tour took us to Ho Chi Minh busiest market Binh Tay. Binh Tay is a very busy market. There were so many people there. Gosh! I can't even move my feet. After visiting Binh Tay, the tour took us to visit War Remnants Museum. The War Remnants Museum is a place you MUST visit if you go to Ho Chi Minh. The museum told us a lot about the history of Vietnam during Vietnam War time. After visiting The War Remnants Museum, we went to Lacquer Factory. At the factory we shop for some lacquer to bring home as souvenirs. After that we visited the Embassy of United States in Saigon. Before we finished our tour we visited The Notre Dame of Saigon (Saigon is Ho Chi Minh's old name), and Saigon Central Post Office. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I really love the  post office. It's really cute and lovely. I really love the French architecture. Vietnam is a country influence by France. Inside the post office there is also a lot souvenirs shop. You can also get affordable souvenirs here.

Day 3: Chu Chi Tunnel, Water Puppets Show, Saigon River Cruise

At Chu Chi Tunnel

Trying the M16. Shooting range at Chu Chi Tunnel. So fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Water Puppets Show

View during Saigon River Cruise

During our third day in Ho Chi Minh, we visited Chu Chi Tunnel. The tunnels of Chi Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968.The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped to counter the growing American military effort. Very interesting eh! I'am very amaze with the intelligence of Vietnamese people during the war period. They work really smart to survive. Amazing! Just amazing!

After we've done with Chu Chi, we went back to our hotel room to relax for a while before we continue our adventure to watch the Water Puppets show and enjoy dinner at Saigon River Cruise. The Water Puppets show is a MUST see if you when to Vietnam. Like must travel bloggers said if you didn't see the water puppets show that means who didn't reach Vietnam. Yea, i agree with that. I was also amaze with of the skills of the puppeteers and voice actors. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are just amazing man!

What is a travel or a vacation without a cruise? Yeah! You have to take the Saigon Night Cruise Tour. It is awesome! We had dinner in the cruise and we got to see beautiful view of the city of Ho Chi Minh during the night. I just love cities at night. 

Day 4 : Shopping at Ben Than Street

Dinner at The Daun. Vietnamese Dry Noodle with Dried Spring Roll. Yummy!!!!!!!!!!

During our fourth day in Ho Chi Minh, we just shop at Ben Than Street. We are lucky our hotel is in Ben Than street. Turun2 tu terus boleh shopping. Hehehe!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^ Like i mention to you earlier in this post, shopping in Ho Chi Minh is really fun and affordable. Nak tawar2 menawar pun senang. Plus most of the Vietnamese knows Bahasa Malaysia. So it is easy to communicate with them. Besides paying with Dong (Vietnam currency), you also pay with Malaysian Ringgit for shopping. Yup! They accept Ringgit. To most Vietnamese people Ringgit is very valuable to them. So that makes it easier to shop in Vietnam. They are so many interesting things to shop and brings home from Vietnam. The art-crafts are all interesting especially for me (I'm a craft collector ^_^ Hehehe). To all the fashion lovers out there, shopping for clothes and fabric is also fun in Vietnam. You can also shop for baju kurung, jubah/long dress, hijab and telekung (yg. menjualnya org. melayu champa). Fyi, i bought a set of Neelofa's hijab for only RM15 per piece (murah kan?), and baju kurung for RM30 per piece.  So to those of you who loves to shop, Ho Chi Minh is the place for you ^_^

Day 5: Bye-Bye Ho Chi Minh

It was our last day in Ho Chi Minh :'( However we were happy to go home and share a lot of memories of Vietnam with our friends and love ones. Bye-bye Ho Chi Minh. Insya'Allah kalau diberi rezeki lagi saya akan ke sana lagi. 

Ok'lah, that's all on my travel diary. Sekarang pun dah pukul 11 pm. I'm feeling sleepy already. Good night catch you later. Sweet dreams and start a beautiful tomorrow.

Wassalam,

Neira Fadima ^_^

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