Ho Chi Min

Back from Ho Chi Min. It was a good trip with great food. :)
Though the sun is up in the day, it's cool at night
and the locals enjoy the park very much.
Probably cos they can't afford other activities as well.
Saw many people running, strolling, playing badminton, chekteh
and even doing dancing in the park.
Its quite a good place for social activities.
think cos we are more affluent so
we can afford to do much more than them.
Definitely the pace of life is slower there.
One significant thing you can observe immediately
is the numerous number of motorcycles and scooters are numerous.
And you can hear a honk almost every 3 seconds.
And the traffic never stops.
Its endless so we managed to master the art of the locals
in crossing the road with all the motorbikes just right in front of you.
Quite an experience indeed for me.

can you see the bikes and scooters in the background?

The ground map of the stalls of the local market - Cho Ben Thanh
doesn't this map remind you of a familiar market?

the stalls in the market

ate at this street side stall which is very nice.
had the local chicken vermicelli and wrapped spring roll.
too hungry to take any shot of the food. *hee*

that's the view of the city from our hotel.
the hotel was really quite good.
Provides good services and breakfast is located at
the top floor that gives you a view like this.

this sequence of photos is funny. we went for the Cu Chi Tunnel tour.
Signed up for the daily tours there.
We are the only two asians in the group.
It's the tunnel whereby the locals of Cu Chi protected
their hometown from their invaders.
the guy in the pictures tried it and hid inside the hole.

he hid his whole body in.

now u dun see him at all! :) totally hidden.
we also climbed through a the tunnel underground.
its about 1.3m high and 0.4m wide. very small tunnel.
And its total pitch dark inside.
Can be quite scary indeed but guess in war time,
you dun have much choice.

Reunification Palace
The place where the Vietnam War ended.
Its amazing that they are had war for more than 80 years and
they are only "open" to the world in 1995.

War Remnants Museum
This museum is quite a sad place. Many pictures of the war, soldiers and victims.
And also the use of Agent Orange during the war.
One part of the museum also show the prisons and how they are tortured.

I recommend the good food in Vietnam. Absolutely nice.
I ate Beef Pho almost every meal.
And I absolutely love the Vietnamese beef stew with baguette (above).
Recommend HCM for short and cheap getaways. :)

*ouch*

I haven't been posting much. Think its time to catch up a little.
Time flies and this is the second week of my holidays.
I truly wish time will crawl pass slowly as I hope it will not end so soon.
I am quite exhausted now. Probably cos I am getting old.
My bones are aching and I kept having this constant headache
ever since I came back from sch camp. *Oh dear*
Been *drowning* myself with water non-stop.
Do pray for me that I will be in tip top health this period
as I will be travelling ard in less than 24 hours time.
Will share more on my trip when I am back. :)