Monday, March 31, 2014

Ho Chi Minh Day 3: Crazy Colourful

*Links for Day 1 and Day 2*

Day 3 at Ho Chi Minh was a bit more laid back compared to Day 2 where we were on a schedule for the guided tour. On the third day, we planned to just go see some tourist attractions and monuments on foot so it was more flexible and less hectic. But by the end of the day, I had bruises on my toes (which were still visible at the time of this post was published).

Although it was just a foot tour, I was very pumped for that part of the trip because I have always wanted to visit the Saigon Central Post Office and it was part of the places we went to see. First, we went to the Ben Thanh market again because on the first day we only went in the evening. So we wanted to see the day market and everyone wanted to shop for textiles and cloth.. lots and lots of textiles at bargain-able and cheap prices.

Then we went to the Reunification Palace, the Notre-Dame Basilica cathedral, the Central Post Office (!), to the main mosque in Ho Chi Minh District 1 and then the HCM Hard Rock Cafe. It was on this day where I got to fully appreciate Saigon's beautiful parks and the towering trees lining the streets.

The landscaping is awesome here, there's so much greenery to see. From its busy streets against the quiet historical buildings, the colonial buildings against the backdrop of the clear blue skies, people enjoying their piping hot pho on tiny stools on the curbside while passers-by stroll past them, the tooting of the motorcycle horns every few seconds - there is much to take in here. And I love that everything is so colourful and vivid here! :)






Fresh flowers at the day market.


Getting lost in a textile haven.






The Reunification Palace.








Notre-Dame cathedral.

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The entrance.


The majestic interior.




Central Post!


Look at the interior! Did you know that it was designed by the same architect who designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris? It's still a working post office and when we went in, it was cute to see tourist snapping photos while people behind the counters were busy sorting mail and orders.

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Post office OOTD
Padini checkered shirt; Topshop moto shorts + yellow sling bag; New Balance 574; Cotton On floppy hat

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Even the empty spaces are beautiful.


Brunch spot.

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Exchanged hats for our late lunch haha!

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Roadside barber anyone? This uncle is snipping his customer's nose hair. (Y)


Such a fun third day. May not seem much, but we actually walked A LOT that day. We walked everywhere. And after the sightseeing, we returned to the hotel to shower and change before we headed to the night market again for last minute shopping for more souvenirs. By then, everyone went all out to spend their Vietnamese Dong before we leave the next day, hence the mess.

Everyone was stuffing their purchases into their luggage and weighing their bags in case they're overweight. I didn't buy much compared to them, I bought four pairs of baju kurung, three types of silk and some cotton cloth for making baju kurung, t-shirts, Vietnamese coffee and souvenirs. That's not a lot, is it?

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