June
11, Monday
The bus picks us up at the hotel at 10:30 to drive us to the airport for our flight to Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it is now called. We are staying at the Hong Thien Loc Hotel, on Pham Ngu Lao Street in District
There is a beautiful park along this street and according to the map, its name is “23-9 Park”. (Sept 23? Must be a significant date: Internet search can only find the following which could be related:
1) Sept 23, 1215: birth date of Kublai Khan, who invaded what is now Vietnam in 1287
2) Sept 23, 1965: South Vietnam executes three accused VC agents.
3) Sept 23, 1945: French troops arriving on U.S. ships attack southern Vietnam; resistance begins against Japan’s invasion. This could be the one. Well, NO IT WASN’T.
I finally found out, through persistent research on the Internet, that they were simply the coordinates for the park: Cong Vien 23 Thang 9. Sometimes the answers are just simpler than you can imagine.
“A popular park for relaxation and exercise like badminton, jogging, football and dancing. On occasions there are festivals and celebrations organized in the park as well. The Park stretches all the way from Ben Thanh Market to the backpacker area Pham Ngu Lao.”
The traffic is absolutely crazy. Lots and lots of motorcycles
Park 23/9 across the street. Check out the building across the way; it looks like a little robot with a helmet, eyebrows, eyes, a nose and a mouth
Bitexco Financial Tower: the highest tower
Apartments are very small here it seems, they have to use their balconies as closets and storage areas.
Ben Thanh Market
They sell absolutely everything here: groceries, produce, fish, meat, clothing, souvenirs, etc. The smell isn't very nice either since the fish smell seems to permeate everything.
Some interesting articles for sale: Scorpion in a bottle !
And very strange purses. Check these out.
We go back to the hotel and get ready to go our for a night walk and dinner.
The traffic is simply unbelievable. You take your life in your hands when you want to cross the street.
Narrow pedestrian streets near our hotel
The view of Park 23/9 from the room I'm sharing with Lindsey
And a beautiful sunset as well
We walk back to the Market area and go on walking to the downtown area.
We get to the area where the shops and hotels are expensive. Check out the aligator/crocodile skin.
In front of City Hall is a nice statue of Ho Chi Minh, teaching a little girl
Ho Chi Minh City Hall beautifully lit
Downtown Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City
A picture of Uncle Ho in one of the street displays
The Opera House
Hotel Continental. Did you notice the French colonial architecture everywhere?
As we walk back to the hotel, I spot this little gecko in an illuminated shop window
We stopped off at a restaurant near our hotel for dinner.
The bus picks us up at the hotel at 10:30 to drive us to the airport for our flight to Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it is now called. We are staying at the Hong Thien Loc Hotel, on Pham Ngu Lao Street in District
“Under the name Saigon, it
was the capital of the French colony of Cochin-china
and later of the independent republic
of South Vietnam
from 1955–75. South Vietnam, as an anti-communist republic, fought against the
communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong
during the Vietnam War, with aid from the United States of
America and countries including Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. Saigon fell
when it was captured by the communists on 30 April 1975, bringing an end to the
War with its enemy's victory. Vietnam was then turned into a communist state
with the South overtaken. On 2 July 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province
and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City.”
There is a beautiful park along this street and according to the map, its name is “23-9 Park”. (Sept 23? Must be a significant date: Internet search can only find the following which could be related:
2) Sept 23, 1965: South Vietnam executes three accused VC agents.
3) Sept 23, 1945: French troops arriving on U.S. ships attack southern Vietnam; resistance begins against Japan’s invasion. This could be the one. Well, NO IT WASN’T.
I finally found out, through persistent research on the Internet, that they were simply the coordinates for the park: Cong Vien 23 Thang 9. Sometimes the answers are just simpler than you can imagine.
“A popular park for relaxation and exercise like badminton, jogging, football and dancing. On occasions there are festivals and celebrations organized in the park as well. The Park stretches all the way from Ben Thanh Market to the backpacker area Pham Ngu Lao.”
At 6:30, a few of us leave the hotel to walk along Park 23-9 and go visit the Ben Thanh Market.
The traffic is absolutely crazy. Lots and lots of motorcycles
Park 23/9 across the street. Check out the building across the way; it looks like a little robot with a helmet, eyebrows, eyes, a nose and a mouth
Bitexco Financial Tower: the highest tower
Ben Thanh Market
They sell absolutely everything here: groceries, produce, fish, meat, clothing, souvenirs, etc. The smell isn't very nice either since the fish smell seems to permeate everything.
Some interesting articles for sale: Scorpion in a bottle !
And very strange purses. Check these out.
We go back to the hotel and get ready to go our for a night walk and dinner.
The view of Park 23/9 from the room I'm sharing with Lindsey
We get to the area where the shops and hotels are expensive. Check out the aligator/crocodile skin.
In front of City Hall is a nice statue of Ho Chi Minh, teaching a little girl
Ho Chi Minh City Hall beautifully lit
Downtown Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City
A picture of Uncle Ho in one of the street displays
The Opera House
Hotel Continental. Did you notice the French colonial architecture everywhere?
As we walk back to the hotel, I spot this little gecko in an illuminated shop window
We stopped off at a restaurant near our hotel for dinner.
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