Have you ever experienced a New Year Celebration with a city tour on Hop on Hop Off bus?
If you haven’t, then we guess you are at the right place!
Today, we will take you on a Ho Chi Minh City tour.
In case you don’t know who we are………..
We call ourselves Travel Freaks……..
Let’s begin with a quick recap. We arrived in Vietnam two days before and had a memorable day in the Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta; we also watched the renowned water puppet show. In case you haven’t read about it, give it a read.
It was our last day in Ho Chi Minh City so we wanted to make the most of it. We had our next destination flight in the evening hours. So, we planned to explore the city’s local attractions in a unique way.
Now, you might wonder …..
Table of Contents
1. How did we explore the Ho Chi Minh City?
We booked the Hop On Hop Off bus to explore Ho Chi Minh City. This was our first experience doing this kind of city tour. It cost us approximately 1000 INR per person.
Hop On Hop Off is an open double-decker bus that will take you to multiple attraction sites. You could get down at your choice of place, spend some time, then take the next available bus from the same spot. This is a very convenient and affordable way of exploring the city.
Multiple attraction sites included :
- Saigon Opera House
- Nha Rong Wharf
- Tran Hung Dao Statue
- Ho Chi Minh Campaign Museum
- War Remnants Museum
- Independence Palace
- Pham Ngu Lao Street
- Ben Thanh Market
- Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral
Now that we have mentioned the Day trip spots, you might be curious to know…..
2. Where did we catch the Hop On Hop Off Bus?
We took a short Grab ride to reach the place from where the trip was supposed to begin. It was the famous Saigon Opera House. While waiting for the bus, we witnessed the Tet Celebrations on the streets.
It was very colourful and entertaining. There were various acrobatics performances. We clicked a few snaps to keep it as memory, then proceeded towards the bus.
If you do not have an online booking, you can also get one on the spot. As the bus was about to start, we bought the tickets and boarded in. Traditional Vietnamese hats were kept at the back, which one can use during the trip.
We took some hats and went to the upper deck to get a mesmerizing view of the city.
The First stop we chose to get down was Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral.
Now, you might be wondering….
3. What did we see at Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral?
As it was Tet holiday, only locals could enter the Cathedral. So we enjoyed the place taking some snaps. Also, Saigon Central Post Office was on the other side of the road.
One interesting fact that we came across from one of the locals: This place was designed by the same architect, Gustave Eiffel, who designed the famous Eiffel Tower.
After spending around 30 mins, we were waiting for the next bus. Next, we got down at the War Remnant Museum.
On hearing the word Museum, you would like to know…
4. What is so unique about this Museum?
It was around 11 AM when we reached this place. It was a sunny day. The entrance ticket for the Museum was approximately 130 INR per person.
This Museum was established around 1975, soon after the Vietnam War ended. You could witness the war exhibits such as photographs, documentation, etc., which will take you to that era and how this war has affected the life of common Vietnamese people. At the same time, it raises awareness on the consequences of this kind of war.
As we explored this Museum, we came to know about Agent Orange. It was a chemical defoliant that affected the environment and health of Vietnamese people. Our heart was wrenching seeing all those exhibits.
We spotted a few souvenir shops as we made our way through this place. Many travellers were exploring and buying out in this area. We reached the exit and were thinking about where we could head next.
You also might be thinking…
5. Which was our next spot from the list?
Ben Thanh Market, it was. Being the Tet holiday, this was closed. So we chose a nearby book fair exhibition to explore. It was full of books and local cuisines. We also tried and enjoyed a few local dishes (we do not remember the exact names now) and Turkish ice cream.
It was already half past 12 and we had to check out from our stay. So we thought to return. On the way, we spotted Tran Hung Dao Statue.
Finally, we got down at the Opera House stop, from where we again took a Grab ride to return to our stay.
As soon as we reached, we quickly did the checkout formalities. Our stay and the host here were amazing. We would definitely recommend this place. Then we booked the Grab for our Airport drop as we had 6 PM flight for the next destination.
Stay tuned with us for the Vietnam blog series.
6. What kind of help are we going to provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will give you a glimpse of our journey and help you plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Srilanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and watch for the next destination story of Vietnam. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau