Vietnam Day 3

The third day was a day tour to the Mekong River. We left at around 9am in the morning. The bus ride took close to 2 hours before we reached our destination where we then proceed by boat.


Looks like a bridge construction across the Mekong river was underway.

Some of the many fishing vessels that were dock

Ferries are still used there to get people across

The first stop was to see how Vietnam famous rice paper were made.

After the rice is grind, it is then poured on top of a cloth and steamed

The steamed rice paper is then layout to dry

Next stop were handicraft made from coconut wood


Soon after we had a break for lunch which was actually part of the tour package. A Pork chop, 2 spring rolls and a bowl of soup. Didn't look like much but it taste quite ok.

Ohh we had this fried fish as well.

After lunch, we were off again by boat

Next stop was the honey farm where we were treated to some honey and some light musical entertainment

Ohh this is how their bricks for building looks like.
We then took a horse carriage ride to a smaller river where we sat on small boats which took us back to the bigger boat

The next and final stop was the coconut candy factory where they made candies from coconut.

After that we made our journey back to our buses

The map of our trip

Traffic on our way back to the City

Dinner was at Al Fresco's
That's one Jumbo pork rib :)

{Coming up next, some random shots}

The Other Half of Day 2

After the visit to the post office we went for our lunch at a place called Quan An Ngan which is a very popular restaurant to tourist and the locals. We were supposed to have dinner here the night before but we arrived too late.

No one actually thought about taking pictures of the food till it was too late as everyone was too thirsty and hungry. So below is whats left of the mud fish that we had ordered.

Least still manage to get a picture of the grill crab before it was eaten


After a really full lunch we were ready to get back on trail of our city tour. We headed straight to the War Remnants Museum. It showcased some pretty gory relic and pictures{What the heck? eat so full go see gory things?}. It was previously known as the Museum of American and Chinese War Crimes which got later change as not to offend the American and Chinese tourist. Still much of the picture showed there were from the Vietnam war.


I'll let the picture above tell the story of the picture below.

Read the picture above.
Some bombs and missiles that were used.
They even had a couple of tanks.
After the city and museum tour it was a cab ride back to Ben Thanh for shopping.
You can find from cloths to souvenirs and food stuff here. Rule of thumb was to always haggle at 70% of the price which actually didn't work much for us :P. Looks like the shop keepers had a specific limit as to how low they will sell for tourist. The lowest we actually manage to get in a discount was always around 25%-50%. Still things there were already cheap but hack nothing to lose from haggling a little.


{Next day 3}

Saigon Day 2 & 1/2

Day 2 started early in the morning, we had plan a tour around the city. Power lines were very familiar to those that I've seen in India. One mass of wire strung to a pole.
They had lots of cute stalls by the road side with small tables and chairs {Darn no small chairs and tables} which sold drinks, food and even french bread.
The famous Ben Thanh round about where the 'tourist' market place is situated. We didn't stop here first as we wanted to only do shopping later after the walk around the city. {Sky looks nice..no?}
Statue of Tran Nguyen Hai, the first person in Vietnam that used carrier pigeons. The small bust sculpture below {got cut off!!!!} is Quach Thi Trang who was killed during anti government protests in 1963
Some shops that sold wood carvings along the road

The People Committee Hall was modeled after a city hall building in Paris
Notre Dame Cathedral, build using bricks from Marseilles. Its not the same as the one in Paris thought.
Another view of the Cathedral with the statue of the Virgin Mary.The general post office adjacent to Notre Dame. Looks like a train station doesn't it.
{Hey its day 2 and a 1/2 mah.. :P Next up lunch}