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UncleEbeneezer
Our third day in HCMC/Saigon was one of the most jam-packed and exhausting days of my life. In addition to the airfare and lodging in Saigon and Da Nang our trip prize included a daylong guided tour of downtown HCMC including Notre Dame, the Post Office, the Reunification Palace, the War Museum, a temple and then a cooking lesson in the evening. This post covers the first two.
Our taxi/shuttle van arrived early and we hopped in, meeting our tour guide. He told us all the cool places he was going to take us and asked our impressions of Vietnam so far and if there was anything in particular we wanted to see or try. We told him we would like to try some Com Tam (broken rice, with pork chop, egg) and he insisted we probably needed to try Vietnam’s famous/infamous civet coffee but those would have to wait until later. We arrived downtown and our first stop was at Notre Dame cathedral. Per Wikipedia: “Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception (Vietnamese: Vương cung thánh đường Chính tòa Đức Mẹ Vô nhiễm Nguyên tội; is a cathedral located in the downtown of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Established by French colonists who initially named it the Church of Saigon (French: l’Eglise de Saïgon), the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. The name Notre-Dame Cathedral has been used since 1959. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet).” It is a really stunning building both inside and out.
Here you can see the impressive vaulted ceilings. This place is HUGE on the inside.
One of the great aspects of Vietnam is the preponderance of amazing tile patterns.
Next we headed to the Saigon Central Post Office:
“The Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, or the Saigon Central Post Office (Vietnamese: Bưu điện Trung tâm Sài Gòn, French: Poste centrale de Saïgon), is a post office in the downtown Ho Chi Minh City, near Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, the city’s cathedral. The building was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the late 19th century. It counts with Gothic, Renaissance and French influences. It was constructed between 1886 and 1891 and is now a tourist attraction.[1]
It was designed by Alfred Foulhoux,[2] but is often erroneously credited as being the work of Gustave Eiffel or a collaboration between Foulhoux and Hanoi-based Auguste Henri Vildieu.”
More lovely, colonial iron-work. This stuff is EVERYWHERE in Vietnam.
View looking up, inside the post office.
More gorgeous tile patterns.
Neat world map atop a string of old phone booths. So COOL. I posed for a pic inside one of them.
That’s me in the middle being silly.
Another thing that is lovely about SE Asia is that the climate allows for the use of wonderful plants everywhere.
Mary G
Fascinating! Love the post office plant and all the metalwork.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
That post office is fantastic, and buzzing with old-timey activity. We bought a bunch of postcards and stamps to send to our folks and the kids from there.
raven
Climate indeed! Hotter n a well diggers ass in the Mohave!
JeanneT
Those building interiors are so different from what I expected based on the exterior shots. Beautiful.
Laura Too
So beautiful! Thanks for sharing. And I would love to see more please!
UncleEbeneezer
@Mary G: Glad you like it. Really incredible buildings!
UncleEbeneezer
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: We LOVED the post office. A bit more so than the cathedral. And you are right, it was very active. Almost felt like Grand Central Station.
Benw
Very cool. I went to Quy Nhon a few years back. Lovely place and folks
JanieM
General comment — I would love a place with so much bright color everywhere. Sometimes I do wonder why my travel draw is always the more northern lands.
That first post office shot is a treat — as @JeanneT: , it wasn’t what I was expecting. (I’m not even sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that! Especially the color!)
Anyway
Nice building shots! I’m always looking for food pics in travel diaries … Vietnamese food is my jam. The only time I ate in a restaurant over the last 12 months was pho…
UncleEbeneezer
@JanieM: Everything there seems SO COLORFUL. Obviously, being somewhat close to the Equator makes it a very bright sunshine. And then the colonial architecture usually incorporates bright colors (orange, yellow, pastels etc.). And even the cuisine, like most SE Asian cuisines, emphasizes the use of brightly colored veggies because they want their food to be beautiful as well as delicious. Additionally the traditional dress/fashion (especially Ao Doi’s) tend to be in bright, shiny colors. And of course the flowers, trees etc., get tons of rain and sunshine, so yes, it is an incredibly colorful place
UncleEbeneezer
@Anyway: There will be more food pix to come in upcoming chapters. Some in Siem Reap and Hoi An, for sure.
way2blue
I feel that I’ve seen those phone booths in an old movie. (More likely the same style somewhere else alas… ) Looking forward to seeing photos of the rest of your adventure.
J R in WV
Great photos, est. of the post office. Grand Central is a train station, but also has a grand hall with a vaulted ceiling like the P O.
Makes me think… imaging having to go to a central post office to make an international phone call~!?~ when now today your people can call your hip pocket from their hand, almost anywhere in the world — except to our house in rural WV…~!!~
UncleEbeneezer
@way2blue: Thanks. Glad you are enjoying them. I’m already scoping out places for a return visit, hopefully in 2023.
Laura Too
My comment form this morning isn’t showing. I do hope you see this. I love all of the pictures and can’t wait for more! It is a dream of mine to go someday and I’m happy to live vicariously through you.
UncleEbeneezer
@Laura Too: I see it! Thanks. Glad you are enjoying. Both Vietnam (HCMC and Hoi An) and Cambodia (Siem Riep) were absolutely amazing. I had never been anywhere besides Canada and Mexico, outside of the states, so I was hardly a seasoned world traveller, and yet I had almost no issues in either place. We were very careful to only drink bottled water and to wash our hands a lot etc., to avoid any stomach viruses that hit some travelers.
Laura Too
@UncleEbeneezer: I am lucky to live in Minneapolis. We have a large community of Hmong, Vietnamese, Cambodian (actually pick your country-we take in a lot of refugees) and I have worked with people from many countries. One of the greatest things besides listening to all of the languages was potlucks. I love food and I love to learn about other cultures through food so I can’t wait to see your pictures! Thanks!!!
UncleEbeneezer
@Laura Too: Well we are somewhat limited on the number of pix, so there will probably only be a couple (because there are so many other great sights) but there will definitely be a handful.
I’ve mentioned it before, but if you want to see some amazing food pix from Vietnam, Tom at VietnamCoracle has a bunch:
https://www.vietnamcoracle.com/category/food-and-drink/