Day 01
Ho Chi Minh City Landmarks and Scooter Experience
- We will begin our tour at the Central Post Office, designed by the well-known engineer Eiffel. This site is a beautifully preserved remnant of French colonial times and perhaps the grandest post office in all of Southeast Asia. It features arched windows and wooden shutters, just as it would have in its heyday in the late 19th century, and as we walk around it, you will get to admire its true magnificence.
- Next, we will visit the Saigon Opera House, an elegant colonial building and one of the most elaborate theatres in Indochina. Built in 1897, it is used for staging opera and a wide range of performing arts, including ballet, musical concerts, Vietnamese traditional dance, and plays.
- We will then go to the heart of the city to see the City Hall. Formerly known as Hotel de Ville, it was built by the French in a Renaissance style inspired by the design of town halls in France. A notable feature of the building is the bell tower that stands on a pyramid-shaped pedestal, and as we walk around, the guide will show you more interesting aspects of this building.
- Continuing our trip, we will ride on a scooter to experience the traffic of Ho Chi Minh City, which can be very crazy and chaotic but is also a lot of fun to mingle in.
- Finally, we will end our tour at the Jade Emperor Pagoda, built in 1909 in honour of the supreme Taoist god, the Jade Emperor or King of Heaven. This is one of the most atmospheric temples in the city, filled with statues of divinities and grotesque heroes and perfumed with incense that obscures the exquisite woodcarvings. This is the perfect place to end our tour and say our goodbyes.
