Saigon Day 02 - Evening

Ritey...so after CuChi Tunnels, the rest of the day was spent on city touring, planned by yours truly! So we are off to visit 2 fine examples of French colonial architecture which is the North Dame Cathedral, along dongkhoi and of cos the City Hall (People’s committee hall) , known to the French as Rue Catinat.


Municipal Theatre
Built in the late 19th century, the city's small but perfectly formed neo-classical opera house makes an imposing presence on this busy avenue. It was restored to its former glory in 1998, in recognition of 300 years of settlement in Saigon. A smaller copy of the Hanoi Opera House, it has sweeping marble steps, reproduction friezes and a spacious interior. A variety of concerts are staged here from jazz to classical music and as you would expect, opera. Tickets start at just USD2.50.

Notre Dame Cathedral:

Northern end of Dong Khoi，Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Built between 1877 and 1883, stands regally in the heart of the government quarter. Its red-brick, neo-Romanesque form and two 40m-high square towers tipped with iron spires dominate the skyline. The bricks used to build the structure were shipped from Marseilles. Artisans from Lorin Company (Chartres, France) were commissioned to create the stained glass windows. The cost of construction was a whopping 2.5 million francs. In 1962, the Vatican gave the cathedral the title Basilique.

Municipal Post Office
+84 8 829 2291 (Saigon Tourist), Dong Khoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

** POST a postcard home for just 7,000D to any parts of the world. **

Above: size of postcard in comparison with ahren; me outside the Post office trying to see wat's next and...it's the Reunification Hall. But sadness by the time we walked there on foot, it was closed. :(

War Crimes Museum and inside the grounds is a Water puppet theatre. And this too was close to closing its gates too! Left only 15minutes of visting!!!! So wj and i reckon that it will be too rush to take a walk inside the grounds. Instead we stayed outside to view the aircrafts and land weapons used when the US were attacking HCMC. Many wandered around the grounds and resting, taking pictures of all the tanks and god knows what. It was a cooling evening and we had walked so much the whole evening so it was quite a comfort to take shade under a tree on a bench.

me on bench. Eee...is there something crawlie on my shoulder?!?!. STOP the camera!