HOLIDAY TRIP TO VIETNAM

In September 2014, my while family went to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam for 3 days holidays. The trip was organized by my father’s office to bring their staffs for a short holiday and my family took the opportunity to join them. We took AirAsia early flight from KLIA2 to Ho Chi Minh for approximately 2 hours flight journey. Our tour guide in Ho Chi Minh fetched us at the airport and a packed visiting itinerary was organized for the 3 days trip. The old name of Ho Chi Minh is Saigon, a popularly known during the war.

Me and Ain at the airport 

On the first day, after we checked in a hotel, we were taken to visit some tourist attraction places and shopping arcades. One of the shopping destinations was Ben Thant Market which is located near our hotel in a walking distance. We spent at the market for several hours doing our shopping. The price for the goods is relatively cheaper as compared to Malaysia but we have to bargain as the traders usually fix a higher price. There are variety of goods sold from textiles, clothes, souvenirs, bags and luggage, ladies accessories, crafted and decorated goods and other consumer goods. In the afternoon, we were taken to visit the War Memorial Museum in Ho Chi Minh and spent 2 hours at the museum displaying the war weapons, aircrafts and photographs relating to civil war against Vietcong and American.

Me and my family at the War Memorial Museum

On the 2nd day trip, we were taken by bus to Mekong River Delta to visit cultural villages at the islands. The journey took about one and a half hours from Ho Chi Minh as it is located quite far outskirt city. After arrival at the jetty, we went taken to the islands by ferry boat. At the islands, we visited the cultural villages where some traditional village activities were shown exhibited and some crafted hand made goods are sold to visitors at quite cheaper price. The trip to the cultural villages took three hours and we returned to Ho Chi Minh at 5pm in the afternoon and did our shopping at other shopping malls until sunset.

We using boat as our transportation to go to Mekong River

After that, we have to use canoe 

They show us about their traditional villages activity

They sing for us.

On the final day itinerary, the tour guide took us to another destination to a place located far from Ho Chi Minh to a jungle war memorial site. The journey by bus took almost two (2) hours and at that war site, we had the opportunity to see how the Vietnamese soldiers make a war tunnels, traditional deadly weapons, entrapments and others during the civil wars with Vietcong and War against the American soldiers.  Some of the war vehicles and weapons are also displayed at the war site. In the afternoon, after returning to Ho Cho Mint city, we went to a historical Vietnam Presidential Palace in which the for king was resided until the Vietnam Revolution.

The Scary tunnel

We have opportunity to try shoot

Before our departure to Kuala Lumpur in the late afternoon, we went to Ben Thant Market again to do our last shopping. Our holiday trip to Ho Chi Minh this time in fact was our second trip to Vietnam as my family had visited once in the year 2013. We hope we could visit Vietnam again to visit other places in the northern part of Vietnam, Koh Samui in Hanoi and other heritage places.