Another early start for a tour of the City, we were joined by six other people and our guide, Hang. Our first stop of the day was at the impressive Reunification Palace, the working and administrative building of the old South Vietnamese government. The tanks that smashed through the Palace gates in the early 70's are still in the grounds.
Our second second stop was at the famous old Post office building built by the French in the late nineteenth century, it's still a working Post office today.
Right across the road is the Notre Dame cathedral, this is beautiful building but sadly it was closed for restoration.
We then went to the War remnants museum dedicated to Vietnam' s war against the USA. Of course, there is the well know display of captured American military harware in the grounds including tanks and helicopters.
But it is the inside of the museum that really brings home the horrific loss that this country suffered.
This is a very sobering experience with some very graphic photographs and personal stories of the victims of that conflict. We learnt a great deal from this visit some of which was difficult to digest, it was quite moving.
In the evening we made our way over to the Saigon Opera house to see the production of the OA show, a cross between dance, drum, drama, ballet and Comedy. We then have a lovely meal at the Saffron Bistro around the corner from the theatre.
We said goodbye to Nha Trang as we returned to the airport and hopped aboard a Vietnam airlines flight to Ho Chi Minh city, the flight took about 45 minutes.
As soon as we landed we could feel the rise in temperature and humidity, we were collected by a young guy who zipped through the City streets. We thought that Hanoi traffic was crazy well HCMC is just pure barmy.
We checked in to the Harmony Saigon hotel had a siesta, a shower and then hit the mean streets of Ho Chi Minh city. As soon as we reached our first port of call, the Glow skybar, the heavens opened and it poured down. We managed to find some shelter in the Glow and as soon as it stopped raining we managed to take some good photos of the City's skyline.
We then searched for a place to grab a bite to eat, we were turned away from our first choice because they had a private party under way. We then happened upon the BBQ garden and asked two Americans who were leaving how the food was, they said it was fine but you had to cook it yourself at the table.
Sadly it turned out to be the poorest meals we have had so far on this trip, still there was enough spring rolls, rice and tiger beer to fill us up, by the way, they charged us for extra paper napkins, How wierd is that.
After a light breakfast we hopped in a cab and Made our way over to the Vinpearl Island entertainment center. You reach the Island by way of a 3,200 metre cable car, the longest over open sea in the World.
The views from the cable cars are quite dramatic as cargo ships pass beneath you. Once we landed at Vinpearl, Mandy surprised me by asking if we could go on the first Rollercoaster that we saw, but boy did she scream the house down.
To recover we strolled over to "Blooming hill" an absolutely beautiful area of manicured gardens with superb views across the bay to the City. Nearby we toured the huge glass cones with different eco systems inside, the flowers, plants and waterfalls were simply stunning.
We had a mid morning break at replica Japanese tea house that over looked the bay. Duly refreshed we make our way to to the bird aviary, another wonderful attraction and you walk among hundreds of birds flying around you as duck out of the way including herons, peacocks, hugely colourful parrots and many more species.
I am getting tired here just recalling the day, so then we took a break at one of the restaurants overlooking the bay for a sandwich and a Tiger beer. We continued down to the complex's beach area for a paddle, sunbathe and to watch the water sport, especially the guys using the jet packs to hover over the water.
To finish off our visit we visited the aquarium and watched a hugely entertaining 4D film in their theater when a lot of special effects attacked you in your seat, Cue Mandy for another bout of screaming. So after six hours we decided to make our way back to the City, even though there was more we could have seen, Vinpearl is a hugely impressive complex and for all of the above we paid only 20 euros each.
Arriving back in Nha Trang Rob decided to have his hair clipped, only one problem, a Number two cut in Asia is different from a European cut of a number 2......she scalped me.....tho it will keep me cool.
In the evening we took a trip up to the Sky deck bar, the highest building in Nha Trang which has superb views over the City. We ended our day with a fine dinner at Lanterns restaurant.
