Ho Chi Minh District 1 by Speedboat

Bec had found a lovely hotel in district 2, an international district on a bend of the river that runs through the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. Our villa hotel on the river bank offered a free private speedboat into the centre of the city - a lovely way to start the morning. Zooming past the ferry and barges it felt like I was a guest at a white lotus hotel, a big improvement compared to my Jetstar flight here last night. First class lounge Carl likes this style of travel - great hotel pic from Bec.

Joining us on the speedboat was an older couple from the UK. Chats were had and on arrival at the city dock we shared a grab to the independence palace. They offered to pay for the grab ride, but given to only cost $2.07 AUD it wasn’t worth splitting the fare. We parted ways and said we would see them by the pool later in the day. I last visited this palace almost a decade ago. This visit was more chilled and not as chaotic as the last time. The open air architecture mixes traditional temple style design with the 1960’s use of concrete and glass. The building really gives me Canberra vibes - think the high court or national library. The use of mustard in the furniture is something that you don’t see as much as you should. The First Ladies lounge, cinema room and pool table was my favourite floor.

After a wander around the palace it was time to wander the streets. The Lottie shopping mall was extravagantly dressed up for Christmas, while the Notre Dame Cathedral has taken on the vibe of its namesake and was dressed in scaffolding. A quick wander past the post office, opera house and government buildings gave that French colonialism vibe, meshed with the surrounding skyscrapers. We checked out the Ho Chi Minh City museum which gave me flashbacks of my tourism masters classes on attraction interpretation. The museum packed cohesiveness in its displays, but made up for that in a lovely old building perfect for a wedding photo shoot.

Maybe it was because it was Sunday, but the whole city seemed very chilled today. Gone was the chaos that plagued my memories from previous visits here. Gone was the hustle and bustle and instead just a relaxing stroll around the pretty streets. It was also a lot cleaner than I remembered it from last time. With rain clouds approaching I called the hotel to summon the speedboat to take us back to the hotel - talk about living the privileged life. Our captain greeted us at the dock and soon we were zooming down the river back to the hotel.

A lovely relaxed few hours taking in the city finished up with me taking a well earned nap before exploring the local neighbourhood later tonight.もっと詳しく