Vietnam.. I did more than just eat!

So a few of you have commented to me that it looks like I did nothing but eat in Vietnam.  I assure you that is not true!!  We had a packed weekend full of awesome activities in Saigon.  I know I gushed about it in my last post, but seriously - I loved Vietnam.

Here is a look at what we actually did when we weren't eating in Ho Chi Minh.  It was a quick weekend.. we flew in after work on Friday and left late afternoon on Sunday, but it's only a 2 hour flight, so the travel was pretty easy.

We stayed at the Cinnamon Hotel, which was recommended to me by some co-workers who had recently visited the city.  It was a nice bed and breakfast style place (with a lot of stairs and no elevator).  Great hospitality and service overall.

Ho Chi Minh is actually kind of difficult to walk around.  There is traffic everywhere and tons of roundabouts that make it hard to cross streets.  The city is definitely not a grid, so figuring out where you are can sometimes be a bit challenging!

Like most Asian cities, street markets were everywhere.

On Saturday, we took a ride out to see the Cu Chi Tunnels.  I hadn't really heard of these tunnels before I moved out to Asia, but they were pretty important in the Vietnam War, and it was fascinating to see.  Definitely worth the two hour taxi ride!

Rice paddy along the way!

Being led by our tour guide

Display of weapons and bombs

Tunnel entrance

There's Stephanie!

The tunnels were designed to be so small that American soldiers couldn't easily fit down there.

Some tunnel entrances were just holes in the ground.  Pretty hard core.

Holes for ventilation were made to look like termite hills

Tunnel entrance.. this one was intense to get in and out of!

There were some temples on the grounds too

After the tour of the tunnels, we headed back into town to get ready for another fun adventure!  We took a motorbike tour of the city!  Saturday  night, we cruised around different districts in Saigon and tasted lots of local foods.  (Those were the majority of the pictures you saw in my last post!)  Honestly, this was the BEST activity.  I'd never been on a motorbike before this, so I was a bit scared at first, but by the end of the night, I was totally comfortable.

SO much fun!!

Sunday, we got up and headed over to the War Remnants Museum.  I had heard that this would be pretty intense to see as an American.  Of course, there are two sides to every story, and I was really interested to see things from the Vietnamese point of view.

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed.  It was a great museum, but it definitely felt very one-sided.  I was looking forward to seeing a more comprehensive viewpoint of the Vietnam War, but this museum was basically a showcase of everything bad that the Americans did.  Obviously, I realize that there were a lot of things that the US Army did that had devastating effects - there was entire exhibit on Agent Orange and the after effects - but the museum just felt very one-sided.  Nonetheless, it was really intense and had tons of information.  Definitely worth the visit, but very sobering on a Sunday morning.

War time propaganda

There was an area dedicated to showing international support for Vietnam

The caption on this photo talks about waterboarding

Before and after shots of Saigon

More before and after.. this is actually the Cu Chi tunnel area that we were at on Saturday.

Crying American soldier

After the museum, we walked over to the Notre Dame cathedral.  Built when Vietnam was French Indochina, this was a beautiful church.  We managed to get there at a time when there wasn't a mass going on.

Wedding photo!

Beautiful altar

I love this style of roof

We also stopped by the post office.. the most glamorous working post office I've ever been in.

Underneath the clocks were old school phone booths, but now they are functional ATMs

Love the arched roof

And finally, some more strolling through the markets

I got home around 10pm on Sunday night, and then Monday at 7:30am I got on a plane and headed to Penang for work.  I've been pretty tired this week, but it's wrapping up, and I'm looking forward to the weekend in Singapore.  

Ps - I finally got back to running this week too!  #RWRunStreak