Saturday, 22 November 2025: Hop On Hop Off bus in Saigon

Booked our tix on line (sometimes the magic works), breakfast in our hotel and we were ready to roll.  Today is our last full day in Saigon for this trip.  We know we want to come back at the end of our trip but we need to shoe-horn in what we can today.  

First stop today: Reunification Palace, also known as Independence Palace, was the site of the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 that ended the Vietnam War, when a Liberation Army of South Vietnam tank crashed through its gates.  The building has ceremonial rooms where you can just imagine Henry Kissinger negotiating peace.  It is still used today to receive diplomats and similar events.  

 

 

       

I doubt this bedroom is used much these days.

We had an opportunity to hop-off at Behn Thanh market, but since we spent too long there yesterday, we drove on by.  

We bought what we thought were freshly roasted nuts roasted nuts.  Later, we decided they were seeds, but from what?  

Another stop option was at the Saigon Opera House.  Wed walked all around this neighborhood yesterday.  Today, we stayed on our bus.  

    

When we arrived at the park featuring a statue of Ho Chi Minh. we knew were were back in the neighborhood of the water taxi.  

Finished the loop and then a walk back to our hotel.  And, just in time for dinner.  Another grand day!

Friday, 21 November 2025: on the Saigon River

 

     

.  

 We were up early to watch Thursday night football at 7am.  Of course, we’d have been up early anyway, but today there was a reason. 

I didn’t care who was playing so I got caught up on paperwork. 

We sent our laundry out.  That’s a miracle in this part of the world.  

Justin has been fascinated by all the Vinfast electric cars. Almost all the taxis and the charge stations are Vinfast too.  Maybe their owner will be giving Elon Musk a run for his money. 

Tina, at the reception desk, helped me book the tickets for the water bus online before we set out for brunch.  Sometimes the magic works -- I was able to book our food tour on line by myself, but I think because I do not have a Vietnamese credit card, I hit the wall.  Thankyou to Tina.

 We’ve found a great little vegetarian restaurant just outside our hotel.  Today, my favorite was a dish of termite mushrooms with garlic butter sauce.  I think I can copy this at home, with different mushroom to be sure but it should work. 

Next stop, the War Remnants Museum.  Lee Greenwood may be Proud to be an American, but I bet he’s never been to this museum.  I don’t think I took a single picture and that's ok. 

Now, it was time for the water bus taxi.  This mode of transportation is rather new for the people of Saigon and only about half of the planned stops are opened.  A one way trip takes about an hour and costs 30,000VND or about$1.14USD. We left at dusk and watched sunset from the river.  We watched the city change as we progressed from the downtown area, through a more industrial area and out into the burbs.  Along the way we passed the Landmark 81, the tallest building in Vietnam.  Bet you can guess how many floors. When we come back we will want to go up to the sky deck.  

We missed the last bus back so we ended up in a taxi back from Thu Duc district   Even more than an hour away, the taxi back was less than $8.00. 

Indian food for dinner rounded out our day: chaat, tikka masala, biryanis and naan.  Great ending to a great day.