mytravelbugbite

On our last day in Vietnam we had to get down from Hanoi back to Ho Chi Minh City. Our flight was really early so we had to get a taxi from our hotel to the airport before breakfast had even started. A couple of hours later we were landing in Ho Chi Minh. We had some time before our flight home so we put our bags into storage and caught the local bus into the centre of the city.

Our first destination was to find somewhere for coffee and cake and a quick google search pointed us in the direction of Trung Nguyen Café Legend. Once we found it there was an area inside that was covered in sand with deck chairs to sit in. We had a coffee and a cake in relaxing surroundings which was really lovely.

Next up we wandered down to Ban Thanh market. This is row after row of labyrinthine alleyways jam-packed with all kinds of merch. We bought a suitcase for Fraser as his had got damaged on our flight that morning. It was too hot to spend ages exploring there though so we soon moved on.

Once we left the market we walked up to the War Remnants museum. This has multiple rooms filled with facts, photos and paraphernalia from the Vietnam War. It is devastating and yet fascinating at the same time to see the terrible circumstances those around at the time lived through. The room devoted to the effects of Napalm was particularly harrowing and yet I think it is important for people to see it to try and ensure things like this don’t happen again. Outside the building there are various military machines which Fraser did get quite excited for as he has a keen interest in these. The museum is very much told from the Vietnamese point of view (the Americans do not come off well at all) but this is fair enough considering the location. Despite being so moving it is definitely worth visiting whilst in Ho Chi Minh City.

We then had to leave to make our way back to the airport on the bus ready to check in for our flights home with Qatar Airways (you can see my thoughts on this airline here).

Are there any war museums around the world you would recommend as worth visiting?