Day 6

Since it’s Saturday, we finally got a break from the classes and the company visits. Instead, we all went a tour of some of the prominent buildings in the city. Of course, the one day we’ll be spending a lot of time outside is when it’s the most hot and humid. Our first stop was at the Reunification Palace which was built as a palace for Ngo Dinh Diem, but was captured and destroyed by the north during the war. (I’m not sure how accurate that description was). It was then rebuilt and open to the public in the 1990’s. It was a beautiful building, but unfortunately, there was no air conditioning so we were all completely drenched in the sweat the entire time. We saw the different rooms such as the dining hall, casino, movie room, etc. as well as the basement which was also a bomb shelter.  There were different staircases and hallways that we walked through under there. It was really interesting to learn more about its history, but it would’ve been more enjoyable if it wasn’t a sauna in there.

Reunification Palace

Our lovely tour guide with Ho Chi Minh

Next we headed over to the post office. We didn’t see much of it though since everyone headed directly to the gift shop. I got a few souvenirs for my friends then it was already time to leave.

Our last stop was at a Buddhist temple. My family is Buddhist so I’ve been to a few temples, but this one surpassed all the ones I’ve seen. There were so many beautiful statues and decorations.  One thing we found odd was the swastika on the Buddha statues. There were also a lot of beggers that were roaming the place. This one woman followed us around until we left and this man came up to me to ask for money for food. We’ve seen many beggers during this trip but none that were as forward and pushy as these. It was pretty uncomfortable.

Afterwards, since we all wanted to get more souvenirs, we asked the UEF students to come with us to Ben Thanh market. It’s like an indoor flea market so we needed their help to bargain. This market is mostly tourists so the vendors usually target foreigners to give them a higher price. I went with Tam, Alex and Kathy since we all had to split up into groups. There were so many different vendors and buyers there. It wasn’t as busy as it usually is, but it was still very hard to get around or even breathe. You would have to ask how much it is and bargain to a good price. I didn’t get too much since I was bargaining too low and no one would sell it to me at those prices. I really need to brush up on my haggling skills.

We then went for dinner at a karaoke bar with the UEF students. We got our own private room which I didn’t expect. Not too many people went up to sing. It was mostly Ricky and Eric up there but it was pretty entertaining. My favorite part was when they played Sweet Caroline, and we did what we do after the 3^rd quarter of a pitt football game. It was a lot of fun. I’m sure the UEF kids were very confused, but they seemed to enjoy it.

Once we got back, we all decided we wanted to go out so we all headed over to Lush which is a nightclub. The lights were a little crazy. I thought I was going to have a seizure, but luckily, after a while, you get used to it. The dance floor was completely packed when we were down there. Overall, it was a really fun night.