Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

After checking-in at my hotel, I went to the attached bar/restaurant next door and ordered a 333 beer which is a local HCMC beer; was also cooling off before going back outside as it was really hot.  Was going to walk around a bit before eating dinner and hanging out for the evening.

The first place I walked to and stopped at was the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica which is in a nicer part of downtown.  It’s near a lot of museums, malls, restaurants, U.S. Consulate, post office, and the Independence Palace.  Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, officially Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception, is a cathedral established by French colonists.  The cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 190 feet.  All of the original building materials were imported from France.

After seeing the Cathedral, I walked past the U.S. Consulate and then walked and tried to find the Hard Rock Café as I wanted to buy a Hard Rock Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon t-shirt.  After taking a little time trying to find it, I finally did.  It was located on the other side of a mall where I had been.  I had my laptop with me so I was able to get some beers, go online (free Wi-Fi), and buy my tee.  When looking at the tees at the Hard Rock Shop, the girl who worked there spoke very good English and I was talking to her while looking at the tees.  They had some designs with Ho Chi Minh City on them while others had Saigon.  I think I wanted a Saigon shirt more but I liked the HCMC designs better.  We were discussing the differences between the HCMC and Saigon designs and I asked her, ‘does the government have any thoughts on their tees saying Saigon?’  She just gave me a history of the city names (which I already knew).  I was trying to figure out if the city or government frowns upon them using the name Saigon.  But I didn’t get my answer.  I bought a black HCMC design by the way.

Afterwards, I walked to another area of town where there are a lot of hotels, bars, shops, & restaurants and where a lot of foreigners hang out and had dinner at a small semi-outdoor Indian restaurant (which was really good and cheap) and then went to a bar.  At a lot of the bars in HCMC, you sit outside on like lounge chairs on the sidewalk and just people-watch and the waitresses bring your drinks to your chair – or a small plastic table.  It’s very loud.  There are a lot of bars and clubs and they’re all pounding out loud music.  Also, most establishments have like ‘touts’ out on the street trying to get you to go to their bar or club and if you decide to go, they (usually like 4/5 male workers) will surround you and walk you to a chair at their place – so more-or-less, you’re walking forward as a circle is formed around you.  I thought at first, while I’m people-watching, that the whole thing is ludicrous and they’re getting in everyone’s personal space and being obnoxious but then it dawned on me – what they were doing was shielding you from the insane non-stop traffic of mopeds.  So then my view changed – they were making sure you were safe while also giving up their bodies.  They will do a lot of things for a tourist’s dollar I thought.  Also, one last thing: as you walk home to your hotel at night in HCMC – and if you’re a white, western looking male tourist – you’ll be approached countless times by prostitutes thinking you have a lot of money.  Life in HCMC...