Travel tales, tips, and photographs from a Southeast Asian backpacker. Follow me on these social networks.

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Vietnam

TravelTuesday Picture of the Week – Reunification Palace (Ho Chi Minh City)

The Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City is one of Vietnam’s most famous landmarks. Designed by Ngo Viet Thu, it was built in 1962 and completed in 1966 to replace the Norodom Palace, an old French colonial palace destroyed during the Vietnam War in 1962. During the war, it was the presidential palace and...

TravelTuesday Picture of the Week: Post Office at Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)

This is the beautiful post office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, designed by Gustave Eiffel. It’s a gorgeous building, both outside and inside, and mailing a post card from here was one of the highlights of my trip. I admit it, the main reason I chose this as my Picture of the Week is...

Day Four (03-Apr-09): In Transit – Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh

On the fourth day of my trip around Southeast Asia, I woke up early, took a shower, and prepared my things. I readied my passport and bus ticket, stuffed my laundry in my one backpack, and made sure I had the essentials on my person. Today, I was going to cross the border from Vietnam...

Day Three (02-Apr-09): Goodnight Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

Day Three was my last full day in Ho Chi Minh City, so I knew I had to make the most out of it. I missed out on a lot of the sights because of the rains on Day One, but Day Three was bright and sunny. I was a little more familiar with the...

The Big Trip – Day Two (01-Apr-09): 100 Meter Crawl (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

The previous night, I’d booked a day trip with Sinh Cafe, one of the many tour companies in the Pham Ngu Lao district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was a trip to visit the Cao Dai Temple as well as the Cu Chi Tunnels. The trip cost 130,000 Vietnamese dong, or the equivalent...

The Big Trip – Day One (31-Mar-09): Moto, Pho, and Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

The flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was approximately two hours and a half long, but when I landed, it was 12:30am. Vietnam is an hour behind the Philippines, so upon landing, I had to adjust my watch and my cellular phone clock. I went through immigration with no problems, and since I didn’t...

When It Rains, It’s Poor: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Day 01

I am currently taking advantage of my hostel’s free internet here in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I arrived here at roughly 12:30am HCMC time (that’s 1:30am Manila time), sought out a hostel based on my research, and after walking around in circles, I found the Duc Vuong Hotel. I was put up in a...