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SPEAKING A FOREIGN
language can be nerve-wracking
— you could end up sounding like a stammering fool. But
using a few polite local words and phrases can make a huge
difference (or at the very least not get you screamed at in
the marketplace).
During a recent trip to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon, as it
is still called by many), I made sure I had a list of the sights
I wanted to see and the food I
had to taste, plus extra money
for a little retail therapy. At first I
thought I could rely on my English
and a few hand gestures. But the
problem with hand gestures is that
they could be deemed offensive...
as we soon found out.
north during the Vietnam War. Nowadays, however, every
room appears to be a potential setting for some important
government meeting. For more details on the war (both
brutal and heartbreaking), walk further to the War Remnants
Museum.
Seeing these Saigon sights can be done in a day. Comfy
shoes, a map, and a few words to understand the directions
will help you find your way around the city.
Ho Chi Minh City Museum, 65 Ly Tu Trong St., a ticket costs
VND15,000 (PHP31); Notre Dame Cathedral, Han Thuyen
St.; Central Post Office, 2 Cong Xa Paris; Reunification
Palace, 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, a ticket costs VND30,000
(PHP62); War Remnants Museum, Vo Van Tan St. All in
District 1
Xin chi giùm
trên ban dô
này?
Can you show me on the map?
(Pronounced:
xin jee zum chen baan daw nay
) At the Ho Chi
Minh City Museum, you will see artifacts from the various
periods of Vietnam’s history. The building itself is noteworthy,
designed in a neoclassical style and with a striking staircase
in the center of the lobby. So don’t be surprised if you see
several couples having their pre-nuptial photo sessions here.
From the museum, Notre Dame Cathedral is a 10-minute
walk passing by Cong Vien Van Hoa Park. The towering
trees in the park, next to the beautiful 19th century red brick
church with its iron spires, make for a very scenic stroll. For
more beautiful architecture, head to the city’s Central Post
Office building right across the church. Gothic in style, it bears
Vietnam’s French Indochina past. And while you write a
postcard for someone back home, you can also mention that
Gustave Eiffel, the architect behind the Eiffel Tower, was the
same designer of the post office where you’re writing from.
The Reunification Palace (formerly referred to as
Independence Palace) is also walking distance from the
cathedral or the museum. It’s where the first communist tanks
in Saigon crashed through when the city surrendered to the
06CA Smile
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