Welcome to Sai Gon Easy Riders
HO CHI MINH CITY :
Ho Chi Minh City formerly known as Saigon is one of the most important commercial and tourist centres in Vietnam. It is 1,730km by land from Ha Noi capital and 50 km from the East Sea. Saigon was once praised as the "Pearl of the Far East". At present, Ho Chi Minh City is not only a commercial centre, but also a scientific, technological, industrial and tourist one. These are some tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City
We will take you around Ho Chi Minh City from downtown Saigon to Chinatown to get a general view of it as well as its history and culture with stops at Reunification Palace (Ex-Presidential Palace) that was built in 1963 and is well-known as an outstanding example of 1960’s architecture, the War Remmants, passing by Notre Dame Cathedral (built in 1877), the General Post Office. It is optional to see Water Puppet show.
You will visit Giac Lam pagoda that was built in 1744 and is regarded as the oldest pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City. You will also see Thien Hau pagoda built in early 19th century, Chinatown, Binh Tay market, Ben Thanh market. With a stop for a while at a lacquer shop, you can buy some gifts for your friends, beloved relatives.
CU CHI TURNEL:
Located at the threshold of Saigon and adjacent to the revolutionary base, Cu Chi played an important role in the two wars of resistance against the old and new colonial powers. Cu Chi was an "underground village" with its abyss of interlaced tunnels having a combined length of more than 200 km. The main tunnel is 60 - 70 cm wide and 80 - 90 cm high. Above the tunnel is a layer of earth about 3 m- 4 m thick, enough to sustain the weight of 50 -ton tanks or heavy artillery as well as the destruction of bombs up to 100 kg.
Pick you up at your hotel and drive Hoc Mon District to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels 70 kilometers North West of down town Ho Chi Minh City. The Cu Chi Tunnel system had been created long time back, from 1948 to assist Viet Minh in the combat with French. And it was continuing built over 25 years later. It was an underground city with living areas, kitchens, storage, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers. In places, it was housed up to 10,000 people who virtually lived underground for years.... getting married, giving birth. During the American War the entire area of Cu Chi was designated a free fire zone and was heavily bombarded. From 1988, two sections of tunnels have been open for visitors. Be back at your hotel after 4 hours travel & visit.
CAO DAI TEMPLE:
You will visit the Great Temple of Caodaism in Tay Ninh, about 100 km from Ho Chi Minh City. The Temple is built on nine levels that represent nine steps to heaven at which you will see a prayer session at noon. Caodaism is a Vietnamese religion with its philosophy based on Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity. Its tenets include believing in one God, the existence of the soul and the ability to communicate with the spiritual world.
You will visit the Great Temple of Caodaism in Tay Ninh, about 100 km from Ho Chi Minh City. The Temple is built on nine levels that represent nine steps to heaven at which you will see a prayer session at noon. Caodaism is a Vietnamese religion with its philosophy based on Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity. Its tenets include believing in one God, the existence of the soul and the ability to communicate with the spiritual world.
You will stop for about 2 hours to visit Ben Dinh tunnel, a section of the 200 km-long Cu Chi tunnel network that was built over 2 decades and used as an army base during the Vietnamese-American War. You will be amazed at the tunnels with their underground storeys including trap-door, living areas, storage, weapon factories, field hospitals, kitchen, command centres, etc. You can also fire M-16, AK-47, carbine rifle.
ABOUT DONG XOAI:
There are off-the-beaten track destinations, and then there are off-the-map destinations, and Binh Phuoc province and the provincial capital Dong Xoai are soundly the latter.
About 700,000 Vietnamese, including Hoa, Khmer, M'nong, Nung, Tay and Xtieng ethnic tribes inhabit the area, but according to the provincial tourism authority, they receive only about 900 foreign tourists in any given year.
At least that's what they told us. Going on the reaction of the locals during our visit -- utter shock and surprise punctuated by bursts of nervous giggling -- we'd wager they'd be lucky to get a handful a decade.
Part of the problem is the location. It isn't on the way to or from anywhere in particular. To the north, the province borders Cambodia, but there are no crossings -- only a lot of Vietnamese border guards trying to keep those rascally Cambodians from trying to sneak in and make a buck and any poverty-wracked minority groups from fleeing. That means that much of the northern portion of the province is off limits, or hard to visit without a permit. Extremely little English is spoken here -- there are no English menus and no English-speaking travel agents. We did find one guide who spoke French fluently. If you don't bring along a good phrase book, a good translator, or speak Vietnamese, Binh Phuoc can be a tough place to navigate.
But the problem is also that Binh Phuoc is hardly a cornucopia of travel destinations. The Ta Thieng Army Base is one of the better-preserved relics of the war against America, but its value as an attraction has to be weighed against the time and expense of getting there. War detritus sprinkled throughout the province could lure war buffs but other than that, there are only a few water falls -- the best of which, Dakmai, is off limits -- a nice mountain to hike up, some uninspiring "resorts", and vast rubber tree plantations stretching on for hectare after hectare.
While geographically a part of Southeast Vietnam, we've included Binh Phuoc in our Central Highlands coverage as if you're in the province, chances are you're heading further into the Highlands.So, why visit Binh Phuoc? Well, maybe you've been practically everywhere else in Vietnam and you're looking to do it all. Maybe you really love war stuff. Maybe a stiff hike up Ba Ra Mountain is tempting enough because, after all -- it's there. Or, maybe you're tired of being sardined into buses and swindled at every turn, and you need to be reminded what the rest of the population of the country is like -- generous, welcoming, curious about foreigners, and hard at work doing things that have nothing to do with trying to empty your wallet.
The provincial capital Dong Xoai is little more than a roundabout at a crossroads, with development radiating around it and quickly tapering off into countryside. There isn't much to it, but if you come for a visit, you are almost guaranteed to be the only foreigner in town and you'll attract a lot of curious attention.
You'll find a decent range of services here as well as some very acceptable accommodation, and restaurants that all offer very similar menus of strictly Vietnamese fare. Dong Xoai makes a good staging area to see the sites in the rest of the province -- some of the better destinations are closer to the district capitals of Binh Long, Bu Dang, Dong Phu, Loc Ninh and Phuoc Long, but you'll have an even harder time organising tours from these locations than from Dong Xoai -- which is saying a lot. They all have services such as internet and post, banks (but don't count on any ATMs or plan to cash travellers cheques outside Dong Xoai) and at least a couple of decent places to stay in the low- to mid-range if you happen to be there overnight.
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