Ho Chi Minh - Rex Hotel

In front of the Rex Hotel 

Situated prominently at the junctions of Le Loi and Nguyen Hue is the Rex Hotel. Once famous for housing the 5 star generals during the Vietnam civil war, it is now the 6 star hotel of the city renowned for its old world charm and fine dining. I had the good fortune to dine on the 5th floor open deck of the hotel on Wednesday 9th, and the weather was fine. My colleague Kannan accompanied me for this trip and we had a very fine Jacob's Creek Shiraz, roasted duck and glazed chicken, Vietnamese fried spring rolls - all for an unbelieveably inexpensive U$ 72 or S$ 95 meal for 2. I would strongly recommend a revisit or for anyone going there for the first time, to take in the sights of the city at the 5th floor of this iconic hotel. It is well worth the visit.    

Statue of Ho Chi Minh handing the keys of the city to a little girl

The traffic around the monument is the same as in all parts of HCM, horribly congested, and crossing the road takes some guts. Do not run. The bikers and drivers will somehow give way to you. So the trick is to walk slowly and inch forward. Look out for the bikes and their projected paths and avoid them. In fact, they will avoid you ! It takes a certain skill to drive in HCM and I have seen foreigners even riding motorbikes with the same skill as the Vietnamese. The cars will liberally use their horns so its best to use all your senses when crossing the streets. Do not take the crossings for granted. The bikes will not stop at times, and even while the rest of the traffic has stopped, the turning lane is still allowing traffic to flow, so be forewarned.  

Signing of the surrender documents between North and South took place at the People's Committee  Hall

The Vietnamese by and large are friendly but beware of conmen and women. A friend told me the story of some people being driven to some place for a 'tiger' show (risque dancing and acting) and end up getting ripped off when they have paid for the entrance fees, they will shout 'police' and everyone runs away leaving the tourists running outside and finding everyone has left. The presence of police are everywhere and it is generally very safe for tourists, but as a rule don't walk outside late in the night.    

                                                                  'King'  Kannan

The lacquer products are generally all handmade. I bought several jewelry and tissue paper boxes made using either clam shells or duck egg shells pounded to a fine size. The craftsman then painstakingly pastes the shells in the shape of the object so each box or container is different. No mass produced handicraft here.

Finally, the Vietnamese people are very polite and frank on the whole. They have endured so much hardships in the past and now while the lassaize-fair economy has the cities buzzing will countless hotels,spas, food joints and  trinket shops, inflation is also a major issue for the locals here.