Tour of central Ho Chi Minh City

Yesterday we had a windwhirl tour of central Ho Chi Minh City, in the business district. I have not spent a lot of time reading about the war and the effects on the city, however I only saw a few older buildings. There are many company high rises in this area and the buildings are relatively new. However in a central square was the Notre Dame Cathedral, which looked lovely from the outside..... worth an explore this weekend. I was unable to get a photo of it, simply because I was too close, and I didn't want to risk life and limb moving out onto the road. However across the road was the Central Post Office. This building was built between 1877 - 1883 in a classical French colonial architectural style and is another beautiful old building. The ceiling and the lightening was amazing. Of course coming from the UAE where in every building is a picture of the Sheikhs, I noticed the huge portrait of Ho Chi Minh of whom the city has been renamed after. Apart from the usual postal services the Post Office also has a letter writing service. A man sits at his counter and is able to write your letters, as in correspondence letters, in either Vietnamese, French or English.

Impressions so far:
The people are very friendly and regardless of the language barrier they chat away and smile with you
There are lots of greenry in the way of flowers and trees and a park across the road
There are motorbikes everywhere. With 8 million people in HCMC, and most families own at least 2 motorbikes, there is an awful lot of them on the roads.
The city is very clean, despite the street vendors, food carts, motorbikes, empty sections, demolished buildings
The temperature remains about 36 degrees and its rained on two evenings. Torrential rain is more of an avid description
I feel safe walking on the streets
Crossing the road is an exercise in itself because of the motorbikes going everywhere. You just start walking slowly and keep going and they will go around you, BUT don’t stop.
I’m glad I have come.