Other sights in Vietnam
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Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
The outstanding Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is one of the country’s premier museums. Occupying a fine modern structure, the terrific collection features well-presented tribal art, artefacts and everyday objects gathered from across the nation. Displays are well labelled in Vietnamese, French and English. For anyone with an interest in Vietnam’s minorities, it’s an essential visit – though it is located way out in the suburbs.
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Long Son Pagoda
This striking pagoda was founded in the late 19th century and has been rebuilt several times over the years. The entrance and roofs are decorated with mosaic dragons constructed of glass and bits of ceramic tile. The main sanctuary is a hall adorned with modern interpretations of traditional motifs. Note the ferocious nose hairs on the colourful dragons wrapped around the pillars on either side of the main altar.
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Mariamman Hindu Temple
This is the only Hindu temple still in use in HCMC and is a little piece of southern India in the centre of town. Though there are only a small number of Hindus in HCMC, this temple is also considered sacred by many ethnic Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese. Indeed, it is reputed to have miraculous powers. The temple was built at the end of the 19th century and dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mariamman.
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Ben Dinh
The most visited of the tunnel sites, this small, renovated section of the tunnel system is near the village of Ben Dinh, about 50km from Ho Chi Minh City. In one of the classrooms at the visitors centre, a large map shows the extent of the network; the area shown is in the northwestern corner of greater Ho Chi Minh City. The tunnels are marked in red, Viet Cong bases in light grey and the river in light blue (the Saigon River is at the top). Fortified villages held by South Vietnamese and US forces are marked in grey, while blue dots represent the American and South Vietnamese military posts that were supposed to ensure the security of nearby villages. The dark blue area…
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Kim Lien
Ho Chi Minh’s birthplace in Hoang Tru, and the village of Kim Lien, where he spent some of his formative years, are 14km northwest of Vinh. For all that these are popular pilgrimage spots for the party faithful, there’s little to see other than recreated houses of bamboo and palm leaves, dressed (barely) with a few pieces of furniture.
Ho Chi Minh was born in Hoang Tru in 1890 and raised there till 1895, when the family moved to Hue. They returned in 1901, but it was to the house in Kim Lien, about 2km from Hoang Tru. Not far from this house is a shrine-like museum, enclosed by pale green walls. If you want to hit the real motherlode of Ho Chi Minh memorabilia, drop b…
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Cat Ba National Park
This accessible national park is home to 32 types of mammals – langurs and macaques, wild boar, deer, civets, several species of squirrel including the giant black squirrel – and more than 70 species of birds, including hawks, hornbills and cuckoos. The golden-headed langur is officially the world’s most endangered primate with around 65 remaining, most in this park. Cat Ba lies on a major migration route for waterfowl, which feed and roost on the beaches in the mangrove forests. Over a thousand species of plants have been recorded here, including 118 trees and 160 plants with medicinal value. The park is also home to the Cay Kim Gao tree. In ancient days, kings and noble…
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Ben Duoc Tunnels
Many Vietnamese and the odd foreign visitor make it to the Ben Duoc tunnels. The tunnels here have been enlarged to accommodate tourists and feature a number of sights within the underground chambers themselves. The emphasis here is more on the fun fair rather than the history of the tunnels. Hence visitors can don guerrilla costumes and gear before scraping through the tunnels in order to feel like a ‘real’ VC soldier. Inside are bunkers, a hospital and a command centre that played a role in the 1968 Tet Offensive, and the set pieces include tables, chairs, beds, lights, and dummies outfitted in guerrilla gear (aside from your fellow tourists, that is). Although it’s amu…
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Tam Thanh and Nhi Thanh Caves
There are two large and beautiful caves in the suburbs of Lang Son. Both are illuminated, which makes for easy exploration, and have Buddhist altars inside. Tam Thanh Cave is vast and seductive. There’s an internal pool and a viewing point or natural ‘window’ offering a sweeping view of the surrounding rice fields. Just a few hundred metres up a stone staircase are the ruins of the Mac Dynasty Citadel. It’s a lovely, deserted spot, with stunning views across the countryside. The Nhi Thanh Cave entrance has a series of carved poems written by the cave’s discoverer, a soldier called Ngo Thi San, in the 18th century. There’s also a carved stone plaque commemorating a…
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Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Centre
Just a few kilometres down the road from the tunnels of Ben Dinh, this rescue centre is a welcome addition to the sites around Cu Chi. It’s a small centre dedicated to the protection of wildlife that has been confiscated from owners or illegal traders. Animals here include Asiatic black bear, otter, gibbon and even a leopard. The centre is expanding its enclosures to create more comfortable habitats and there is an informative display on the rather depressing state of wildlife in Vietnam, including the ‘room of death’ featuring a host of traps and baits. Donations welcome or purchase some of the merchandise on sale. It’s tough to navigate these back roads on your own, so …
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Le Van Duyet Temple
Dedicated to Marshal Le Van Duyet (1763–1831), this temple is also his burial place, alongside his wife. The marshal was a South Vietnamese general and viceroy who helped put down the Tay Son Rebellion and reunify Vietnam. When the Nguyen dynasty came to power in 1802, he was elevated by Emperor Gia Long to the rank of Marshal. Le Van Duyet fell out of favour with Gia Long’s successor, Minh Mang, who tried him posthumously and desecrated his grave. Emperor Thieu Tri, who succeeded Minh Mang, restored the tomb, thus fulfilling a prophecy of its destruction and restoration. Le Van Duyet was considered a national hero in the South before 1975, but is disliked by the commun…
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Women’s Museum
Hanoi’s Women’s Museum is the subject of an ongoing modernisation program that is introducing better displays and updated facilities. It’s a work in progress, so you might encounter some ongoing renovations. There are some powerful tributes to women soldiers and great exhibits from the international women’s movement protesting against the American War. And there’s much more in terms of cultural and political information. On the 4th floor, you’ll find different costumes worn by the women of the ethnic minority groups, and examples of tribal basketware and fabric motifs. Many of the exhibits have multilingual explanations, and regular exhibitions are held on topics as d…
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Guangzhou Assembly Hall
In a fantastic location facing the Can Tho River, Chua Ong (Ong Temple) is set inside the Guangzhou Assembly Hall and is one of the most interesting religious sites in town. It was originally built in the late 19th century to worship Kuang Kung, a deity symbolising loyalty, justice, reason, intelligence, honour and courage, among other merits. It is designed to symbolise the Chinese character for nation, with rows of enclosed sections laid out symmetrically. Approaching the engraved screen, the right side is dedicated to the Goddess of Fortune and the left side is reserved for the worship of General Ma Tien. In the centre of the temple is Kuang Kung flanked by the God of …
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Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum
In the tradition of Lenin and Stalin before him – and Mao afterwards – Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is a monumental marble edifice. Contrary to his desire for a simple cremation, the mausoleum was constructed from materials gathered from all over Vietnam between 1973 and 1975. The roof and peristyle are said to evoke either a traditional communal house or a lotus flower, though to many tourists it looks like a concrete cubicle with columns. Set deep in the bowels of the building in a glass sarcophagus is the frail, pale body of Ho Chi Minh. The mausoleum is closed for about two months each year while Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed corpse goes to Russia for maintenance.
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Old French Prison & Museum
The Old French Prison & Museum in Son La was once the site of a French penal colony where anticolonial revolutionaries were incarcerated. It was destroyed by the infamous ‘off-loading’ of unused ammunition by US warplanes that were returning to their bases after bombing raids, but it has been partially restored. Rebuilt turrets and watchtowers stand guard over the remains of cells, inner walls and a famous lone surviving peach tree. The tree, which blooms with traditional Tet flowers, was planted in the compound by To Hieu, a former inmate from the 1940s. To Hieu has subsequently been immortalised, with various landmarks now named after him.
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Hospital Cave
This oozes historical significance, as it served both as a secret, bomb-proof hospital during the American War and as a safe house for VC leaders. Built between 1963 and 1965 (with assistance from China), this incredibly well-constructed three-storey feat of engineering was in constant use until 1975. A guide (most know a few words of English) will show you around the 17 rooms, point out the old operating theatre and take you to the huge natural cavern which was used as a cinema (and even had its own small swimming pool). The cave is about 10km north of Cat Ba Town on the road to the national park entrance.
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National School
One of the most famous secondary schools in Vietnam, the National School was founded in 1896 and run by Ngo Dinh Kha, the father of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem. Many of its pupils later rose to prominence: General Vo Nguyen Giap, strategist of the Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu and North Vietnam’s long-serving deputy premier, defence minister and commander-in-chief; Pham Van Dong, North Vietnam’s prime minister for more than a quarter of a century; and Do Muoi, former Communist Party secretary-general and prime minister. Ho Chi Minh attended the school briefly in 1908.
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Temple
Built into the northern side of the Japanese Covered Bridge is a small temple. According to legend, there once lived an enormous monster called Cu which had its head in India, its tail in Japan and its body in Vietnam. Whenever the monster moved, terrible disasters befell Vietnam. This bridge was built on the monster’s weakest point and killed it, but the people of Hoi An took pity and built this temple to pray for its soul. The writing over the temple door is the name given to the bridge in 1719: Lai Vien Kieu (Bridge for Passers-by from Afar). However it never quite caught on.
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Phuoc Lam Pagoda
This pagoda was founded in the mid-17th century. The head monk at the end of that century was An Thiem, a Vietnamese prodigy who became a monk at the age of eight. When he was 18, the king drafted An Thiem’s brothers into his army to put down a rebellion. An Thiem volunteered to take the places of the other men in his family and eventually rose to the rank of general. After the war he returned to monkhood, but felt guilty about the many people he had slain. To atone for his sins, he volunteered to clean the Hoi An market for 20 years, then joined this pagoda as its head monk.
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Nguyen Trung Truc Temple
This temple is dedicated to Nguyen Trung Truc, a leader of the resistance campaign of the 1860s against the newly arrived French. Among other exploits, he led the raid that resulted in the burning of the French warship Esperance. Despite repeated attempts to capture him, Nguyen Trung Truc continued to fight until 1868, when the French took his mother and a number of civilians hostage and threatened to kill them if he did not surrender. Nguyen Trung Truc turned himself in and was executed by the French in the marketplace of Rach Gia on 27 October 1868.
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Rung Tram
Southeast of Cao Lanh and accessible by boat tour is the 52-hectare Rung Tram near My Hiep village. The area is one vast swamp with a beautiful thick canopy of tall trees and vines. It’s one of the last natural forests left in the Mekong Delta and by now probably would have been turned into a rice paddy were it not for its historical significance. During the American War the Viet Cong (VC) had a base here called Xeo Quyt, where top-brass VC lived in underground bunkers. But don’t mistake this for another Cu Chi Tunnels – it’s very different.
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Tay Phuong Pagoda
This is also known as Sung Phuc Pagoda and consists of three single-level structures built in descending order on a hillock said to resemble a buffalo. The figures representing ‘the conditions of man’ are carved from jackfruit wood, many dating from the 18th century, and are the pagoda’s most celebrated feature. The earliest construction here dates from the 8th century. Take the steep steps up to the main pagoda building, then find a path at the back that loops down past the other two pagodas and wander through the hillside village surrounding the complex.
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Phong Nha Cave
The largest and most stunning cave in Vietnam is Phong Nha Cave. It was reliably mapped for the first time only in 1990, by an expedition led by the British Cave Research Association. Further exploration has revealed that Phong Nha Cave alone is nearly 55km long, though only the first kilometre is open to visitors. The name means Cave of Teeth, but the ‘teeth’ (stalagmites) by the entrance are long gone. The cave is an incredible otherworldly landscape to explore – except for the garish lights that illuminate certain formations.
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Bach Ma Temple
In the heart of the Old Quarter, the small Bach Ma Temple is said to be the oldest temple in the city, though much of the current structure dates from the 18th century and a shrine to Confucius was added in 1839. It was originally built by King Ly Thai To in the 11th century to honour a white horse that guided him to this site, where he chose to construct his city walls. Pass through the wonderful old wooden doors of the pagoda to see a statue of the legendary white horse, as well as a beautiful red-lacquered funeral palanquin.
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Nui Coc Reservoir
A scenic spot popular with locals, Nui Coc Reservoir is 25km west of Thai Nguyen. It’s a pretty stretch of water and a major drawcard for Hanoi residents looking to get away from it all. On summer weekends it can get particularly crowded. A one-hour, circular motorboat tour of the lake is the thing to do and costs about 250,000d. You can use the water park’s swimming pool for 20,000d, and also rent rowboats. It could be worth a visit if you’re travelling to Ba Be National Park, with your own wheels, and fancy a dip.
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Cu Chi War History Museum
The small Cu Chi War History Museum is not actually at the tunnel sites but just off the main highway in the central area of the town of Cu Chi. Almost all of the explanations are in Vietnamese. There are a few gruesome photos showing civilians who were severely wounded or killed following American bombing raids, and a list of Viet Cong guerrillas killed in the Cu Chi area. Overall, it’s rather disappointing and doesn’t warrant a visit. Most travellers find Ho Chi Minh City’s War Remnants Museum far more edifying.
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