It's been two years since I visited Vietnam for the first time in my life and I could take a look around Hanoi. Since then, I've been to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon), the center of the Southern part of the country, and looks like it's also the most advanced city in Vietnam too. Both culture, both economy-wise. And on my third trip, finally I had one full day for sightseeing, and now I'll share my experience with you...
最初にベトナムに行った時からもう2年も経ってるね。
その時にちょっとハノイの観光ができて。
それからホーチミン市（元の名前でサイゴン）に3回も行ったことあるよ。
ベトナムの南の部分のセンターとして、国の一番発展してる町にも見えるよ。
文化的にも、経済的にも。
で、3回目の時に、やっと観光する時間もちょっとできて、見たのを皆にシェアするね…
Originally I was supposed to fly there on Monday morning and come back with a flight on Saturday morning, but in the end, typhoon Faxai had the final say in it... Thanks to a change in my flights, I went there on Tuesday morning and came back with a late-night flight on Saturday. My hotel was in the city center, in District 1, which is also called the Japanese District, as many Japanese people live in the area and it's filled with Japanese shops and restaurants too. As most of the sights were close enough on foot too, I used my sudden free time on Saturday to check out a few of them.
元々のプランだと、月曜日の朝の便で行って、土曜日の朝の便で帰る予定だったが、ファクサイ台風がちょうどやってきちゃったね。
そのせいで、便が結構変わって、行きが火曜日の朝に、帰りが土曜日の深夜の便になったよ！
で、ホテルが1区にあって、色んな名所が歩いても近かったよ！
（ちなみに、その1区に沢山の日本人が住んでるし、日本の店やレストランが沢山あるし、日本の区みたいな名前もあるみたいね。）
それで、急に出てきた土曜日の空いてる時間で色んな所に行ったね！
First I went to the old Post Office, that looks like it was built by the European colonizers a long time ago. On the inside, it looks more like a huge gift shop for tourists than a post office, but it seems to have kept its original functionality too. :) Almost in front of it stands the Notre Dame Cathedral (yeah, it's not the one in Paris), that is being renovated right now, so it was closed. But at least I could take a look from the outside. :)
先ずは、昔の郵便局の建物を見に行ったね。
昔のヨーロッパ人達が建てたらしい。
中に入ったら、郵便局よりデッカいお土産の店に見えるけどね。
元々の役割もまだやってるみたいけど。 :)
近くにノートルダム大聖堂もあるよ！
（パリスのじゃないけど…）
残念ながら、それは今リニューアル中で、完全に閉まってるね…
まぁ、せめて外からちゃんと見れてよかったと思うけどね！ :)
The Independence Palace, a.k.a. the Reunification Palace is also nearby. A long time ago, it was home to the leadership of South Vietnam, until it got occupied by the Northern army. The building itself lies in the middle of a huge park, with a few cafes and restaurants around it. In th park, you can see the replicas of the tanks that broke through the gates of the palace first. And there's an old Southern fighter jet too, not far from them.
独立宮殿、他の名で統一会堂も中々近かいよ。
前は、南ベトナムの政府の拠点だったね。
北のほうの軍隊がその宮殿を制圧するまでね。
で、建物自体が、広い公園の真ん中にあって、周りにちょっとしたカフェやレストランがあるね。
その公園にゲートを破って、最初に入ってきた北の戦車のレプリカもあるよ！
南の戦闘機と一緒にね。
Inside the building itself, you can see the old conference rooms, where the Southern cabinet had its meetings and where they talked with the American diplomats / generals. You can also check out the private areas of the president and his family, from the president's office to the dining area to the bedroom. And to the presidential cinema. As the palace had one too. :) And in the basement, you can take a walk in the old bunkers, that were built to provide shelter against the usual attacks. Sometimes it felt like the walls were thicker than the width of the passages... :D All in their original form, straight from the '70s.
建物の中は、元の70年代のまま。
南の政府が使っていた色んな空間が元の姿で見れる。
政府が使っていた会議室や、アメリカの偉い人達と会議した部屋が。
後、大統領とその家族のプライベート生活の所まで。
大統領の仕事部屋やダイニングや寝室等。
ちなみに映画館もあったよ、本物の！ :)
地下に行くと、皆を一般的な攻撃から守ってくれるバンカーの中でもちょっとした散歩ができるよ。
何か、廊下の幅より壁のほうが分厚い気がしたね… :D
After coming out of the palace, I had a nice walk in the park to the Southwest from it, then I had a short lunchbreak in my favorite udon place. Alright, it's not a very original Vietnamese place, but that chain has a shop next to our office building in Tokyo too that I visit about once a week. And when I noticed that they have a restaurant in Vietnam too, I just had to try it! :D I'm not sure what I ordered in the end, but the end result was a bowl of udon noodles with lots of Vietnamese flavors. :) I'll gladly go there again. :)
統一会堂から出てきたら、そこから南西のほうにある公園でちょっと散歩に行ったね。
そして、大好きな丸亀製麺のお店を見つけたんだ！
まぁ、特にベトナムらしいお店じゃないが、東京のオフィスの近くにも店舗があって、毎週そこでうどんを食べたりしてるよ。
なので、ベトナムにもお店があると知ったら、「絶対に試してみないと！」と思ったね！
結局、何を食べたかがあまり詳しく知らないが、何かベトナム風味のうどんの気がしたね。 :D
また行きたいなぁ！ :)
After lunch, I walked to Saigon Skydeck, an observation deck in the Bitexco Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the city. You can check the view of the whole city from there and take some very nice pics too! Even though the 49th floor is not exactly the top of the world. Well, it wasn't exactly the top of the building either. :)
ランチの後、サイゴン・スカイデッキに行ったね。
スカイデッキは、Bitexcoタワー、町の大体一番高い建物に入ってる展望台だよ。
ここからの町の風景も綺麗だし、展望台を回って色んな綺麗な写真も撮れたんだ！ :)
まぁ、49階だけど、相当高いとは言えないけどね。
ビル自体ももっと高いし。 :)
As for the next event after coming down from the tower, I never saw it coming. If someone had told me the day before that the first time I participate in a Pride parade would be in Vietnam, I would have laughed right in their face. But that's exactly what happened next. :D As the Ho Chi Minh City Pride was organized right on that afternoon, right near the tower and I got right into the middle of it. However, for some reason it looked like there weren't too many policemen, fences or haters around, unlike in Hungary. It must be some kind of local custom or something... :D
次に起こったのは、絶対予想できるはずはなかった。
前日に、「プライドパレードの人生初の参加が、ちょうどベトナムになるよ」って言われたら、皮肉でちょう笑ったんだよ！
でも、次に起こったのは、ちょうどそれだったよ！ :D
ホーチミン市のプライドが、ちょうどその日に、ちょうどその場所に行われたんだよ。
そして、気付いたらちょうどその真ん中にいたよ。
まぁ、なぜかハンガリーみたいに警察や塀や暴力を振るってるプロテスト等がなかったけど…
何か、これは「ベトナムの習慣」って奴かな… :D
After that, I didn't have much time left until having to go to the airport, but I jumped into a nearby cafe for a last cup of coffee. By the way, the Vietnamese are very good at brewing coffee, at least they're uncomparably better than the Japanese... :D The one that I had is a famous local brand, at least I saw its logo all over the city, and my local teammates are quite fond of it too. And, well, it tasted very nice! :)
その後は、もう空港に行くまでの時間があまり長くなかったが、近くのカフェにコーヒーを飲みに入ったね。
ベトナムのコーヒーがすっごく美味しいよ！
正直に、日本より何倍も上手だと思うね… :D
飲んだブランドは、ベトナムで何か有名なブランドだそうです。
町で歩いたら、あちこちでそのロゴが見えたし、ベトナムの同僚達も中々お勧めしてたよ。
そして、本当に美味しかった！ :)
From there, the next stop was the airport and the way home, to the greater joy of my dear wife. :D Of course, only after going back to my hotel to get my stuff. I almost timed my return to the hotel perfectly, as it started raining quite heavily in the evening, just in time for me to get totally drenched before reaching the hotel. And it never stopped for a second until I got to the airport. Well, that's how my Saturday looked like. Sometime in the future, I'd like to spend some more free time in and around the city too. There are lots of nice places around. :) And below this, you can check some more nice photos, if you'd like. :)
その後はもう、本当に空港に行って、日本に帰る時間が来たよ。
妻が喜んでくれるようにね。 :D
まぁ、先ずは、荷物を取りにホテルに戻ったけどね。
ほとんど「間に合った」ね。
なぜなら、夜にはちょうど大雨が降ってきたね。
ホテルに戻ったら、もうビショビショに濡れちゃったね、ちょうど。
その土曜日、大体こんな感じだったね。
また行きたいね。
また行って、もうちょっと長い時間過ごして、周りの色んな所に行きたい。
周りに綺麗な場所がいっぱいあるからね。 :)
で、下記のリンクで色んな写真を載せたから、見てみてね！ :)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MRCZztuuTerd7mCz9
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