Saigon Skydeck

Saigon Skydeck: Bitexco financial Tower observatory in Ho Chi MInh City

Saigon Skydeck is the public name of the observatory located in the 49th floor of Bitexco Financial Tower (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), just under the building's heliport.

Saigon Skydeck

Bitexco Financial Tower - Vietnam

Bitexco Financial Tower - Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam

Saigon's tallest building: Bitexco Financial Tower

Vietnamese skyscrapers

The skyscraper Bitexco Financial Tower with its 262 meters is the tallest building of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the second tallest tower all over Vietnam, only beaten by Keangnam Landmark Tower in Hanoi with a height of 336 meters.

During the year 2010, Bitexco Financial Tower had the honor of being Vietnam ceiling, but that period of time was very short because in 2011 Keangnam Landmark Tower in Hanoi, conquered that title.

In Vietnam this building is also known as Lotus building, due to its design, inspired by a lotus flower, a symbol for Vietnam. However, it has some resemblance with Burj al Arab in Dubai, I guess because of the heliport on one of the sides of the building instead of on the top of the skyscraper.

Luxury cars in Vietnam

Motor: high end cars in Vietnam

I'm always amazed when I see a car, which base price exceed by far thousand of dollars, on the streets of Vietnam. As a note we will say that a car in Vietnam has to pay the so-called import tax, increasing the final price of the vehicle so that a car in Vietnam costs twice as in Europe. Nevertheless, the high price of a high end car doesn't mean we can't see Luxury cars in Vietnam.

We are not talking about the average Mercedes or a BMW... we are talking about Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and above all Bentley.

Transportation in Vietnam

How to move around Vietnam: Transportation

This is a compilation of methods of transportation in Vietnam: airplane, train, bus, motorcycle, bicycle, car, taxi, boat and train.

Transportation in Vietnam

Vietnam War Museum

Vietnam War

Although this blog prefers to focus on the present of Vietnam, its people, its places and all that it offers the visitor... we also think that "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it", that's why we decided to tell you about the Vietnam War Museum.

Vietnam Military History Museum: Vietnam War Tank

Vietnam War Museums

Actually there are several War Museums spread in different cities of Vietnam. We recommend you to visit Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi and Vietnam War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese dress Ao Dai

Vietnamese Dress: Ao Dai (Áo Dài)

Áo Dài, the Vietnamese traditional dress

Ao Dai is a traditional dress in Vietnam. It's also a symbol of Vietnam. Whenever you hear about Vietnam, definitely you will hear about Ao Dai (Áo Dài in vietnamese). Ao dai nowadays is very popular with different designs and colors. Ao dai is written like this 襖長 in chữ Nôm - the old kind of writing of Vietnam.

History of Ao Dai (Áo Dài)

In fact, nobody knows the original history of Ao Dai (Áo Dài). There was no evidence which says about where and when the Ao Dai appeared. At the beginning, we don't know what was the real design of Ao Dai. Researchers show that the Ao Dai (Áo Dài) stared to be wore thousand years ago.

The King Nguyễn Phúc Khoát was considered as a person who discovered and made the áo dài have its form. Until 16th century, Vietnam was still affected by Chinese culture including clothes. To keep Vietnamese's culture, Nguyễn Phúc Khoát said in one of his "law" about the design of Vietnamese's clothes which was similar to Ao Dai nowadays. Because of that reason, Nguyễn Phúc Khoái could be the one who started the history of Ao Dai (Áo Dài).

Vietnamese men and women wore Ao Dai until 1947 when Vietnam got the independence and the government had the campaign: diệt giặc đói, giặc dốt (fight against poverty and illiteracy). On Match 20, 1947, Ho Chi Minh (Hồ Chí Minh) wrote "Đời Sống Mới" (New Life) and told people should stop wearing Ao Dai because it took more material than normal clothes and it was not convenient for people to move, or to work. If we wore normal clothes, we had saved 200 million đồng/ year. Most people joined this campaign and Ao Dai wasn't wore in the North for a long time.

Pictures Hanoi - Vietnam

Pictures of Hanoi (Vietnam)

Pictures of Hanoi: the capital of Vietnam

Pictures of a street restaurant in Hanoi (Vietnam)

Collection of pictures of Hanoi, Vietnam. These are some pictures of a street restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam, where you can taste exotic dishes such as snake, eel, turtle. The restaurant is very close to the central lake of Hanoi and few meters away from the cathedral. This restaurant is frequented by Vietnamese, on the other side of the street, there are lots of fast food restaurants, pizzerias, etc. Funny how the street restaurant was crowed and tourist restaurants (more oriented to foreign customers / tourists), were mostly empty.

Street restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Eating snake with tofu in a street restaurant of Hanoi (Vietnam)

Municipal Theatre Saigon

Municipal Theatre Saigon. Ho Chi Minh city. Vietnam.

Opera House Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city). Vietnam.

Some of the tourist places you can not miss during your trip to Vietnam is the Municipal Theatre, also known as the Opera House. Located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City , district 1 (see Saigon city map), this building was built in 1897 by the architect Félix Olivier, and it is a fine example of the French colonial style.

Municipal Theatre Saigon

Municipal Theatre of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Vietnam

Where to eat in Hanoi

Eating in Hanoi

Hanoi is famous with the old town (phố cổ) which is near Hoàn Kiếm lake. Along with the name "old town", everything here seems to be "old". Hanoi was 1000 years old in 2010. Houses in the old town are tiny. Even the hotels are small, too. The buildings are allowed to have 5 floors only. People said that in some areas, they couldn´t see the light during the daytime.

Hanoi Old Town

Eating in Hanoi is not difficult because there are many places for eating from big restaurants to small vendors. However, eating well is not that easy. We went to many places and some of them are expensive but the food are not value for the price.

Temple of Literature - Hanoi (Vietnam)

Temple of Literature - Hanoi (Vietnam) - Van Mieu (Văn Miếu)

Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Vietnam: Van Mieu (Văn Miếu)

The Temple of Literature is in Hanoi, Vietnam. It's name is Van Mieu (Văn Miếu), which literally means the Temple of Literature. According to the book "Complete history of the great Vietnam", the Temple of Literature was built in honor of Confucius in 1070 by the king Ly Thanh Tong. Although there are several Vam Mieu or Temple of Literature around the whole Vietnam, the one located in Hanoi is, without doubt, the most famous of them all.

Temple of literature, Hanoi, Vietnam. Van Mieu (Văn Miếu)

Vietnam Embassy Madrid

Vietnam Embassy

Vietnam Embassy in Spain

Vietnam embassy: address

The Vietnam Embassy in Spain is in Madrid, on 5 Segre street (zipcode 28002), a few meters from the Real Madrid soccer stadium.

Embassy of Vietnam: Contact Phone

To contact the Embassy of Vietnam in Madrid you should call the phone number +34 91 510 28 67. Their working timetable is from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00. They also have the fax number +34 91 415 70 67.