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| Nha Trang, Vietnam |
Brunei
The Celebrity Century docked in
Muara which is a 45 minute drive from
Bandar Seri Begawan (the capital of Brunei).
When I did my research for Brunei I had read that there would be limited taxis available to take passengers to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB). To my surprise we encountered many private vehicles and taxis offering rides to BSB while walking away from the cruise terminal in Muara.
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| Map of Muara posted at the cruise terminal |
We decided not to go to the capital of Brunei and chose to explore the area around the port of Muara instead. Since the majority of cruise passengers go to BSB the benefit of staying in Muara is you aren't surrounded by tourists. Granted there isn't much to see in Muara in terms of "tourist attractions" but I'm happy with seeing locals going about their daily lives in a new place. We made our way to Old Town Muara where the shops and bank is located. There are several supermarkets that sell unique snack items and cold drinks at very good prices. We bought some snacks and drinks from the supermarket and made our way back to the cruise terminal since it was extremely hot and humid outside.
Tip: The cruise terminal is air-conditioned and has free WiFi.
Vietnam
The ship made two stops in Vietnam: Nha Trang and Phu My (Ho Chi Minh).
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| Cable cars in Nha Trang to take people to Vinpearl Resort |
The port of
Nha Trang is a tendered port. As we got off the tender there was an outdoor market with several tables set up selling souvenirs a few feet away.
There were a lot of taxis waiting for passengers as they left the port area. I definitely learned the importance of saying a firm "no thank you" to the taxi drivers. I made the mistake of saying "maybe" to a taxi driver and was followed all over the city as I walked away.
While walking around the streets of Nha Trang I saw an alley of what I thought was a market. Turns out it was actually just the alley of people's homes. It was nice to walk through the alley and take a peek into what a local's home looks like from the gates outside.
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| Alley in Nha Trang |
As the sun was particularly strong on this day my family decided not to make Nha Trang a beach day because we didn't want to become "lobsters" (having our skin burnt red). However, we still wanted to explore Nha Trang so walking to Vinpearl Land was our way of accomplishing that.
Vinpearl Land is where you can take the cable car to Vinpearl Resort. To
get to Vinpearl Land we walked along the water and followed the direction of
the cable cars.
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| Almost at Vinpearl Land |
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The entrance to Vinpearl Land has many park benches shaded by trees making it the perfect spot to cool off after the walk from the port. There also is a neat looking fountain to take pictures by.
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| Made it to Vinpearl Land! |
Our second stop in Vietnam was Phu My (Ho Chi Minh). The ship docked in
Phu My which is a 2 hour drive from
Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). When doing my research for this port I found that the best price for a shuttle service to Ho Chi Minh from Phu My was through a Celebrity Shore Excursion called
Saigon On Your Own.
Tip: Ho Chi Minh is easy to navigate on your own without a tour guide. Since we knew where the shuttle would be dropping us off in Ho Chi Minh we used Google Maps to plan out our day. We made sure we visited several of the major landmarks, architectural marvels and famous markets.
On the ride from Phu My to Ho Chi Minh we passed by a lot of motorists
and rice fields. It still amazes me how casual the motorists are about
driving in traffic. They weave around other motorists and people
crossing the street with ease.
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| Motorbikes in action in Ho Chi Minh |
The shuttle dropped us off at the Notre Dame Cathedral.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
From there we followed the itinerary we planned out and walked from landmark to landmark. Our first stop was to see the Saigon Opera House.
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| Saigon Opera House |
Next we walked by City Hall.
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| City Hall |
We then walked into Rex Hotel (which is close to City Hall) to use their washroom facilities.
Tip: The cleanest washrooms in Ho Chi Minh are inside the malls and in fancy hotels.
From there we made our way to Saigon Square to check out the market. After wandering around the market for a little bit we made our way to Ben Thanh Market. This market is more crowded and popular with tourists than the market at Saigon Square.
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| Ben Thanh Market |
On the shuttle ride over to Ho Chi Minh our tour guide mentioned the restaurant Pho 2000. It was made famous when Bill Clinton ate there in 2000. Since we were in the vicinity of Pho 2000 (located on the 2nd floor of a building to the right of the clock tower side of Ben Thanh Market) we ate lunch there.
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| Pho 2000 |
After eating lunch, we made our way towards Bitexco Financial Building (the 2nd tallest building in Vietnam). It has a helicopter landing pad on the side of the building and was quite the architectural marvel to look at.
Our final stop of the day was the Reunification Palace which was formerly the presidential palace. To get there we made our way back towards the Notre Dame Cathedral and Post Office.
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| Notre Dame Cathedral (left) and Post Office (right) |
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| Reunification Palace |
One final note: Crossing the streets in Ho Chi Minh is absolute insanity. The best thing to do is to walk at a steady pace as you cross the street and let the motorists weave around you. I have to admit I silently screamed to myself every time I stepped out onto the streets.
Read Part 2: Singapore here
Read Part 3: Thailand here
