The War Remnants Museum is theoretically dedicated to the independence war from France and to the US-Vietnam war, but practically almost all displays relate to the war with the US. In the courtyard of the museum there are a few tanks, jet planes and a helicopter used by the US army during the war. While the museum is as subjective and propagandistic as all other similar displays we’ve seen in Vietnam, visiting it is a sobering experience, and it does make clear the effects the war had on the population, both in the time of active fighting and in the years that followed after its end, through the effects of the agent orange poison used by the American army.

The Fine Arts Museum, although listed as a major attraction by travel guides, was a bit of a disappointment for me. If you have no idea about Vietnamese art when you go in, you come out with almost as little knowledge as you had before. Explanations are extremely sparse and only the titles of the works of art are translated.

The observation deck on the 49th floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower is a great place to get an overview of Ho Chi Minh City. Unfortunately you can’t go out into the open air – you’re constrained to staying behind windows, some of them less clean than others, which makes taking photos a bit frustrating. But the views, especially at sunset, are nonetheless spectacular.

And while we’re talking about views from above, naturally Daniel and I had to go at least once to a rooftop bar here in Ho Chi Minh City. We went to the Air 360 Sky Lounge, which is very close to the place we were staying. The photos are not great, since they’re made with my phone because I forgot to bring along our photo camera… But the bar was really great and a lot of fun – on the evening we were there, they put on a dance show, a fire show and even a short fireworks display. The cocktails were not cheap, but very good, so we spent a really fun evening there, observing the young and hip locals who were clearly also having a lot of fun.

• A few moments of pure fun with locals, such as when Daniel somehow ended up doing this guy’s job and carrying his heavy load:

Or when we went shopping in a very much improvised mall, and, at one stand, Daniel tried on about 30 pants – and none of them fit! The local lady trying to sell her stuff there was very patient and just laughed with us.

Lows:

• I know that by now I sound like a broken record, but the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City was, just like in Hanoi, really terrible. Crossing the street is, most times, a test of courage, and we had the feeling of risking our lives every time we did it. Makes me appreciate even more the very well regulated and polite way of driving that we have in Switzerland…