Ho Chi Minh City is an excellent base location for one-day trips in South Vietnam. We went for two such trips – Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta.
Day 1 – Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple
We booked this trip online through Get Your Guide. The pickup point was in HCMC District 1 like most day trips from HCMC.
The first stop was the Cao Dai temple where the religion of Caodaism was founded. This religion started in Vietnam as recently as 1926. It combines teachings from some of the major religions of the region – Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
Cao Dai Temple – the one where the religion was founded
You can also find Jesus and some Hindu Gods sculpted inside the temple halls.
Ho Chi Minh City, or popularly, Saigon, is the biggest metropolitan city and the financial centre of Vietnam. It was the capital of the erstwhile South Vietnam and was renamed after the unification with North Vietnam. Though things have changed over the last few decades, you can still see how the vastly different political ideologies have shaped the cultures of Vietnam as you move from North to South. We flew in from Da Nang for what would be the third and last part of our Vietnam trip.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is like most other metropolitan cities and the area of interest for visitors is District 1 (this district is still referred to as Saigon). We had booked an Airbnb studio apartment in the same district (tips on booking places to stay and local travel) for proximity.
