Top 12 List of Things to Do in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Tourist track Saigon – so much to see and do in so little time!  Top 12

Some choose to avoid Ho Chi Minh City, however, I highly recommend at least a short visit to this vibrant, friendly and historical city.  Below you will find my list of the top 12 things to see and do, in no particular order, with map links.  For costs, entrance fees, tour companies, etc. visit my blog Ho Chi Minh City.

Quoc Tu Pagoda:  Seven stories tall, the Buddhist Pagoda offers great city views.  If you are a spiritual person, each level offers reflection and prayer areas. Google Map

Zagreb Croatia for Beginners

This capital city to Croatia offered us a rude awakening and some wonderful food!  Next stop, Zagreb.

It is a another sunny and hot Thursday and the temperatures are hovering around 38 degrees celsius.  Our last stop was Keszthely, Lake Balaton, Hungary and now, a short 75 km later we arrive at the Croatian border; it is 11:11 am.

We were pulled out at the border, assumedly because I am Canadian; within a painless 5 minutes of some questions and a passport check, they let us go again. A short distance down the road we had to take a toll ticket for highway use, which will be paid when exiting the road.  The final cost for the toll was €6.41.

By 12:30 pm we already arrived at our prebooked apartment. We phoned the guy who was listed as the contact, and then the problems started.  If you want to read about where NOT to stay, read my review.

Cut to downtown Zagreb. We were desperately trying to find a place to park, but could not understand the system, largely because everything was in Croatian. A nice guy sees us trying to figure it out and immediately stepped in to help. So nice when you realize there are still good people out there!  Basically, different colored parking zones indicate whether you can park as well as indicating various price levels.  You find a ticket machine, buy your amount of time and place it in the windshield.  Ticket machines are sometimes hiding ?.

We immediately set about finding a place to try some traditional Croatian food.  Almost immediately we stumbled on Gostionica Restoran Purger – you can read my review by clicking the name.  After lunch, we went to do some sightseeing.

Sights of interest / Must see in Zagreb:
– Republic of Croatia / Marshal Tito Square
–  Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography
– Museum of Arts and Crafts
– National Theater
– Roosevelt Square
– Mimara Art Museum

Now I will venture to say, we probably missed a lot of great sights, and our time was far too short.  In above list is what we managed to fit in before hurrying our way out of the city.

3 pm, full bellies, once again in the car, exiting friendly Zagreb, destination Plivitza / Plitviče Lakes National Park. We have possibly spoke with the one and only asshole in Zagreb when we tried to get check in to our pre-booked apartment – thank goodness we met so many nice people.

Back on the highway, we pull another toll ticket. which costs us 73 kunas / €9.85 exiting the highway.  What are we learning?  Highway tolls add up very quickly.

After almost 2 hours of driving, we arrived at our accomodation for the night, Guesthouse Samolov, just 30 minutes drive from Plitvice / Plivitza.

Tomorrow, Plitviče Lakes National Park!!!