Attending a Catholic Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church ( Cha Tam Church), HCMC, Vietnam

We went to St. Francis Xavier Church, better known locally as Cha Tam Church (Nhà thờ Cha Tam). It’s the most historically significant Catholic church in Chợ Lớn (Saigon’s Chinatown) and carries a remarkable blend of Chinese–Vietnamese–Catholic heritage.

What makes this church special is its rare East–West architectural fusion. Cha Tam Church is famous for its Gothic Catholic structure infused with Chinese decorative elements which is a visual expression of the Chinese Catholic community it was built to serve.

Although its official name is St. Francis Xavier Church, the locals call it Cha Tam after Father Pierre d’Assou (Đàm Á Tố), a French missionary who devoted his life to the Chinese Catholic community. Father Pierre was beloved as he learned multiple Chinese dialects to minister the community effectively. He led the fundraising and construction of the church (completed in 1902) and his tomb is located right at the church entrance.

What I found interesting about St. Francis Xavier church was its dramatic moment in Vietnamese History. In the 1963 Coup, President Ngô Đình Diệm and his brother Ngô Đình Nhu sought refuge in this church during the military coup. They prayed inside the church before surrendering. Although they were guaranteed safe passage by the military. However, they were captured upon leaving the premises and assassinated en route to military headquarters. This event forever tied the church to the political history of South Vietnam.

Cha Tam Church was built specifically for the Chinese Catholic community of Chợ Lớn. It was built on land donated by nine Chinese owners and funded by both Catholic and non-Catholic Chinese merchants. It served as a center for Chinese-language Masses (still held today). We attended an evening Mandarin Mass there.

We found that St. Francis Xavier Church was quieter than major tourist churches like Notre-Dame Basilica. The courtyard was peaceful, shaded, and decorated with Chinese calligraphy. It’s near Chợ Lớn, Chinartown.

After attending the mass, we went there and it was busy with many herbal shops, dim sum eateries and street vendors selling street food. Being there at night time, we could not see things too clearly. But at least we could check it off our Vietnamese to see list. RT, St. Francis Xavier Church, Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam, O22026 🏛️

War Renmant Museum - Learning About the Devastating Effects of Agent Orange, Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam

I am never interested in wars or visiting museums about any wars. However, since the Vietnam war was such an influencial period in my life when I heard so much daily reporting about it from the media, I made an exception and was willing to go with my family to visit the War Renmant Museum while we were in Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam.

Inside the building on the main level, we entered into a large hall with a gigantic screen showing video clippings of the brief history of the war and the attacks experienced by Vietnam and its people.

There were exhibits about the brief history of Vietnam, the French's attempt to hold onto its colonial power, how the Vietnam war came about, the American bombings and the heroic sacrifices and resistance of the Vietnamese people.

In the open space right in front of the museum, there were displays of the renmants of the American war planes and the bombs used in the bombing of the Vietnam War

. THE interesting part of the display for me was the pictures of the Vietnamese women participating in the resistance and their courageous and dangerous efforts in transporting the essential supplies to their soldiers.

I liked the fact that the museum recognized and honoured the contributions of the Vietnamese women in their fight for freedom for their country.

There was a nice resting area at the entrance to the museum building where visitors could rest, and ordered cold and hot beverages. While I was going through the exhibits in detail, I was glad that there was a nice place where my family could rest in a shady spot so that I could take my time to learn about the history of this horrific war.

The moment that affected me deeply was reading about the use of Agent Orange by the American military and its lifelong lasting harmful effects on Vietnamese and their children years after its use.

It was heartbreaking to see the pictures of deformed children and read about their plights during the war and the post war period. About 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange and over 3 million of them were its victims. Agent Orange could cause complex and diverse effects on all parts of the human body such as skin cancer, disorder of liver, thyroid, diabetes, respiration and circualtion systems etc.

Common diseases in children and grandchildren of the Agent Orange victims include complete or partial paralysis, blindness, dumbness, deafness, mental illness and retardation, deformities, birth defects and cancer. Especially in Vietnam, Agent Orange many be transmiited across generations and its sequelae have transmitted to the 4th generations.

So sad to learn about all the destructions and damages done to this country and its people. Unfortunately, it seems that man has yet to learn from the lessons of the past history and the tremendous harm and cost of war!

  RT, War Renmant Museum

  Day 2

  HCMC, Vietnam, 2026

Our First Night in Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam

The flight from Quy Nhon was comfotable and smooth, it only took about an hour. We booked a hotel near downtown as we wanted to be close to some of the attractions. What a difference between a small city in Vietnam from Ho Chi Ming City!

After we checked into our hotel, we took a walk around the hotel area to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood. There were numerous restaurants serving many different kinds of food and we stopped at one looking at the menu. A gentleman outside the restaurant greeted us warmly and explained to us the menu's specialities. It was a vegetarian restaurant and it looked quite nice. We decided to give it a try and had our dinner there.

The food was not bad at all! The restaurant was busy and the wait was a little longer than we had expected. But the gentleman had a good conversation going keeping my husband entertained.

We have heard of HO CHI MING CITY - HCMC for a long time. I couldn't believe that we are actually here visiting this famous city. We look forward to exploring and learning more about this city in the next few days!

 

 RT, HCMC, Vietnam, 2026

Hotel Reviews in Quy Nhon, Vietnam

This was our first time visiting Vietnam. We love pur experience in this beautiful country. What added to our experience and made it wonderful was how afforadable the hotel cost was.

We stayed in two hotels in Quy Nhon. The first hotel was called Le Mint. Though not fronting the water, Le Mint was beautifully furnished, close to town and a short walk to the beach.

As with most hotels we have stayed at during this trip to Vietnam, most of them provided a FREE delicious buffet breakfast with numerous items ranging from fresh fruits, salads, cold cuts to a full hot breakfast with Asian and western food.

There was one thing I liked about the dining room of this hotel - we sat in an open area dining room enjoying both the mountain view and the view of the swimming pool and common area right besdie where we were having our breakfast .

The combined view of the mountains in the distance and the city below us as well as the view of the swimming pool was so beautiful that we lingered at our table for a long time after breakfast, sipping our coffee and immersing ourselves in this relaxing atmosphere.

We almost stayed at this hotel for our entire duration in Quy Nhon simply for the delicious breakfast and the fabulous mountain view. However, during our stroll around town the night before, we discovered the 5 star oceanfront hotel was not as outrageously expensive as we thought, we decided that we would move over there for the rest of our stay. Our second hotel was an oceanfront hotel - the Anya Premier Hotel in Quy Nhon.

The best hotel we have stayed at so far! For a little more, we got a delux room with a balcony fronting the ocean. We were wrapped in luxury!

This hotel is situated on a great location, not far from parks and city centre.

The view from our room was spectacular! With a fantastic ocean view, we could even hear the pounding of the waves at night!

A great breakfast buffet serving western, Vietnamese dishes catering to all kinds of different taste buds.

  We took a dip in the swimming pool situated on a high floor giving us a great view of the city below us. There was a polite and helpful staff at the front desk.

The surrounding of the hotel property was beautiful and the landscaping was immuculately and professionally kept.

It was a pleasure sitting in the lobby or in front of the hotel garden enjoying the park and ocean from across the street.

Two thumbs up for Anya Premier Hotel, a 5 star oceanfront. We highly recommended it if it is within your budget!

 RT, Quy Nhon, Vietnam 2026

Flying from Quy Nhon to Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam

Our nice and relaxing short holiday in Quy Nhon came to end. We would have loved to stay longer and travel by ground transportation to a few more places in Vietnam. With only a few days left, we decided to take the plane and flew to our next destination, Ho Chi Ming City.

Though Quy Nhon is not a big city ( in Asian standard), there is an airport, the Phu Cat Airport, where travellers can take their flights to most of the destinations within Vietnam. Nost sure about international flights

We ordered a Grab taxi on our cell phone, and the driver came and picked us up from our hotel, very convenient indeed! The ride was smooth and it didnt take too long. We got to the airport in plenty of time before boarding. Though the airport looked small from the outside, once we checked in and arrived at the departure floor, there were many shops and a couple of restaruants open.

We ordered some food and beverages and were able to relax a little in the restaurant's patio dining area. There were quite a few shops at the airport. I went around to do some window shopping and saw something tied in a bundle and they were being sold everywhere in many stores inside the airport. J. struck up some conversations with a couple of Vietnamese passengers in the waiting area and being curious, I asked them about it.

 I thought it was some kind of bamboo decorative or household items used for sweeping dust around the house. Imagine my surprised when the women told me that inside was some cooked meat which Vietnamese would consume during holidays or while travelling. How about that! I almost bought a couple and would certainly leave them rotting in my lugguage if I had not learned about them. That is why we love travelling. We can always learn something new wherever we go!

  RT, Phu Cat Airport, Quy Nhon, Vietnam, 2026

Enjoying Life Any Evening of the Week at Quy Nhon, Vietnam

We spent three nights in Quy Nhon, southern Vietnam, and enjoyed a relaxing and slower pace of lifestyle. We did a lot of walking and observed some Vietnamese people's daily life and their patroitism proudly on display.

People were working hard and there were Vietnamese flags everywhere - hanging from lamp posts, from balconies, from windows, from tree branches.

  While most Most North Americans stay home om weeknights, and only go out to enjoy themselves on the weekends, Vietnamese we saw seemed to enjoy life any evening of the week - out with their friends and families at night,

having coffee/ desserts on restaurant patios, watching street performance

or enjoying their time on the beach. On the last evening of our stay in Quy Nhon, we strolled to the park near our hotel.

It was a busy place and a beautiful sight! The statutes and trees were lit up and the park gave a warm, inviting and welcoming feeling to visitors. There were people dancing in groups to music;

 

there were bikes decked out with bright lights for rental, families talking walks, kids riding bikes and couples and groups of friends snapping pictures of each other.

Treating Ourselves and Staying at a 5 Star Oceanfront Hotel in Quy Nhon, Vietnam!

We do a lot of travelling in a year. In order to stretch our travel dollars we normally stay in average/ mid range price hotels. In most cities, waterfront accommodations are usually quite pricy. However, in less tourisy places, the demand for accommodation and services are less, consequently the prices are more budget friendly. Quy Nhon, Vietnam, is a city just like that. We enjoyed our time in Quy Nhon! What made it special for us at Quy Nhon was the opportunity of staying in an oceanfront hotel.

Since the room rates for the 5 star hotel in Quy Nhon were resonable, our son treated us to the best and booked us an oceanfront room at a luxury hotel. What a treat it was! We moved to this luxurious place on the second day after arriving at this city shortly after 2pm which gave us a full first day in our oceanfront hotel. We loved our waterfront room!

Enjoying a fantastic ocean view, we could even hear clearly the pounding of the waves at night. J. and I spent a long time hanging out on the balcony. I loved it so much that I slept on the balcony for most of the night! J. loved the waterview too and he didn't mind doing some work on the balcony in the afternoon at all!

A stonethrow away from the front door of our hotel, the beach was beautiful but not too busy at all. Gradually as the sun slowly going down, more people started to come out to enjoy the beach. Some were playing beach volleyball while a few were swimming in the water and many were just sitting on the beach looking out to the ocean. The sand was soft under our feet as was the sunlight on our faces.

With the sand massaging our feet, we walked barefoot on the beach soaking up the gentle sun and cool breezes while J. was running in and out of the ocean, chasing after the waves and jumping all over them. He was having a blast and so were we! Staying right by the ocean was great as we could go out there anytime from our hotel or just relaxing in the hotel's front garden watching all the activities happening on the beach. Never a dull moment!

We really enjoyed our time by the ocean and could have easily become a Canadian snowbird in Quy Nhon for the entire winter!

 RT, Quy Nhon, Vietnam, 2026