Beware of the Pickpockets!

Although the focus of the Vietnam trip was to visit the orphanages, we did manage to include some sight seeing of the city. I was impressed by what I saw in Ho Chi Minh city - a modern city that any guests would find welcoming. It's a mix of things East and West. You see the locals in their conical hats selling fruits along the streets and just a few shops down you will see a coffee house or a wine bar that reminds one of those you see on the streets of Paris.

One of the places we visited was the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, located at the famous Paris Commune Square in the Ho Chi Minh City. The cathedral was established by the French colonists, constructed between 1863 and 1880. 

Next to the cathedral is the Central Post Office, another prominent feature of Ho Chi Minh City. This grand old edifice was constructed between 1886 and 1891 by Gustave Eiffel and the architectural design of this Central Post Office represents the French colonial style. 

The Central Post Office reminds me of the Central Train Stations that you see in most European countries. It's pretty awesome structure with the huge clock at the central pavilion. And when you walk in, you will be greeted by a huge poster of Ho Chi Minh.

Hidden inside these booths are phones if you want to make that overseas call home. There were also booths with ATM machines inside. Pretty neat way to conceal the machines.

And at the Central Post Office, other than writing postcards to send home, you can also buy little trinkets - local handicraft for your loved ones. They accept both USD and the local currency Dong.

Our local guide had warned us to be careful of pickpockets and always make sure our belongings were safe and within sight at all times. It was unfortunate that one of the team members had her camera stolen while we were at the Central Post Office. 

Am sharing this so that you too will be careful when you're there. The pickpockets usually work in pairs, pretending to be couples. They are young and look relatively harmless. They tend to prey on groups of school children visiting the countries. They will pretend to be looking at souveniors too, then casually turn to the children to ask where they are from and so forth. Unaware to the children, these pick pockets have already studied the children closely and were waiting for the right moment. Even with the adults standing close by, these pick pockets were able to snip off one of the girls camera that was hanging on her wrist (while she was picking some trinkets to buy). 

When we discovered the camera was stolen, we looked around and guessed it was the couple as they were watching us. But I guess they felt safe as we had no proof and being in a foreign country, we could not just go up to them to search their bags.

After that incident, we were a lot more vigilant. We came across another pair when we were at the Museum. I noticed the couple joining our group and they pretended to listen to the guide as he briefed us. I took a step back and that was when I saw how they were observing the children, walking around to see who they should prey on. They continued to follow us even though one of the adults asked who they were (they claimed to be university students doing a project - interestingly though, they had no paper or pen to take notes and understood very little English yet pretended to listen to our guide who was  briefing us in English). Thankfully, the adults were vigilant and kept a close eye on the children. This time round, they were not successful but one camera stolen was already one too many. If you're interested, check out this site for more tips.