Suoi Tien theme park in Saigon

Suoi Tien theme park in Saigon

I have little interest in theme parks in Europe or Thailand. The usual stuff (roller coaster, water park, zoo) is of no interest to me. But this one in Saigon is Buddhism themed and has various huge statues of religious and mythological creatures and interesting buildings. Some of them are religious buildings.

On the north-eastern outskirts of Saigon, easily accessible by various bus routes and soon by metro. There are bilingual maps posted in the park and at entrance I got a bilingual paper map. The map is distorted, to squeeze the park which is roughly 250 m wide and 1 km deep, into a square format. During my stay (weekday morning to afternoon about 5 hours), there were only dozens of other visitors and hundreds of staff. Several parts (Ferris wheel, water park) closed for maintenance.

Entry is 150k VND. That gives access to most of the park, but some individual attractions cost extra. There are combo tickets that include various individual attractions, but I didn't know what would be of interest to me, so I paid for entry to the park 150k VND and individual attractions separately. 1 EUR = 25k VND.

There is free WiFi in the park, but you would have to register with phone number and receive a code by SMS. Whereas at the Mini Mart outside free WiFi without registration, and a point to get some food and drink before or after. There are plenty of restaurants inside the park, where I had a look, it was for self-cooking as a family activity.

View of main entrance from road:



The water park is the most popular part, currently (11/09/2023-20/10/2023) closed, picture from google maps:


 
Selected attractions with name and number from map.
Statue of Avalokiteshvara (10):



Central office and information center (52):



Upper floor gives a view of Snow Castle (51):



Entry to Snow Castle 60k VND. Inside -5 to -15 C. The attendants must have one of the weirdest jobs in Saigon. Winter clothes and rubber boots are provided. Two slopes where you can ride down on a rubber tube.



The Boddhisattva Square (54):



Magical Castle of golden Phoenix and Dragon (49). A remotely Harry-Potter-themed haunted house that you walk through. Entry 50k VND.







The Tree of Wishes (60):



Golden Pagoda (46):





Nine Golden Unicorns Square (42):




Ornamental gates to the above (42 and 46):

Buddhist Hell Garden in Unicorn Palace (40). Neither the name nor the exterior architecture give a hint what's inside. Entry 40k VND.



Hung King's Temple (5):








Wax Museum (21), entry about 40k VND, of little interest as there are mostly Vietnamese celebrities; Albert Einstein and Donald Trump the only foreigners.

Crocodiles Kingdom (22), entry 30k VND, mildly entertaining.

Journey to the Center of the World (38), entry 50k VND, outside elephant themed, inside an ancient-Egypt-themed ghost train.

Many more, total 62 points on their map. After 5 hours I felt well entertained for my money (150k VND entry and 250k VND on various individual attractions) and skipped some.

Reports by others can be found here: https://www.thetravelninjas.com/suoi-tien-vietnam-amusement-park/ and https://www.timetravelturtle.com/suoi-tien-theme-park-saigon/ for more pictures, background information, and a different viewpoint from mine.

There are more theme parks of interest to me (architecture, statues) in Vietnam, from South to North:
KITTYD & MINNIED Amusement Park in My Tho,
Dam Sen Cultural Park in Saigon,
Suoi Tien in Saigon (this post),
Buu Long Tourist Area,
Dai Nam Amusement Park north of Saigon (currently not accessible by public transport, bus 61-6 doesn't run any more),
Black Virgin Mountain in Tay Ninh,
VinWonders in Nha Trang,
VinWonders in Hoi An,
Asia Park - Sun World Da Nang Wonders in Danang,
Ba Na Hills Danang,
Thuy Tien lake Abandoned Water Park in Hue
https://www.timetravelturtle.com/abandoned-water-park-hue-vietnam/
Bảo Sơn Paradise Theme Park in Hanoi.

Copyright 2023 ChristianPFC except water park picture