This blog post is dynamic. It will be edited with the latest information. You will find a changelog at the end of this blog post.

What?

The meetup group Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh Walking for health Meetup-Tao Dan park is bringing people together every 12 weeks for a walk. But some people disagree that every 12 weeks is enough. Every week or every two weeks is better. We try to contact the administrator of the meetup group. But this person stayed silent. So this is a shadow document with more information about the weekly walking group.

Why?

After a busy week, it’s good to have a walk. You can use it to learn and practicing a new language, make new friends, exchange information about cultures, try new food, See people practice different sports or just walk in silence.

Time

Every Saturday morning. We gather at 7:00 (AM) in the bird cafe. Around 7:15 (AM) we start walking in the Tao Dan Park. Around 9:00 (AM) we sit in the Bird cafe for coffee and/or tea. Some members of the walking group start at 6.00 (AM) with a sport like running.

Where

The walking is in the Tao Dan Park in District One. This park is central in Ho Chi Minh City. The park is situated behind the Independence Palace (aka Reunification Palace / Dinh Thống Nhất) As address for your navigation system, Taxi, Grab or Aber you can use the address 57 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Bến Thành, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Bird cafe

Every morning bird lovers gather in the bird cafe. They bring a cage with their beloved bird. A good place to gather for the walk. More information about the bird cafe can be found at -> Cà phê chim Tao Đàn, thú vui tao nhã của người Sài Gòn (Sorry. The text is in Vietnamese)

Parking

If you come with your bike. Then you can park at two places in the park. The parking in the east is only a 10-meter walk to the Bird Cafe. The cost for the parking is 5.000 Dongs.

Coffee

In the Bird Cafe, you can buy coffee. The price is a little bit higher then you pay on the ‘street’. A coffee with milk is around 20.000 dong.

Breakfast

Walking makes you hungry. In the park is a small stand that sells warm soja yogurt with caramel. Taste really good and is not so heavy for the stomach. The price is 5.000 dong for one bowl.

Toilet

In the park is a FREE public toilet. It’s clean. Separated for ladies and gentleman. You are not allowed to wear your own shoes inside. Make use of the free provided flip-flops. In the park are also paid toilets. You pay 2.000 or 3.000 Dongs in advance for the service. Be aware that there is no toilet paper. You have to get the toilet paper separated in advance from the toilet-lady.

Map 

What is the meaning of Tao Dan?

In the comments came the question if the name Tao Dan has any connection with Taoism. I asked my girlfriend this question and she wrote the next lines:

TAO ĐÀN (this is written in Vietnamese for Vietnamese word) is TAO NGỘ (meeting) + ĐÀN (group, conference)

TAOISM (this is written in English for Chinese word), in Chinese it means Religion of the Way, show you the way to practice to be a better version of yourself. The traditional religion of the Chinese.

Conclusion, TAO (in Vietnamese) differs from TAO (in Taoism)

We Vietnamese translate Taoism as ĐẠO GIÁO

Changelog

• 28 September 2017 – first initial release.
• 06 July 2018 – I removed some mistakes from the text.
• 23 May 2019 – What does Tao Dan mean?