Overall opinion of HCMC: Enormous, great food, friendly people, taxi drivers are dicks (use Uber), French architecture and a pretty fun city all round.
We arrived in Saigon after an 8 hour bus journey a bit disorientated, aching and hot. An opportunistic taxi driver jumped straight at the opportunity to take us weary eyed travellers to our hostel.
We showed him the address and we set off. He kindly took us via an ATM so we could pay him as we hadn’t withdrawn any Vietnamese Dong at this point. A few minutes later, I noticed the metre was running particularly fast. We ignored it and accepted that taxis must be expensive here. When we arrived 7 minutes later we had a 450,000VND bill (£15) and a bitter taste in our mouths.
After dropping our stuff off in the hostel (which is tucked in a small alley not shown on the map below), we decide to go for a walk. 50 yards later, we arrive at the bus stop. WELCOME TO VIETNAM!
Our faith in humanity was restored when we went for a walk in the park and were approached by a young Vietnamese local who asked “how are you?”. We initially thought he was going to try to sell something but after a few minutes, we were still just chatting. After a few more minutes, another handful joined… then another. An HOUR later, we had attracted a 20-25 strong group of students wanting to improve their English. It was getting dark, we were hungry and we said our goodbyes. That was a really great experience where we learned about the lives of local students.
Cu Chi Tunnels
About 2 hours out of HCMC, you can visit the Cu Chi Tunnels which has preserved tunnels from the Guerilla warfare in the war.
It’s in the middle of the forest (and all of the tress are about the same size since the foliation in the area was destroyed from Agent Orange (which has two heartbreaking sections in the HCMC war museum) and has started again) and it’s hot and sticky. We almost felt for the Americans due to the condition they were fighting in.
The tunnels aren’t as small as you’d expect but definitely too small to haul weapons and whatever else from location to location.
At the end of the tour, Ian had a go on a M30 gun (from Rambo)… Very happy boyfriend.
-
- Ian looking smug with his M30
Vietnamese Coffee
We experienced our first Vietnamese coffee at a café called “Moc Coffee” and it was wonderful.
-
- Vietnamese Coffee
It comes as above and the bitter coffee gradually drips into the glass as it filters through. The white substance at the bottom is CONDENSED MILK. DELISCIOUS.
Before moving on to the Mekong Delta, we were advised to make our own way to there rather than take a tour. And we did- one of the best decisions we could have made. Mekong Delta blog: here.