HALLOFUS: Ho Chi Minh City

2-4 March 2012
Ho Chi Minh City
A short weekend getaway with Wen before I start work at my new place, we chose to visit Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.
Green Suites Vietnam

http://greensuiteshotel.com/
Arriving at Tan Son Nhat Airport, we had some problem getting to our hotel as our cab driver did not quite know his way. We thought his was the legitimate cabs but after spending a couple of days here, we felt like we were on a ‘black’ cab. This was confirmed when the cost was almost twice as much as what we paid to the cab our hotel staff has booked for us for a return fare to the airport.
Nevertheless, the counter staff was friendly and helpful. The room was clean. The main attraction is the rooftop patio where they served our continental breakfast. The serving was huge and very good! They also served Vietnamese style coffee (unique coffee filter) which I looked forward to in the morning.

Unique coffee filtering technique - Nguyen Trung coffee

What a great way to start our Mornings!!

Food!

Vietnamese are really healthy people. They eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.

You’ll find leafy greens served along with your Pho (Vietnamese noodles).
Their spring rolls have lots of vegetables. Their market is full of vegetables and fruits.

Vietnamese beef noodles - Pho

Apart from that, head down to Bhan Thanh Market at night and you’ll see the streets transformed into a night eating place with Tze-Char (wok-fried) style dishes. Although the streets were closed to cars, motorbikes could still whisk through this area.
Before 7pm...

...& After

We got a table somewhat close to the road side and it was interesting watching the motorbikes just an arm’s length away from us. We ordered the chili fried fish and it was really tasty.

Interesting Sights of HCMC
The traditional ao dai, Vietnamese dress, can still be seen worn by the Vietnamese women on the streets. Take notice of how slim all the vietnamese ladies are!

It is not uncommon to see Vietnamese balancing 3-4 or even 5 people on a teeny weeny bike (compared to Wen's...), and look at this man doing a stunt which I thought was pretty cool.
He was chatting away with someone while doing this. Awesome.

City Attractions

You can easily walk to these french-inspired attractions on foot if you dont mind the weather and the traffic.

Statue of Mr Ho Chi Minh, in front of the People's Committee Building (City Hall)

Notre Dame Cathedral

Old Saigon Post Office

Wen with his travel guidebook, a regular companion to all his travel trips.

Day Tour @ Mekong Delta

We booked a day tour to head to the Mekong Delta and nearby islands.
Day tours are popular in HCMC, and you can basically book with any of the tour agencies that you will find abundant at the backpacker’s streets. All packages work on the same tour. That is to say, on the coach bus that you booked for, you will find several other people who booked from various tour agencies. They group, divide, split, allocate. It seems pretty efficient to do it this way, since attractions are only those few. However, the people handling it could be somehow disorganized. We heard of some tourists being over-promised. And sometimes the ‘tour-guide’ changes, coach bus changes along the way to your destination.

The view of Mekong was quite an experience. Unlike the blue waters we would love to see, Mekong is brownish in colour. The tour guide educated us that this is due to silt deposits – a granular material (sand/clay-like). Despite giving it a ‘dirty’ look, silt actually creates rich and fertile soil.

We were treated to folk song performance and fruits on this trip, visited bee farm for honey and snacks, coconut candy factory, and a ‘sampan’ ride along the Mekong swamps. We were exhausted after the trip, but it was a great feeling to be able to get close to nature and enjoy the river breeze.

Sampan ride along the river swamp, we were all given the conical hats - Non La, on board the boat. And it did helped to shield those sunny glares.

Songs and Fruits

We were brought to a village on an island where we were entertained with vietnamese songs and tropical fruits.

And we could take a snooze on the hammock...

Ho Chi Minh City Museum - Reunification Palace
Formerly known as Independence Palace, the building was built during the French colonial era.
A residence and political office of the President, the place was once bombed during a mutiny. Deep underground tunnels were constructed to facilitate the escape of important officials. It was turned into a museum after the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

It was a relaxing trip without much rushing or heavy itinerary.
Ho Chi Minh City is a laid-back backpackers favourite choice.
We had a great weekend and it was just too short!