Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh, formerly (until 1976) Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam. It was the capital of the French protectorate of Cochinchina (1862–1954) and of South Vietnam (1954–75). The city lies along the Saigon River to the north of the Mekong River delta, about 50 miles from the South China Sea. 

How did we get here? We had the option of a bus or hire a driver. We looked at 12GoAsia. Bus was around $15 and four hours. A driver, $65 for a car and $70 for a 7-seater and, according to 12GoAsia, two hours. Factor in we needed a taxi to and from the bus stations and paying a little more seemed a lot quicker and easier. The two hour car ride ended up taking about four hours.

Horn honking is a big thing in Vietnam. It seems to mean:

• You may not see me so I am letting you know to watch out
• I am on your six and will pass. Move over
• I am passing. You really need to move over now
• Get the f---k out of the way
• I will sit here for half a split second and you can go first

Everyone always seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere. There is no road rage.

Where did we stay? Alagon D'Antique Hotel & Spa in District 1. That is pretty much a tourist district with tons of stores and restaurants and no shortage of massage parlors with hot little yums yums in tight fitting short dresses. No... We did not get massages in HCMC. We had a nice room on the 6th floor with city street view. There was a bar, pool, sauna, hot tub on the roof and a lobby bar plus restaurant. The one unique thing they offered was 'tea' from 15-1700. We took advantage of that and the snack that went along with it. It was enough to get us by until dinner.

Tea Time 

What did we do? We booked a Cu Chi Tunnel tour through the hotel with Kim Travel. The Cu Chi Tunnel was originally built to hide underground from the French in the 40s when Vietnam was fighting for independence from France. During "The Resistance War Against America", the tunnels were expanded for several kilometers and used for hiding, cooking, meeting, sleeping, etc under the jungle. We learned about the traps used: a pivit door over a pit of poison tipped bamboo spikes and several different bamboo spike traps. Dirt from digging the tunnels was transported and dumped into the Saigon River at night. They even made sandals out of old tires that made the footprints appear as if the person was walking backwards. As you can imagine, Vietnam's version of the war is a bit different that ours.

We had the option of shooting an AK47. Ten rounds for $25. We passed on that. I have shot enough weapons in my life and never paid that much.

On our way to the tunnel we stopped at Lamphat Company Handicapped Handicrafts. The government employs Agent Orange handicap people. Seeing photos and real life deformed people from this wretched chemical is heart breaking. The workers make incredible works of art out of egg and sea shells. We would have loved to purchase one or 20 but we have no room.  

Egg shells

Sea shells

Spider hole

Our next tour was a food tour around Saigon. I mean HCMC. We went with XO Tours. This was hands down our favorite tour ever! Just the ride on the back of a motor bike was worth it. I so wish we would have had GoPro helmet cams! We were each assigned an 'experienced driver'. My driver's name was Yu (probably misspelled but pronounced, "You"). She was 21. She was so fun and so inquisitive. She would be chatting along like we were sitting on a park bench and I'm thinking, "For the love of God! Please pay attention!!" 

Our first meal was a soup, Bun Bo Hue (noodle similar to spaghetti and beef), similar to Pho -- same same but different. We also ate goat, crab, scallops, shrimp, spring rolls, and clams at two other restuarants. Each of our drivers really stuck by our side, guided us along and sat with us a restaurants explaining things constantly. One of the most amusing parts was Yu giggling about getting us to try balloot. Balloot is basically a chicken, duck, whatever fetus that is killed in the shell right before it hatches. We nicknamed it 'eggs with legs' in my early Navy days. For the most part, it tastes like a hard boiled egg. Just looks a little gross. We visited several districts in Saigon. From poor to rich. The upper middle class districts have 3-4 bedroom apartments for $4-500/month. Add a chef/housekeeper, etc for another $300 and you're living large. I thought they were communist?

Overall it was so much fun and so much food. AND all the beer (bia in Vietnamese, pronounced like beer in New England) you could drink! I cannot say enough good about this tour and company.

Time to try some balut.

Next day we did a self guided tour. First I got scammed by a coconut dude. He pointed out our size and height difference as he was carrying a bamboo pole balanced with coconuts and a cooler. He offered to let me try it. Sharon snapped a picture. Then he handed Sharon a coconut saying, "Happy new year". Within the blink of an eye, he chopped the top off another coconut, handed it to me and did the same with another to Sharon. Cost 300,000 dong. I don't think so! Vô duyên!Mắc quá! Ridiculous! So expensive. We didn't pay that but it was a nice scam. 

We visited the War Remnants Museum. There are several American 'left behind' tanks, planes and helicopters on display. It was originally called the, "Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes" but was later changed in the 1990s when US Vietnam relations improved. Most of the displays show the atrocities of war and the effects of bombing and Agent Orange on the civilian population. War is hell no matter which side you're on.

Somehow the US sanctioned these 'tiger cages' on Phu Quoc

We visted the Independence Palace also known as the Reunification Palace. This was the South Vietnamese seat of government during the war. There is plenty of French architecture and cuisine here since Vietnam was once a French colony. Like the old post office and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Our last day we checked out of our hotel and stored our luggage in the lobby. I was on a mission: to get more dong from an ATM, buy a phone and get a SIM card. What? I failed to read the fine print when signing up for Google Fi. That wonderful sounding international plan is only good for 90 days. After that, no more data. So we bought a cell phone and SIM card just for data that we'll use as a hot spot for our phones. My biggest fear is losing our cell phone numbers! Eff Google!!! And the ATM saga.... ATMs only dispense up to 3M dong. We read about a bank that dispensed more so we walked an hour round trip to an ATM that didn't exist. Then I tried three or four others and had no luck withdrawing money. We decided to wait until the next town to get dong. Weird and frustrating.

What did we eat? GetGo Restaurant where we shared a seafood hot pot. We didn't know what to do so I typed, "What do we do?" into Google Translate and our server took total care of us. It was so good! Second night were various restaurants on our food tour. Our last night we had a banh mi at Banh Mi Hong Hoa. Really good!

Seafood hot pot

Bahn Mi

Crab

Oysters

Bun Bo Hue

Morning Glory and Goat

Summary: Ho Chi Minh City was fun. We definitely could have spent more time here. Like everywhere, motor bikes seem to shoot out from everywhere. Narrow alley ways, down sidewalks, underground garages. You could just sit in the middle of a circle and watch the traffic. It's fascinating. If you visit Vietnam, this is a must city to visit.

"Saigon is hot, full of atmosphere, activity, and commerce." - Brendan Fraser