Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City, the largest and most populated city in Vietnam, once known under its old name Saigon. For me a completely new, yet unexplored territory. And since this month Crew schedule planners were very creative, I will only fly to Vietnam for a whole month. But I’m looking forward to it, at least with every trip I have a chance to get to know this place a little better. So here you go, here’s my Vietnamese puzzle made up of few layovers…

Typical Vietnam

When someone says Vietnam, I immediately imagine the picture of people with straw cone hats on their heads as they ride their bikes or motorbikes down the streets with some goods attached. In this, Vietnam is no different from its neighbors such as Thailand or Indonesia. Bicycles, motorcycles, mopeds and scooters are the most widespread kind of transportation. Everybody rides them, often literally whole families. In Vietnam it is quite common to have a motorcycle with a five-member crew (father behind the steering wheel with a child between his knees, the second one in the middle and in the back a mum with a baby in her arms), or loaded with a furniture! So far I have not understood how anyone can drive a scooter with a tied closet, but the Vietnamese know the secret! It seems that worldwide traffic laws do not apply to motorbike riders, and even in common traffic jams you can proceed forward faster if you are on two wheels. Ho Chi Minh reminds me of Bangkok’s busy life, just a much cleaner than Bangkok. Regarding your safety, I have heard many stories about how easily you can lose your documents, mobile phones or handbags. I’ve also heard lots of horrific stories about the practices of local thieves: how they pass by on a motorcycle and pull your bag off your shoulder. One lady was said to have been dragged along the road for several meters till the handbag was released. She wore the cross body bag which was not easy to be pulled off. Personally, however, nothing like this happened to me, nor I witnessed any such an incident. On the contrary, I feel rather that the Vietnamese are very nice, friendly and humble people in general.

Kitchen on the street

Another characteristic of Vietnam is the smell of something fried. The streets are full of tiny mobile stalls with hot homemade food that smells around the city. A common feature of Asian countries, from Thailand to Japan, is the popularity of eating on the street. While our mothers spend hours of cooking for their family, Vietnamese mothers cook on the street for paying passers-by. Somewhere on the street they park their little remote kitchen on wheels, pull out some pots, portable grill, ingredients and start cooking. Some of them open a restaurants right in their garages. I guess, main reason of the culture of eating outside is a warm climate all year long. Who would like to be at home behind the stove at these temperature, when it is much more pleasant outside in the fresh air? The second factor is likely a busy life. Asians work hard and to late hours. For many, it is more convenient to grab a dinner on the street than spend hours of cooking instead of resting.

Massage with a happy ending

Although Bangkok is a little more popular, Vietnam is also well-known for cheap beauty treatments. Manicure, pedicure, facial and cosmetic surgery are available here in relatively high quality and at very affordable prices. Of course, before you get a new 3D eyebrow, do a little research and choose verified locations with a foreign clientele. Personally, I tried microblading in the Armani spa salon and I left satisfied. And I paid way less than they ask for in Dubai, for example. Another specialty are Vietnamese massages. Cheap and very very very effective. I had the opportunity to try real Thai massage in Thailand, Balinese in Bali, Chinese in Shanghai, Philippines in Manila, Indonesian in Jakarta, Malaysian massage in Kuala Lumpur, but nothing compares to Vietnamese massage in Vietnam! A paradise on earth! My favorite massage salon is definitely the one at the Parkroyal Saigon Hotel. Although only 5 minutes away on the same street you will find 3x cheaper service, for a massage at the Parkroyal Hotel I wouldn’t mind to pay even more. It is priceless. But men, watch out, many ambitious Vietnamese massagers will not be afraid to ask you if you wish for a “happy ending” for a small extra tip – not just in ordinary salons on the street, but even in those 5-star, top international hotels. 🙂

Mekong Delta

One of the typical tours for tourists in Ho Chi Minh is a trip to the Mekong River Delta, to the gem of southern Vietnam and to an area where people still live in a simple way. It does not cost much – we pay slightly over $ 30 – and it is definitely a unique experience that simply belongs to Vietnam. Tours to the Delta are organized by various travel agencies and tour operators, with prices and programs are totally same, so it depends only on the location or sympathy which company to choose. Of course, myself and my two colleagues are going with the one supported by our hotel. It is more convenient. After about two hours of drive in a minibus with an English speaking guide, we reach the Delta, where we are loaded on the boat that transports us to one of the islands in the middle of a riverbed. The program ahead us is very rich. We start with the visit of the local coconut candy factory, where we can try various coconut candies – edible with the rice paper in which they are packed. Great goodness! We continue to the wine and spirits factory. The local specialty is snake or scorpion wine (snake or scorpion loaded in alcohol). I don’t dare to try. Bleee! And then we go to the beehives, where we enjoy tea with a very nutritious royal jelly. I will buy one royal jelly honey for myself. The royal jelly keeps the bee queen young, beautiful, strong, healthy, admired and alive several times longer than other bees, so it must do some miracles. Vietnamese recommend not only to consume the royal jelly regularly but also to put it on the face instead of facial cream. The best experience of the day is a trip on traditional boats on the remote arms of the river, surrounded by wild vegetation from each side. The boat is always paddled by an elderly Vietnamese woman, and I tip my straw hat to their strength in their hands. The boat trip is followed by a break over the fruit plate and some traditional Vietnamese music. I can’t help but the sound of strange string instruments and the squeaking voices of the singers remind me the pairing cats rather than the emotional musical performance. Well, every culture is different. Interesting day ends with a fantastic traditional Vietnamese lunch…

Vietnamese cuisine

I fall in love with Vietnamese cuisine immediately. Traditional noodle soup tastes almost like Slovak one, but thanks to many herbs it is much more distinctive in taste. And rice spring rolls with shrimp and herbs wrapped in edible rice paper are simply a delicacy! I dare to taste also Vietnamese snails and traditional specialty is Vietnamese “hot pot” – something like a stew which you have to cook yourself. In Vietnamese restaurants, it’s quite a common thing that you pay for food which you ultimately have to cook yourself, with the ingredients often running alive on the table. 🙂 If you order a barbecue menu, the waitress will bring you the plate full of ingredients – marinated meat of every kind, very fresh shrimps (means still alive) and chopped vegetables. You pick the chopsticks and throw the food on the grill placed in the middle of the table. Then you dip the grilled meat into a sauce and enjoy. If you order a “hot pot”, the waitress will bring a large pot of flavored boiling water to the table, placed on a flame, and additional ingredients that you throw into the pot and wait for it to cook.

Where I ate and enjoyed…

* Nha Hang Ngan – an excellent restaurant where several traditional Asian cuisines meet – Japanese, Chinese, Thai and of course Vietnamese. Open kitchen, several chefs, cozy room with open roof and fountain in the middle, great food and low price 🙂

* Hoa Tuc – high class restaurant in the French part of the city (post-colonial influence) which is also reflected in prices. However, it is worth a try. Compared to restaurants in the world, it’s still just for peanuts.

Vietnamese coffee

Another Vietnamese specialty is coffee. The ability to recognize and properly appreciate the quality of coffee beans is probably something Vietnam has inherited from the French as a former French colony. Coffee lovers and connoisseurs come here to buy coffee for kilos. Popular is also luxury civet coffee made of coffee beans that first luxuriously passed through the digestive tract of a small civet. But the most typical is Vietnamese ice coffee served in special glass. It is based on strong black coffee with ice and an integral part is a small cup on the top with extra sweet condensed milk. You simply flip it into a glass of ice coffee. The distinctive strong taste of iced coffee mixed with sweet milk is the right refreshment for hot days. Do not expect any easy Greek frappe, but it is definitely worth a try.

Recommended cafes

* M2C Café – very cozy equipment, high-quality wifi connection and of course genuine Vietnamese ice coffee.

• Trung Nguyen – a Vietnamese version of Starbucks, but with much better coffee quality. At least one branch can be found on every corner of Saigon.

Vietnam War

Thanks to American cinema, we have all heard about the American war in Vietnam, but we hardly know what it really was about. Since traveling, in my opinion, involves getting to know not only the present but also the inseparable past of the country, I can’t miss the popular War Museum. Thousands of horrifying war-field images and examples of inhuman torture and tactics will only convince me of how fearsome nonsense every war is. A much more fun trip to the black history of Vietnam is a half-day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. It is probably the second most popular tourist attraction of the city, just after a trip to the Mekong River Delta. It is especially popular among the male population. We know how men like to play war heroes! The expedition takes you directly to the center of a network of narrow, well-camouflaged tunnels where the soldiers were hiding during the war. Personally, I don’t want to try to go inside, because the narrow spaces evoke claustrophobic feelings in me. I heard that the tunnels are so narrow that one of our stronger colleague did not fit inside at all. 🙂

Crazy street

Just like Bangkok has Khao San Road, Ho Chi Minh has its Bui Vien street full of sinful attractions and boundless fun. It is a very popular place for backpackers, who meet here from all over the world. Vietnam’s Bui Vien Street is a kind of cheap entertainment center. The young people can find everything here: a good music and cheap alcohol, street food, bars, clubs, strip bars, karaoke, massage salons, street artists and drug dealers. We, also settle down on plastic chairs, drink beer from a bottle, and enjoy a crazy atmosphere. For a while we watch a fire-de-voider, who I not very good showman, then an elderly woman selling nuts come to our chairs, and behind us, there is a small cart with smelly dried fish. I notice one lady selling halon-filled balloons and laughing gas and then a group of people in their twenties laughing on their funny voices. 🙂

Sky bar

Ho Chi Minh also has several stylish skybars with luxurious views. We visit the one that is considered to be the top. The Chill Sky Bar is located on the roof of the 25-floor AB Tower building and its clientele consists of a local cream and wealthier foreign immigrants or holiday-makers. The prices for drinks are high compared to the common prices in Vietnam, but you may find a happy hour. Chillout music is on till 10 pm, after 10 pm djs with pop and r´n‘b hits take over. The view of the city from the rooftop is fabulous.

The market

Many visitors of Ho Chi Minh go for shopping of Chanel, Louis Vuitton and other branded bags. Many genuine originals are first produced in factories in Vietnam before they arrive to Paris for final adjustments. Vietnamese, therefore, know the secrets of branded technology and can perfectly imitate them at much lower prices. At the Old market where in addition to Vietnamese traditional products, souvenirs and various delicacies you can also find the black market with fake brands. The Ben Thanh Market is located in the busy city center. Nothing for me, but I couldn’t forget to mention…