The Crazy, Beautiful city of Ho Chi Minh!

As many of you know I visited Vietnam earlier in the year.  Today I want to tell you about my last 3 days in Vietnam when I stayed in Ho Chi Minh City.  If travelling in from a cruise you can get tours from Phu My port and it is well worth a visit.  I was a little apprehensive about Ho Chi Minh City as I have heard it is quite an experience with the mopeds to contest with and being a very bustling city!  I must say we loved it though for all its craziness.

We stayed in what is known as backpacker road in the Prague Hotel.  This is a fantastic hotel if travelling on a budget with a modern room and swimming pool on the roof (great to cool off in after a long day exploring the city in hotel conditions!).  We arrived in the evening and decided to visit ‘walking street’ which is famous for its nightlife.  We had a few drinks here, but it wasn’t for us.  The music, even from early evening, was so loud you could not hear each other speak.  It was as if the bars were all competing to be louder than the others.  We escaped to a roof top bar which had a much nicer vibe.  I would recommend finding a roof top bar in Ho Chi Minh.  The drinks are a bit more expensive, but it is well worth it for the atmosphere and the views.

On our first full day we decided to take a walk to visit some of the famous parts of the city.  We planned a route and apart from the busy roads (we felt like we were playing the game crossy roads a bit) it is very easy to walk around Ho Chi Minh and in my opinion the best way to see everything.  First stop was the famous Ben Thanh Market.  This place is great if you like to shop and for souvenirs but as neither of us love shopping this was a short stop for us.  There were lots of food stalls to try out local cuisine here.

Next, we went to the Summer Palace.  Entry costs for this are very low but this place is fantastic.  The exhibition is very interesting, and it was amazing to hear the history of the Royal Family and the war here.  Also, we got to explore the palace which was beautiful.   We visited the War Remnants museum, which was both interesting, emotional and shocking but well worth a visit.  There are lots of helicopters, tanks etc outside and many stories about the war and how it affected the people of Vietnam inside.

We walked to the Bitexco Financial Tower where we were promised the best views in Ho Chi Minh.  They weren’t wrong!  We took some local advice we decided not to pay to go to the viewing area there but instead get the lift to the Heli pad bar and brought a drink and took in the stunning views. This was a great way to spend an hour after a long day sightseeing!

Whilst in Ho Chi Minh we also took a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta, but I will tell you all about this in a future blog!