Exploring Vietnam - Blogabond

Girl in traditional Vietnamese dress on a moped

Yes! We are in Vietnam! After 24 hours of serious frustration and tests of patience we eventually made it here.

The day after we had first tried to go to Ho Chi Minh city and didn't go because Robert needed a visa for Vietnam, we woke up early to try sorting out what we would do instead. We checked flights to China, Australia and Malaysia, but nothing really worked out and made sense in terms of timing and cost. Quite frustrated we started looking into how long it would take to get the tourist visa for Vietnam. Several websites claimed that you could apply for a visa through them, but we were a bit hesitant since we felt that there was little guarantee that the promises were real. Who could issue a visa on a Sunday just because you paid them? What if it was just a big scam?

We found once site that 'looked' reliable, but still; perhaps having a fancy website is the way to make money from innocent tourists? But we emailed the company and they did get back to us right away and claimed they could issue the visa within an hour once we paid $125. It sounded suspicious and very expensive since the visa normally shouldn't cost more than $20, but after some discussions we decided to take the chance. After some problems making the payment go through and lo and behold; five minutes later we got the emailed letter that pre-approved the visa!

We now tried to re-book the same flight to Vietnam leaving in about three hours but since it was too close to departure we couldn't do it online and decided to head to the airport again. Back at the airport the same girl at the Air France desk who had cancelled our tickets yesterday was able to rebook us on the flight for today without a penalty!!! Robert got so happy he went to buy a box of chocolates for the girl who looked like it was the first time a customer actually did something nice for her.

Happily we boarded the flight towards Ho Chi Minh city! It is a short flight that only takes about an hour, so it provided a little bit of rest after a stressful morning. Upon landing in Ho Chi Minh City, we headed for the passport control and the desk where Robert was to pick up his visa with the pre-approved letter. We got a good taste of Vietnamese government organisation.... About 30 people were gathered around the desk and the confusion and frustration was very obvious. It turned out that the 'pre-approved letter' that Air France demanded from us wasn't actually necessary.... Robert could just have applied for the visa right then and there. Nevertheless, the processing of the visa took about two hours and was highly inefficient and unorganized so it became a very long impatient wait. Finally, we got it and could proceed to passport control!!!

We took a taxi in to our hotel and stared in amazement at the traffic. There is no good way of describing it besides 'complete, and utter chaos'. Buses, cars and a million mopeds are sharing the roads and at the first glance it looks like mayhem. However, there is still flow in traffic; it never comes to complete gridlock, and despite thinking every minute will be the last of your life, you very rarely see an accident. It is something that must be experienced though as no description can really make justice to it!

Rush hour in Saigon

A family of three on one moped

Traffic in a roundabout.

There are apparently four million mopeds in the city and the major means of transportation. You see whole families of four on one little moped and usually with a day's shopping, or perhaps a desk or a fridge as well! We saw one guy driving with at least six dozens of eggs skillfully balanced on the back of his moped, and another one transporting a car windshield!!!!

The little moped is used to transport anything you can think of...

Our hotel was located in District 5, which is part of Chinatown. It was very large, quite modern and comfortable. The first night, we went to the hotel restaurant for some food and Victoria had traditional 'pho'; noodle soup. We both shared some traditional fried spring rolls as well as the ones in fresh rice paper stuffed with herbs, noodles and meat. Food in Vietnam is generally less spicy than Thai food, but is still similar to both Thai and Chinese.

Since we only had one full day in HCMC, we decided to go on a sightseeing tour the next day and booked a half day city tour. We ended up getting a guide for just the two of us and were driven around in a nice air conditioned car. The tour went to a Chinese temple, the War Remnants museum, the Reunification Palace, the Notre Dame cathedral, the Post Office and a factory that made traditional arts and crafts.

In the Chinese temple, the haze from the incense was thick as you could buy incense that was lit up and burned for up to a week. In the ceiling, large bee hive looking coils of incense were slowly burning with notes attached to them which had the wish of the person buying and lighting the incense written down.

Girl lighting a coil of incense

Inside the Chinese temple

The War Remnants museum is the most popular museum for Western tourists and a horrific reminder of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam war. As Victoria had already visited the museum last time she was in HCMC (and at that time unable to finish the museum tour), she opted for waiting outside. The museum is very 'one sided' but does not in any way take away from the reality of the terrible things that happened during the war; sadly often to innocent civilians and children.

The Reunification Palace is large and took most of our tour. We saw the banquet halls, reception halls, bunkers, helicopter pads and other 'necessities' of former presidents and authorities of a country with a long and troubled past.

Reunification building

Helicopter pad on top of the Reunification building

Posing in front of the indoor garden in the Reunification building

Lastly, our tour included a stop in a factory for disabled Vietnamese that produces handicrafts decorated with crushed egg shells and mother of pearl. We were shown each step in the production process and of course ended up in the shop at the end.

Visiting a factory that made beautiful pictures of mother of pearl and egg shells

In all, the tour was very good and probably the best way to see some of the key landmarks in a short period of time. Our guide was a young man who was very nice and knowledgeable.

The Notre Dame

The post office

That evening we took a taxi to District one which is where most large hotels and restaurants are located. We took a quick look at the market and bought some guidebooks off a street vendor. Very good copies of popular books can be bought to a fraction of the price the original would cost back in Europe or North Americas. The quality is quite good too! We bought Lonley Planets guide books for Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand in an attempt to be a little bit more prepared for our destinations to come!

After dinner which we ate in the roof top garden of Hotel Rex, we headed back to our hotel for one more night's sleep before we are off in the morning to go to Danang. Danang is located on the coast in about the middle of the long narrow country and is the closest airport to Hoi An, which is a UNESCO protected heritage site that we have been recommended to visit.

written by

Victoria & Robert on March 2, 2010 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

from the travel blog: The rest of the world

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i have visted Vietnam 3 times,,and really enjoy the place ,,so many interesting things and a different culture to the europeans,i landed in Ho Chi Minh City airport ,stayed in h c m city ,,the first time there ,,what an eye opener all those motor bikes ,after looking at the major attractions i went North by bus to NaTrang and spent tine there and on to Da Lat,,a touristy town , there are interesting things to see on these bus trips things you dont see at home the life in V/N is so different from Na Trang i travelledt danang and on to dong hoi which was my host town ..meeting other family members of my lady friend .and of course getting to know many of the locals ,,exploring the magnificat caves fishing and not to forget all the delicious V/N food even having spent 7 months thetre i still have more to see i have yet to get to hanoi and that is ,, next on my list as there is much to do and see there some things you mentioned ..icould spend 2 or 3 weeks there easily,,thanks for your imput

written by john l on September 2, 2014

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