Asian Adventures - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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I was really surprised arriving in Ho Chi Minh City. I hadn't enjoyed the madness of Hanoi and thought we were going back to the chaos of there, but although Ho Chi Minh has more people it seems like bizarrely they have their traffic slightly in order. I'm not saying there's not a million motorbikes coming towards you from all angles when you think about crossing the road but at least here when you press the button to cross, the traffic stop when the red light shows and you can actually cross the road without fear of a random motorbike crossing your path. The buzz of Ho Chi Minh felt good to be walking through.
 
 
 
Our hotel Cat Huy was down an small close past some local people's houses. I wasn't pleased at the location as I didn't like walking down the close in the dark especially as it was just local's houses because that meant there wouldn't be many people going about at night. Aside from that our room was nice and really big and the staff were friendly.
 
After unpacking we walked over to a Spanish restaurant Rory had found called Ole. We had to walk through a couple of parks to get there which had exercise classes taking place and people working out on gym equipment. Must be nice to be able to do that all year round. The décor in Ole was like a traditional old Spanish restaurant. The owner was really lovely and came over to our table to give us recommendations from the menu and advice us on how many tapas dishes to choose. The food ended up being quite average and a lot more expensive than our usual budget for our evening meals but if you want a glass of sangria the size of your head - this is the place to go!
 
 
 
On our first full day in Ho Chi Minh, after sleeping in for breakfast, we headed to My Banh Mi to get our doze of sandwich delightfulness! At this place you got to choose which sauce you wanted to accompany your meat. I went with garlic mayo and Rory chose teriyaki. It was amazing! Rory also got an ice coffee which were his favourite things whilst we were away. He's a coffee addict so getting one that refreshes him too was the best. That definitely set us up for the day.
 
 
 
We had a look around their Notre Dame Cathedral and then The Central Post Office that is famous for travellers to send postcodes home from. I sent one home to my parents and grandparents. Both are really impressive buildings and amazing just to have a look inside.
 
 
 
 
After, we went to The War Remnants Museum all about the war between Vietnam and America. The museum was very visual with lots of brutal pictures of the effects the war had on people. It was meant to shock you and show you more honestly the results of war than other museums. It was really full on and hard to see all the pictures showing the awful outcomes of the war but it was really interesting. It's horrible finding out people are still effected today because of the war. Chemicals that were used back then are still in people's systems and are being passed on during pregnancy which no one knows how to stop which is extremely sad.
 
 
 
 
My friends had been to Ho Chi Minh the year before and had recommended us to go to Pizza 4P's for clay oven made pizza. I was very glad they told us about it as it was so good! When we turned up asking for a table we had to come back in 45 minutes as they didn't have any tables at that moment which was a good sign. When we got a table we were sat around the working station where they prep'd and cooked the pizzas so we could watch our pizzas being made and boy were they amazing!
 
 
 
 
The next day we had a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels booked. These were tunnels that were used by the Vietnamese to hide in during the war. The tour was really interesting as you got to see inside the actual tunnels that were used in the war and learn about the different traps they made to steer people off from finding them too. The downside was that whilst we were getting our tour there were about 4 other tours going on at the same time. Unsurprisingly there was no organisation in it. You could barely here your tour guide as there was the noise of other groups beside you and their tour guides speaking as well as yours. We also missed out parts of the tour because some stops were too busy with other groups which seemed unfair and we missed out on getting lunch as we needed to get to the tent showing an information video before other groups, as there wouldn't be enough space for us all. The best part of the tour was seeing a Russian women screaming at her teenage son for not wanting to go inside the tunnel and pose for a picture! It was right in the middle of one of our tour guides speeches. It was pretty rude but also really hilarious too!
 
 
 
 
 
After we missed out on lunch on the tour we went to ABC Bakery, a brilliant Vietnamese bakery chain, once we were back in the city. They have loads of sweet and savoury pasties displayed for you to choose from. You grab a tray and fill it up with what you want. We took our lunch across the road and had a picnic in the park.
 
It's strange being in Ho Chi Minh City, as I would refer to it as, and seeing loads of restaurants and shops referring to the city as Saigon. Even our bus tickets said to Saigon but when we booked the bus in the UK it called this stop Ho Chi Minh City. All the locals we spoke to referred to it as Saigon so obviously a lot of people weren't happy with it changing to be named after Ho Chi Minh when he was in charge of the country.
 
For our last night in Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam we went for food and drinks at The View Rooftop Restaurant. We dined on Vietnamese food, drank cocktails and looked over the view of the city from our table. We chose a few Vietnamese mains to share and it was happy hour on cocktails so if you bought two you got the third free. So obviously we had to take part in this and use our remaining Dong up on multiple cocktails. The food and drinks were lovely and the atmosphere was amazing looking out to the whole city. It was the perfect way to end our time in Vietnam!
 
 
 
 
We had a really great time in Vietnam, did a lot of really cool things and had some amazing experiences. It's a shame we had a few unfortunate scenarios with hotels and people blantly trying to rip us off but we still had a brilliant time in Vietnam. Next, on to Cambodia!
 
 
Recommendations -
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pizza 4P's - http://pizza4ps.com/
 
 
 
The View Rooftop Restaurant - https://www.facebook.com/TheViewRooftopBar/

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