Xin Chao!

Xin Chao! After a two year hiatus, I'm back! I'm going to dive straight into my next post! 

"Xin Chao" means "hello" in Vietnamese and I was using that term quite a bit this June holidays, when I visited the buzzing Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City. When my cousins and I made the decision to travel to HCM (thanks to the discounted airfare), we were unsure of what to expect. We just packed our bags, got on a flight, practiced saying "xin chao" A LOT and crossed our fingers, hoping it'd be an enjoyable trip. 

Upon reaching the busy HCM city airport, we were greeted by crooks a.k.a taxi drivers trying to cheat us of our money. They claimed a taxi ride to the apartment we booked (which was just 15 minutes away from the airport) would cost us an absolutely ridiculous amount. We decided to check the pricing with a car rental company. They quoted us half the price! (LESSON 1: DO NOT trust private taxi drivers. Always look for taxis that calculate costs based on a visible metre!)

The apartment we stayed in, was away from the main city centre/touristy area, and was filled with locals with very little knowledge of English. Hence, we had trouble trying to communicate with them (I wish I had learnt more words besides "Xin Chao"!) We decided to explore the nightlife in HCM the first night and ended up in a club called "Apocalypse". It turned out to be an amazing find! The music's awesome (they have a wide range of songs), ladies get to enter free, they provide affordable drinks and it's filled with extremely fun people. The DJ even played a few hindi songs! We loved it SO much, we returned on our last night too. 

Over the next few days, we visited the Ben Thanh market, the night markets, Cu Chi Tunnel, Cao Dai temple, Mekong River, Saigon Notre Dame Basillica (Replica of the one in Paris!) and Central Post Office. The Ben Thanh market is huge! Our finds include various decorative items for the house (coasters , a vase, serving tray and a wine holder, all in a similar design and colour). We managed to get all the items at a steal (thanks to the bargaining skills we picked up from our other travels!). I was told a set of 6 coasters were actually 15 USD (refer to picture below; we bought goldish/beige coloured ones). After 5 minutes of bargaining, the shopkeeper ended up reducing it to 4 USD! Stay awhile longer for the night markets along the roads too! You can find pretty nice rompers and sandals at reasonable prices. (LESSON 2: When at Ben Thanh, always BARGAIN!)

HCM night markets

AT the entrance of Ben Thanh market

Coasters decorated with egg shells

The highlight of our trip was definitely the visit to the much talked about, Cu Chi tunnel. We were amused by the extremely creative and intelligent defense and attack tactics utilized by the Viet Congs (Vietnamese army that fought the Americans during the Vietnam war). We even had the opportunity to walk....errr...crawl through the tunnels to gain an idea of how narrow the pathways in the tunnels were (if you are claustrophobic, you might want to skip this!). I was impressed by the many traps that the Viet Congs had set up to stun the the American soldiers. The Americans had difficulty trying to infiltrate the tunnels due to the various traps and complex systems within the tunnel itself. This resulted in the eventual withdrawal of the American troops. The Cu Chi tunnels is definitely a must-visit site, at least during your first trip to HCM!

Cu Chi Tunnels

Mekong River Boat Ride

When in Vietnam, eat pho and drink coffee! I tried pho noodles once. It has a soft silky texture and was really appetizing. Unfortunately, most of the shops only served beef pho and I'm not a fan of beef. HCM has a rich coffee/cafe culture. The first thing we noticed when we were finding a place to have lunch,was that there was an overwhelming number of cafes which served nothing but beverages, mainly coffee. During lunch time, we noticed how the Vietnamese population would gather at these cafes to have their dose of caffeine. We decided to blend in and give the famous Vietnamese coffee a try. If you're a fan of espresso, you'd love it!

When in great company, you'd always have fun. I'm glad I got to witness what HCM has to offer with this fun bunch! Till next time, Tam Biet (goodbye)! (: