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Ho Chi Minh City – Water puppets, shopping and much, much more

April 29, 2014

Alan Stables explores the delights of the capitol of Vietnam, the former Saigon.

Ho Chi Minh City

Whilst you may not have thought of Ho Chi Minh, formerly Saigon, as being a holiday destination, I urge you to rethink. It is a city full of interesting surprises with a distinctive mixture of colonial French style mingled with refreshing designs of the East.

Nowadays Ho Chi Minh is a bustling city full of luxury shopping, pristine parks and motorbikes. Yes you will see plenty of them. You can get your genuine Louis Vuitton, Dior or Hermes in the same street as you find hawkers selling cutting out cards, fridge magnets and motorbike helmets. Indeed something for everyone.

Ho Chi Minh City

On the theme of shopping I recommend the new Vincom centre at 70 Le Thanh Ton. Full of luxury brands you can also find a food court on the lower floors. It is also very cruisy.

If you go to Ho Chi Minh, then you really need to stay in District 1. This is where most of the important buildings are located such as the Notredame church, the Saigon Opera House and the most important shops and hotels.

For accommodation, you cannot go wrong with the Saigon River Boutique Hotel. A gay friendly hotel decorated in contemporary classic, it is great value for money and located in the heart of district 1, that it is the only real place to stay for the average traveller.

Daniel at reception will attend to your every request, and is at hand to guide and inform you. 24 hours a day door security is an added bonus too.

Daniel at the River Boutique Hotel
Daniel at the River Boutique Hotel

A double room with balcony and single occupancy costs US49 (£30), whereas one without window and single occupancy costs US31 (£19). Free wifi in the room is included. The price includes a modest breakfast with a choice of eggs whichever way you want them with baguette, pork dumplings with tomato or my favourite, banana pancakes with a sprinkling of cinnamon and honey dribbled on top. A more extensive breakfast menu is available depending upon your appetite at an extra cost.

Breakfast is taken in the Roof Top Café, a small oasis of plants and lanterns on the top floor of the hotel. Here you can also eat throughout the day from their menu, and try some local food too.

The owners, Tim and Graeme, are also open to hosting dinner parties and can arrange a unique dining experience for you. They offer various options according to your tastes and budget. They will also gladly inform you about some excellent Vietnamese cuisine restaurants in the area, should that be your wish.

Overnight guests are allowed, but they must leave their IDs at reception. When the guest collects his ID you will be contacted to ensure everything is OK before his departure from the hotel. For the management your safety comes first.

War Remnants Museum
War Remnants Museum

One of the most interesting museums is the War Remnants Museum, which presents testimony of atrocities during the Vietnam War (1956-1975). For a more in depth experience you can also take a tour to Cu Chi tunnels, to see how the Vietnamese soldiers lived and operated under ground during the conflict.

There are no exclusively gay bars in Ho Chi Minh City, they all tend to be mixed. Centro at 11-13 Lam Son Square for example occasionally offers a drag night, and Republic  at 63/201 Dong Du located at an upper ground area decked out in blue lights are the places to go are within easy walking distance of the hotel and best to check out after 11 pm.

Godmother Saigon Bar at 129 Cong Quynh Street another venue located in the backpacking area of District 1, and best visited before 10 pm. The offer reasonably priced food – try the pineapple and Thai seafood rice – and the barmen are welcoming and polite.

When it comes to saunas, there is a big choice. NaDam at 12/29/1 QL13, Hiep Binh Chanh Ward, Thu Duc District is a must. To get there, ask Daniel at the hotel for a map. A taxi costs 100.000 to 140.000 dong (£2.85 to £4.00) to get there. Entry which is payable when you leave is 195.000 dong (approx. £5.50). Beautifully decorated with a dimly lit jacuzzi, sauna with salts, steam room with herbal fragrances, and plenty of rest areas, it is undoubtedly one of the finest exclusively male sauna places in Asia.

You could also go local and try the TD Spa at 372/25 Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in District 3. From 372, take the alley right down to the end. They have blind masseurs here – you can choose to go VIP or normal. The difference is that VIP means a massage with a happy ending.

Main Post Office
Main Post Office

Again there are plenty of food choices in the city. One of my favourites is Jaspers at 33 Dong Khoi St which offers international cuisine. But equally you could go for a drink at Mojo Cafe at 88 Dong Khoi , or for a fine French restaurant you could try Le Bourgeois, a high end restaurant within the premises of the Intercontinental Hotel Saigon, next to the Saigon Opera House. Having said that tripadvisor places La Villa French Restaurant at 14 Ngo Quang Huy, Thao Dien Ward in District 2 as the French restaurant with the highest score.

Notre Dame Church
Notre Dame Church

Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world, after Brazil. No surprise then that there is a distinctive coffee culture. Coffee shops abound from the specialist coffee shop such as Trung Nguyen, those adapted to a Western culture such as Highlands Coffee and the more local social coffee shop that you find on most corners. Certainly trying the local coffee is a must do activity during your trip.

If you are hesitant about travelling on your own to such a far off country where you do not know the customs or language, then one thing you could do is take up the service of Holiday House Boys. You pay for an additional bedroom for the Holiday House Boy, and take on the services of a guide to personalise your trip to your taste. Being available 24/7, your chosen Holiday House Boy meets you at the airport, and looks after your safety and well-being, in addition to being able to show the true Vietnamese lifestyle. He will bargain on your behalf when you go shopping, find you the best exchange rate and will make sure that you have a memorable time. Note that this service is purely of a tourist nature, not a sexual one. It costs US95 (approx. 57 GB Pounds) per day. For a lone traveller it is the safe way to travel.

Of coure Ho Chi Minh has much more to offer – try a cooking class and learn to cook the Vietnamese way, try your bargaining skills at Ben Thanh market, attend a water puppet show or the dance and light show called AO at the impressive Saigon Opera House. When you get there you will notice how cheap it is and don’t let all those 0’s in the currency put you off.

Have a fab time. I did.

WEB.8.600

Currency:

1 GB Pounds = approx. 35000 Vietnamese Dong

Visa Requirements:

Entering Vietnam is a hassle. For British citizens you need a visa. You can apply for one in the UK or you can apply for one on entry. I prefer to apply for one on entry. Use the services of My Vietnam Visa to get your invitation letter for US19 (approx. £11.35) and follow their instructions by completing the entry form and having a passport photo with you. Hand your passport, the entry form with attached photo and the invitation letter to the visa application desk at the airport. Then sit and wait to be called up to pay for the visa. Keep your ears open as sometimes it is hard to distinguish your name being called out. This costs an additional US45 (approx. £27). At the airport the visa process can take anything from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. I have heard about longer wait times but that has never happened to me yet.

Getting there:

If you do not mind one stopover, you can fly from London Gatwick to Ho Chi MInh with Emirates Air for £502 depending on your travel dates. Vietnam Airlines appear to be prohibitively expensive at over £1,700, but it all depends on your dates of travel. Etihad Airways, Qatar Airlines and Air France may also be valid options.

Try the usual flight checkers such as skyscannerexpedia.com, rumbo.es and lastminute.com for the best deals. Within Asia, Air Asia has cheap flights between the major Asian cities with Kuala Lumpur as their hub.

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