Ben Thanh Market (side entrance)
Independence Palace
War Remnants Museum
Emperor Jade Pagoda
So! Here is the very first installment of my travel diary around South East Asia this summer. My boyfriend and I flew from Prague with Turkish Airlines (who are absolutely amazing and I can't recommend them enough! Great staff and great service, even with the delay), with a six hour stop over in Istanbul, a fuel change and a two hour delay in Bangkok before finally reaching our destination - Ho Chi Minh City! It was amazing, we got there pretty late (in an Uber which I would definitely recommend) so it was already dark and everyone was zooming around like mad on their little motorbikes! We got a sim card in the airport which is super handy to have 3G while trying to get around. We stayed in the Bali B Hotel in District 1, which was perfect as it was so close to everything! Roughly a ten minute walk from the fantastic Ben Thanh Market and Night Market and a five minute walk to the heart of the Backpackers District. The hotel was great value for location and the room was lovely; motorbikes are available to rent from the lobby but we didn't quite work up the courage for that in the busy city! The first night when we arrived we went for a little stroll to get our bearings and see where everything was, but all the travelling got the better of us and we hit the hay pretty quick!
Our second day in Saigon was jam packed as we didn't have that much time to spare. We hit Ben Thanh first thing in the morning for a look around the market - which is pretty overwhelming when you first walk in, expect a lot of "Hello ladyyyyy what are you looking for?!" and kind of aggressive selling! They sell everything, from clothes to electronics to fish and coffee, it really is the one stop shop and so huge! After we shopped around a bit we headed to the Independence Palace which was really cool to see as it's still got a completely retro interior from the 70's, and of course to learn more about the war in Vietnam. It's a self service kind of tour with signs on the walls explaining the functions of the rooms etc, so if you're interested in the history I would definitely check it out. Next on the list was the War Remnants Museum which was incredibly emotional; to see what happened during the Vietnamese War was very upsetting. The only thing I could compare it to would be the Ground Zero Memorial. After this we went on to the Emperor Jade Pagoda which was lovely to see as there was so few tourists there when we arrived, only locals there who were actually praying. I did't take many pictures inside as I didn't want to be disrespectful but it was really beautiful on the inside aswell. That night we headed to the Ben Thanh Night Market which is just as good (if not better in my opinion than the day market!).
The food in Ho Chi Minh was fantastic, there are so many street vendors and little restaurants and honestly it is so cheap! You can get a big main course and a drink for about three euro! Amazing! Everything is within walking distance (the things we saw anyway!) and I must say it's such a crazy bustling city but the people are really lovely! There are stalls everywhere selling things like pancakes and smoothies and fruit - definitely try the fresh coconuts they are selling that they hack open right in front of you! SO so tasty! If you have any questions about Saigon go ahead and ask below, and I'll do my best to help you out!
