I’ve wanted to go to Vietnam for such a long time. This Asia trip mean’t Vietnam was a must to be added in.

Another 4am alarm call had me heading for this last leg,  to Vietnam. Starting at Ho Chi Minh City.  In 1975 Saigon was renamed to Ho Chi Minh and has remained named that ever since.  It’s just a 1 hour flight from Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. Arriving into Vietnam with usual immigration.  It was only 8am when I arrived but it was nuts with 100s in every the passport immigration queue.  Immediately you enter the country you are ambushed by phone SIM card sellers, it seems they are on every turn. It’s is pretty darn hard to continually ignore them!

I got to my hotel early before being able to check in, but left my bags at the hotel and headed out. Ho Chi Minh is Phnom Penh on steroids.  The traffic fills the air with noise, fumes and you can see the smog in the air.  Ho Chi Minh is legendary for its overwhelming motorcycle presence on the roads. It was also stifling hot. High temperatures like Phnom Pehn, but a totally higher level of heat.  I headed to the Royal Palace as a starting point for exploration, but this is when I hit the wall.  Too many 4am flights and over 250,000 steps on the trip.  My heel is sore, I need rest and an Advil or two.  I summoned up energy to meander around the Royal Palace, learn about how the war damaged it and how it was re-built. I needed to recharge.

Finding a Bar

To kill a little bit of time before I could get to my hotel room I headed to the Mulligans Irish Bar. It was nice to spend some time with a cool beer, food and nice staff. As I flagged for energy I headed back to the hotel as my room was now available. I rang room service and ordered sleep.

Night Time Ho Chi Minh

After a power nap I set out on the long walk from my hotel to the skyscraper building called Landmark 81. It was a useful way to explore Ho Chi Minh at night, to see how things look in the city.. Ho Chi Minh was fairly easy to navigate, and like always, I prefer to do that on foot. You can get around easily with Grab Taxis, but you tend not to see much that way. Despite it getting later at night I was confident and comfortable walking to explore.

Despite the tourist information, the Landmark 81 observation deck was not open until 10pm. By the time I got there it was closed and there was no opportunity to take advantage of the 81st floor observation deck. I wasn’t too worried, as I continued to explore the streets of Ho Chi Minh City. I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I did find my way to Bui Vien Street, also known as Backpacker Street. It’s quite the site to see!
Bui Vien Street is a lively, bustling spot that is lined with bars, restaurants and coffee shops. It was midweek, but it was very busy.

Saving Tired Legs

Day 2 in Ho Chi Minh City was about saving my tired legs. I learned that Ho Chi Minh has a ‘Hop on Hop Off’ tour bus, the red open top type you find in many cities. I decided this was a good way to go for today. It’s not my usual or first choice of city sight seeing, but on this occasion, a needed one.

I baked in the heat on the top deck as we navigated for a hour around the city streets to catch in various sites. It was a nice change to see so much so quickly. As we went around I picked out 3-4 places that I wanted to go back to and see more – the Central Post Office War, Remnants Museum, Bitexco Tower and Ben Thanh Market.

Saigon Sky Deck at Bitexco Financial Tower

The sky deck observation deck provided some great views of in and around Ho Chi Minh City.

Onwards to Hanoi

After a couple of days in the south of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City I left to head to Hanoi in the north. Hanoi offers a traditional charm, slower pace but with a rich culture. The old quarter is at the heart of the cityand offers the perfect environment to walk and explore. Hoan Kiem Lake connects you with Hanoi and the people. Day or night it is the heart and soul of Hanoi. Over different days , I must have spent hours strolling around the lake, it’s a fun thing to do day or night. It’s a mile all the way around, but it’s a fun past time to see people and see life.

A Walk to Train Street

The next side adventure was something I had seen on YouTube, heard about through reading about this unique and thrilling experience. I had to experience it for myself. I got there early to see the narrow street that would see a train speeding through. There are cafes and bars on both sides, but as the train time comes around tables are collapsed and everyone is instructed to stay tight to the wall. The train gets so close.
When I say close, if you breathe out too much it might rip your heart out!

A Day Trip to Halong Bay

High up on my list of things to do in Vietnam was to take a day trip to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is 107 miles from Hanoi and you get there by tour bus. These tour buses flood Hanoi in the early morning to take tourists to go and visit Halong Bay. The problem with this type of trip is you are sharing the experience with a lot of people you don’t know, and it takes 5 hours for the round trip on the bus. Both of those things worked out ok as I shared my trip with nice people from Netherlands, Sweden, South Africa and England

Hạ Long Bay, in northeast Vietnam, is known for its emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests. It was on my must do list, though I did know that it might be overrun with tourists. Actually, once we got out on the water it didn’t seem to bad at all.

There are anset stops/activities and I these were a bit too crowded and not as enjoyable as the cruise on the water. Just too may people at Surprise Cave. At Ti Top Island there were once again too many folks, but the view from the top was still wonderful. We had a fun speed boat jaunt around which was great fun too. Overall, Halong Bay was a big success and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A it was a long, fun day to see this UNESCO site featuring those. stunning limestone islands.

After returning from Halong Bay I had one more day in Hanoi before the end of my trip. More walking, exploring in the vibrant Old Quarter. Hanoi has from olden days, Shoe Street, Silk Street, Silver Street and Pub Street – the only locally known by these names, but they outline what is sold here. I found my way to Pub Street late on Saturday night, it was a mistake. It was so busy it was almost impossible to move. I was sure it was dodgy, and I wasn’t sure I was safe traveling alone. This was not a fun street. I scuttled onwards to go and find some food. I’m not a huge fan of Vietnamese Pho, so I went to get an Indian meal. There are lots of options in Hanoi.

The mix of Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Halong Bay proved a great five days enjoyable journey to see some of Vietnam. The cities are busy and bustling, Vietnam has more motorcycles than you could believe. I prefer Hanoi, and the Old Quarter is an absolute charm. I think on average every seven steps I was offered a massage, sometimes at reputable places, and sometimes not. The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh is one of the best to explain the Vietnam War from 1955-1975. Halong Bay is beautiful.

Another fun rounded out trip. Seeing four great new countries in South Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia & Vietnam. Just over a dozen countries more as I continue my adventure towards visiting 100. Where to next?