Almost a decade ago, I had upp’d and left my London life to come and throw myself into a continent of culture in Asia (note: Neil had also had the opportunity to do this the year prior to me). The trip had taken me all around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – you know the usual, post-graduation backpacker travel path. I kick myself slightly for not keeping better record of my travels then, firstly as it would have shown how much I have changed in my style of writing, but also to read and relive those moments.
One thing I can still clearly recall, is that I had fallen in love with Vietnam back then, and have since reflected on my time there with particularly fond memories. However, those of you would may have read my Hanoi blog from a few months back, this statement may arouse some questions.
Saigon and Hanoi were on two very different scales – the first being my preferred city. With so much history, evident in Saigon, I was able to maximize on my love of world history, and the harrowing effects of the Vietnam war. Not only the civil war element but also the war against America, and how it was portrayed there. Unlike Cambodia, Vietnam (particularly the South) had since developed, making it a well-known tourist destination, a city full of vibrancy, culture and incredible cuisine.
For this reason, it was decided we would go back and revisit a city we had such fond memories off. From Singapore, the flight is a short 2 hour ride away, so we head straight to Changi after work on Friday, and were in Saigon (otherwise referred to as HCMC – named after the president Ho Chi Minh after the reunification of Vietnam in 1976), by 8pm.
This time we had decided not to do the same things we had previously done, so unfortunately, I can’t give you a heap of information on the Chu Chu Tunnels or the Mekong Delta (although feel free to reach out to me and ask if you would like the memories of it shared with you). So the experience this time was actually completely new and felt very different to the previous visit.
HCMC is split into districts, and we stayed most centrally in District 1. Our hotel, the Norfolk Hotel was smack bang in the centre and very easily accessible to the main nightlife, food and tourist areas. Having done a little research we opted to go for a vegetarian restaurant for our first meal of the trip. We selected HUM Vegetarian which was along the river (there are two branches so be sure to double check), and were pleasantly surprised at how beautifully it was decorated. We arrived a little flustered as we were advise last orders were at 9.15pm and with it already being 9pm by the time we were leaving the hotel, we basically sprinted there. Totally worth the exercise though, as the variety of food was so wide, I was genuinely struggling to select from the menu. Having been vegetarian for the first 28 years of my life, I know that usually you get a pick of 1 or 2 dishes, so having a 15 page menu to select from, was particularly mind boggling. After a few recommendations from a very attentive waiter, we managed to get a good mix of food, all which appeared rather healthy (except maybe the deep fried spring rolls).
Following a good meal, we decided to head towards the night market. I had been banging on about wanting to go, in order to buy a few nik-naks for our home in the UK, the idea being, that when we move back to London (which at this stage, we believe we still will), we can look around our family home and reminisce of the amazing memories we created, whilst living in Asia. From what I could recall, there would be a plethora of things to buy, all at ridiculously cheap prices. Having recently been to Japan (which to me was quite different to the rest of Asia) we had completely forgotten about the tribulations of haggling at an Asian market. Not to worry, it took us all of three minutes to remember this, and we speedily put on our haggling hat!
How I tend to negotiate at a market in Asia:
Step 1: Start conversations with the amount you want to pay for the item
Step 2: Stick to it
Step 3: Do not falter, even when they say the amount will not cover their cost (this is rarely true)
Step 4: The kicker – walk away
Step 5: Go back and buy your item, when the stall owner is shouting after you “ok ma’am, ok you take it at XX”
We left that evening, having purchased exactly what we had intended too (and not an item more, strong will power, round of applause please) and very happy at the cost paid. Neil’s negotiation skills would make any Gujarati parents proud. Worth mentioning here, that my negotiation skills are definitely the weaker of the two, as I tend to feel sorry for the vendor and think it’s “only $2 more” at the time, and then instantaneously regret it when I realized I could have got it for a right bargain.
For the following day we had all the intention to get up early and maximize our one full day in the city, however, after what had been a couple of tough weeks at work for the pair of us (yes we do actually work) we ended up sleeping in until 11am before speedily getting ready and rushing out of the hotel. As mentioned earlier, we have both previously been to Saigon, so were not looking to do the usual tourist stuff, and as such, stumbled upon the 3D museum. The artist’s imagination to paint these pictures in a 3D method is genuinely so impressive. We had so much fun, running around taking photographs of almost everything and managed to will away a couple of hours quite easily!
Then we head to 4P’s Pizza, we had heard great reviews and wanted to go and check it out for ourselves. We were not disappointed, the pizzas were delicious and HUGE! We’d arrived for a slightly later lunch but the place was still brimming full of people. Hidden in the Japanese quarter of the city, it was a great find, and comes highly recommended by us!
Having finished lunch, and with a few hours before our pre-booked evening food tour we decided to find somewhere for a massage. Around the corner from where we were we found Temple Leaf Spa, rated as one of the highest in Saigon. We opted for the 2-hour package which included a 60 minute massage, body mask and facial, and honestly it was a little slice of heaven. Possibly one of the nicest spas I have visited in Asia and also a really high quality massage!
Feeling thoroughly relaxed we head back to our hotel, ready for our evening entertainment. Through XO tours we had booked onto a food sightseeing trip around the city. The concept behind the tour was you are collected on a moped and transported across the streets of Saigon, through the different districts and trying all different types of local cuisine. I could not sing higher praises of this tour.
Our group consisted of eight of us, 2 other Brits and 4 Americans, so it wasn’t unusual that the conversation turned to politics and the incomprehensible activities that had occurred so far in 2017 (note: this was pre UK election). Followed by a couple of beers, the conversation became more lighthearted and we found that one of the couples had a bucket list idea to visit all seven continents before 40, and had therefore booked a trip to Antarctica for next Feb! I was quite impressed although don’t really see myself visiting Antarctica anytime soon!
Anyway, back to the tour… We made 5 stops in total, three of which were for food, and by golly there was a lot of food involved! Some very weird things such a duck embryo (which needless to say I was not going to try, Neil’s feedback “it was crunchy”) and other more usual like pho. Now I’ll be honest, the food itself wasn’t anything to write home about, maybe just the variety and weirdness, but the best thing about the tour were the other people on it, together with all the effort our tour guides made. Our bike companions (you do not ride the bike yourselves) were brilliant, chatty and full of entertaining stories. We got to learn a lot about local life in Saigon from renting houses to dating life, all of which made this tour memorable and so very different to others we had experienced.
Having filled our tummies, laughed particularly hard and enjoyed some great company we agreed to make the most of our night in Saigon and hit District 1 and the party scene. It was wild. I recall there being quite a lot of nightlife when I went a few years ago, and this little strip really did prove it! It was full of backpackers, cheap beer and howling laughter.
There was one other place we wanted to check out before we bid farewell to Saigon, and that was Glow bar. We had seen and heard a lot about it, so thought it was the perfect place to have a night cap. I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed with it – it was just a typical pretentious roof top bar. Being Saturday night meant it was full of the top 10%, meaning expats and filthy rich Vietnamese, so if you’re looking for something fancy and pretentious and are missing the poncy bars of London or Singapore, this is the place to be. On a personal level, whilst it was a nice bar in terms of decor (pretty cool GLOW sign on the rooftop), being there felt like being in any city in the world and to be honest, we would have been better of staying in District One!
With that, we head back to the hotel and crashed after a brilliant and busy day. The return to Saigon, was everything we had imagined it to be. It was full of the charm and vibrancy we remembered it having, beautiful food and people and a place to just go and immerse yourself in the day to day. Despite it being a short trip, it was perfect. We left feeling refreshed and happy, sure to return again.
One thing that is important for me to mention, a lot of these trips are actually organized and planned by Neil (particularly the big ones). Whilst I love planning the location of our next trip and will even go as far as booking flights, he’s very good at the logistics of finding and booking hotels (not sure I have ever booked any hotels yet), finding things to do at each of our destinations and generally getting us around. Also he takes about 50% of the photographs used for this blog. Shout out to Neil.
