Delicious food. Friendly locals. Great prices. We loved Ho Chi Minh City!
Vietnam was one of the most “foreign” places we have visited yet. I say foreign because it seems that many other well-known places in Asia, like Korea and Japan, have been widely portrayed in popular media. My studies of Chinese have also led to a lot of cultural familiarity with China and Taiwan. Vietnam however, remained largely an unknown until our recent quick trip. And what a happy discovery it was!
There are already lots of great itineraries and “what to do in Ho Chi Minh” posts online. Check out Trip Advisor for a great overview. Here we want to share here our personal experiences with discovering Vietnamese food and culture on our quick trip to Ho Chi Minh City and the MeKong Delta.
Originally, we had read about the beautiful beaches in Central Vietnam and saw that DaNang had several Hilton hotel options. Since we are still Hilton Diamond members, we had looked into a beach vacation to start our explorations. However, when we saw that we could fly directly to Ho Chi Minh City from Taichung (our closest airport), we shifted gears to head to Southern Vietnam for a few days.
If you are a US citizen keep in mind that Vietnam does require a visitor visa for entry. The application procedure is simple and straightforward. You can apply for an e-visa on the official Vietnam government visa page here. It is a 30 day, one time entry visa, and at the time we went cost 50USD per person. Watch out for scam pages that will overcharge you for visa entry. You will receive an email confirmation of your approval to print out and present at immigration when you arrive in Vietnam.
VietJet
We flew out of Taichung International Airport (RMQ) in the late afternoon on VietJet. The airport is quite small and there was no lounge access available through AMEX. (See Luxury Bang for your Buck: Why You Should Consider the AMEX Platinum and Is Airport Lounge Access Really Worth It?) Since we were in minimalist packing mode we each brought just a backpack, which made getting around easier. It was only when we got on the plane that we ran into the usual large traveler trouble.
The leg room in economy was simply incredibly cramped for Jeremy. Usually, if the flight is less than 4-5 hours, we will stick with the least expensive economy seating rather than paying for an upgrade. The upgrades are often very overpriced and sometimes don’t even provide complete relief.
In this case, the flight was not full and Jeremy inquired about moving to an emergency aisle with more leg room. He was told he could only be accommodated if we paid for an upgrade. Happily, no one sat in the third seat in our row, so he was able to turn his legs and make do. However, when flying VietJet we do not recommend economy class for taller travelers.
Vietnamese Traffic
In spite of a slightly uncomfortable flight, our arrival in Ho Chi Minh city was smooth. It was when we exited the airport that we got our first real taste of Vietnam and things got interesting.
I had deliberately booked a hotel about a ten minute walk from the airport. What I didn’t realize/remember was 1) how complicated it is to walk anywhere from the airport (rookie mistake) 2) how terrifying walking in Vietnam is and that 3) Google Maps is not always clear or accurate.
Vietnam has it’s own rules and social contract when it comes to traffic and pedestrian crossings. One that we were completely unfamiliar with. Although crosswalks exist, they seem to be virtually meaningless. Cross signals in Vietnam are also relatively rare. Ultimately, to get across a street in Vietnam, you start walking or driving and trust the cross traffic to go around you. Honking signals you are coming through. It was rare to see anyone actually stop driving at any point that wasn’t a red light. Instead, motorbikes and cars would just continue around a corner and find a space amongst the straight driving vehicles.
It was actually quite impressive to watch how the traffic ebbed and flowed as phalanxes of motorbikes stopped cross flows of traffic to get across. That first night though, between not knowing exactly where to go and not knowing how to cross the streets, my anxiety was on high alert. But we survived!
(Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam)
Street Food Tour
Our first adventure in Ho Chi Minh was a Private Street Food Tour by Motorbike with Local Students. At about 50USD per person it was very pricey for Vietnam. But since we had no idea where to start and it included picking us up from our hotel and returning us (thirty minutes each way) we decided to make the splurge. And what a delicious splurge it was!
Having only really tried Phở and spring rolls in the United States, we didn’t have much of an idea what to expect. Our friendly guides (local Vietnamese university students) picked us up on motorbikes (Jeremy’s first time as a passenger!) and navigated through the traffic to the heart of Saigon. There we had our first real taste of Vietnam.
Chuối Nếp Nướng (Grilled Banana with Coconut milk)
A delicious snack that is common on the streets of Ho Chi Minh. The bananas are wrapped in leaves and grilled before being drowned in coconut milk. A yummy introduction to Vietnamese cusine!
Bún bò Huế (Spicy Beef Noodle Soup) & Pandan Tea
Our next stop was for some delicious Bún bò Huế, a beef noodle dish that differs from Phở mainly in it’s thicker rice noodles. If you are a fan of Phở you will love Bún bò Huế, which is still topped with fresh veggies and enhanced by a rich beef broth and as much spice as you want to add. This was also our first taste of pandan tea – such a unique and refreshing flavor!
We also got a small historical tour, as the noodle shop is in a very old part of Saigon. Real estate and space are at a premium in this area because of the location of the store fronts. Since it’s so expensive to park, ramps have been created in the middle of the stairways to allow people to bring their motorbikes up all the way to the third or fourth floor. Then they can park outside the door or even in their front room.
Hồ Thị Kỷ Flower Market
We enjoyed walking through the Hồ Thị Kỷ Flower Market and seeing the vast variety of blooms that are shipped from all over the south of Vietnam. One of our guides is from a family that owns a flower farm, so he shared some details of how the flowers are grown and how they arrive at the market. We also saw a demonstration of how to fold back lotus leaves to show off the bloom. Beautiful!
Bò Nướng Lá Lốt, Bánh Tráng Nướng (Vietnamese pizza), and Oyster Omelette
The flower market also has some amazing street food. It was in the 90s and humid so we were happy to drink some refreshing sugarcane peach tea while we tried a bounty of Vietnamese tastes.
Gỏi Cuốn (Spring Rolls) and Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese pancake)
The climax of our food tour were spring rolls (Gỏi Cuốn) and Vietnamese “pancakes” (Bánh Xèo). The pancakes come in two varieties, small and thick or large and thin and are eaten with a mound of different fresh herbs and greens. We tasted all the different greens and it was truly an amazing experience. From a licorice flavor, to spicy wasabi vibes, and even one that tasted like fish sauce – the greens added amazing flavor and texture. We washed it all down with more iced pandan tea. Bánh Xèo is our new favorite Vietnamese food!
To finish we enjoyed a cool dessert soup and then headed back to our hotel happy campers
The MeKong Delta
Our next day in Vietnam we shifted gears completely and took a tour of the MeKong River Delta. This agricultural area of tributaries is one of the most famous in Vietnam. We chose a guided small group tour to explore some of the traditional Vietnamese way of life in the Delta.
Our group consisted of about nine people, plus our guide and a driver, and all of us drove in air-conditioned comfort for the 1.5 hour ride to our first stop the Buddhist temple known as the Vinh Trang Pagoda.
Jeremy and I are a little jaded when it comes to Asian temples at this point. I did find it interesting that much of the carving inside the temple is in Chinese characters. The evolution of language and writing in the countries surrounding China is really fascinating. Since we are learning Mandarin, we can often pick up the cognates when listening to Vietnamese and Korean.
From the temple we embarked on a series of boat rides through the muddy MeKong River Delta. At stops in between, we were introduced to local fresh fruit, traditional music, honey tea and coconut candy. This culminated in a full lunch and a final ride in a traditional sampan, complete with straw hats.
The overall experience was quite touristy, but as complete newbies to Vietnam, we appreciated it. We learned many fun facts about Vietnamese culture and history. For example, motorbikes are so prevalent because the taxes on importing cars are so exorbitant that the great majority of Vietnamese people cannot afford even one car in a family.
Overall, we really liked Ho Chi Minh City and our glimpse of life in the Mekong Delta. We definitely want to return to Vietnam and hopefully have a chance to explore its beautiful beaches as well!
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