Blogs from District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 43

We woke early and had a nose on the internet for accomodation in Phuket. We had to check out of our hotel, and decided to go eat, pork and rice in a stall was nice and simple just how I like it. There was a lot of time killing today, so we had a stroll in the park, went to some shops, hit some bars, before we knew it we needed to get a taxi to the airport for our flight back to Thailand. It was pretty much midnight when we arrived in Phuket, so jumped on a packed minibus to Patong, found our hostel, and had a late night dirty McDonalds.... read more

Following breakfast we jumped on a bus to Ho Chi Minh City. The bus was comfy, which was a welcome change and at some back and beyond village we stopped off for some food; chicken carcus and rice, always tasty! Arriving at Ho chi minh was stressful in the blistering heat with millions of racing cars and motorbikes, but eventually we arrived at the Western Quarter, and found a small, cheap hotel on Pham Ngu Lao street in District 1. Immediately after dropping off our gear it was time to head out for coffee and sarnies. The rest of the day we chilled out and had a few drinks.... read more

After a few days in Hue we caught a bus to Hoi An, which was about 4 hours away. Hoi An is an incredibly pretty coastal town, which appeared completely immune to the monsoon rains we had experienced elsewhere. During our 6 days here the weather was brilliant blue sky and scorching sunshine which appeared to magnify its beauty. Hoi An is a very old town, with charming narrow lanes and characteristic colonial buildings. Over the centuries it has been influenced by many different trading cultures that have made their mark here. We spent lots of time just wandering around the roads stopping in cafes and shops. The central old town is not very big but exudes an enormous amount of atmosphere and charm. At night the sound of oriental music adds to this and drifts ... read more

Crossing into Vietnam was effortless, the difference in road conditions was welcoming. You've got to love tarmac :-) The scenery of patchwork emerald green rice paddies was much the same only this time you saw far more brick houses than wooden shacks, the poverty isn't as obvious here. After a couple of hours we arrived in Ho Chi Minh (HCMC). It took another hour to get to the centre, it's home to approximately 8 million people and it felt like every single one of them was out on the road ! We stayed in the backpacker area, Pham Ngu Lao, as it was where the bus dropped us off. It was humid and we weren't planning on staying too long so travelling to a nicer area seemed pointless. As it was, we stayed in a ... read more