Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 9

We arrived in Saigon, and spending 2 nights in the Pullman Hotel - courtesy of Pat Sheahan who won the prize in a raffle held last year during the Long Tan celebrations. An interesting 5-star hotel in a convenient location. We were offered an upgrade to a junior suite - which we had no hesitation accepting. This upgrade included use of the "lounge" - where drinks and cookies are available throughout the day - and then a 2-hour buffet and cocktail session in the evenings. Other than using the "prize" - our main stop-over here was to visit the orphanage in Phu My - about 55ms southeast of Saigon. We had $1500 to donate to the orphanage in the form of needed daily supplies as well as cash so they could by essentials that we didn't ... read more

We got up early and went down to breakfast as we were being picked up at 7.15 for our trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We went to breakfast early so that we would get time to eat before we got picked up. the breakfast at this hotel was amazing and once again catered for everyone. After breakfast we waited in the lobby till our tour operator arrived. We ended up in a group with an Aussie family from Adelaide with Mum, Dad, 2 boys aged 18 & 16 and a daughter aged 14. We were all taken by bus (via some pick ups at other hotels along the way) which took about an hour, to a place where we all got on a speed boat, where we were joined by another Aussie family with 2 ... read more

Geo: 10.7592, 106.662We began our journey into Vietnam on a semi-minibus that seemed to also be the local postal service as we stopped what seemed like every few km along the way picking up and dropping off all manner of parcels and packages. Once we neared Hanoi we realised the bus was headed away from the city and just as we began to panic, we were very hastily ushered off the bus onto a main highway with our bags. Confused and nervous about what was happening, all we could do was say “Hanoi?” louder and with more emphasis to the bus guy who didn't speak a word of English, when we turned around another (much larger and pimped up) bus was all of a sudden parked on the other side of the highway ready to take ... read more

Geo: 10.7592, 106.662I did not sleep much, as I had decided to have a driver take me to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. None of the rest of the party wanted to get up so early. I had to meet him at 4:45 am and he took me in a tuk-tuk. I decided to go as I would never have the same opportunity. I was worried I would be late to meet him, as I was not on any real sleep schedule. I thought I was so special and he would just drive me there, I would snap a few pictures and off we would go!! How dumb am I? I got there and every (mostly) Asian person there had a selfie stick and there were thousands waiting to see the sun!!! So my pictures ... read more

At 6:30am I left the party hostel and went to my next location. This second hostel in Ho Chi Minh was called Saigon Charming Hostel and for good reason. It was a much needed upgrade for me. I soon made friends with Taht, who worked there and he immediately offered me breakfast, coffee, a towel and friendly advice about the city. More than anything though I just felt comfortable there, with the coy, family feel about it and the sort of people I soon met who were also staying there. Among them a friendly Lithuanian couple, an older French lady, two nice kiwis and another halfie 20 something male like me hailing from New York. The events of the day summed up quick included: Visiting the War Remnants Museum (formerly the American War Crimes Museum) which, ... read more