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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City
June 15th 2017
Published: June 26th 2017
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Bui VienBui VienBui Vien

Crazy party street in the backpacker's district of Pham Ngu Lao that is HCMC's answer to Bangkok's Khao San Road.
As usual, it was at the last minute. This time, the last minute was when I remembered I might need an onward journey to present at the check-in desk - but this time, the last minute was too late. Too late to doctor the Word document I keep specifically for this purpose; to fool a check-in clerk that I had an outward journey from the country I was flying into. Now, I would have to take my chances.
Thankfully the check-in clerk merely asks me if I have a visa, for which I produce my British passport which gets me fifteen days in Vietnam visa-free. Handy, having two passports.

So I had gotten away with it again. Or so I thought.
The immigration officer at Ho Chi Minh City's (HCMC) Tan Son Nhat International Airport did not look friendly.
"No visa?" he asks.
"No" I reply. "I'm a British citizen."
"Do you have a return flight?"
Fuck. So I needed that doctored onward flight document after all.
The officer throws my passport back at me and simply points me back. Back to where? Was I now stuck in the terminal a la Tom Hanks? I wasn't sure what to do.
Notre Dame CathedralNotre Dame CathedralNotre Dame Cathedral

Built by the French between 1877 and 1883.
As I wanted to enter Vietnam again later in my travels, I was gonna have to get a visa for one of the entries anyway, so I guess I needed to get the visa now; luckily there was a visa-on-arrival counter where I could apply for a visa.
Or not.
I could only do this if I had already applied online for a visa approval letter which I needed to-hand and which I obviously did not have. Would I really now have to buy a flight I wouldn't use? Perhaps that was just one grumpy immigration officer and I could try another one?
But I wanted something to show the officer in case they asked again for an onward journey; so I turned to my tried and tested trick that has got me out of almost the exact same situation not just once, but twice. I was a bit nervous this time around however as the two previous times I did it, I was fooling check-in desk clerks rather than immigration officers! I was getting even more nervous when I couldn't seem to find an online travel agency that would give you a summary screenshot before you click the "Pay"
Tank & 'CopterTank & 'CopterTank & 'Copter

On display at the War Remnants Museum.
button to actually purchase a flight. Opodo came to my rescue with a screen showing my selected flight details along with my name; though I had to do some iPhone finger gymnastics to get a screenshot of it without the "Pay" button.
I approach a female immigration officer with a smile as I nervelessly hand over my passport.
"No visa?" she asks.
"No" I calmly replied.
"Show me your return flight."
Here was the moment of truth as I handed over my phone with a screenshot of a flight I hadn't bought; I hadn't bought it but the officer did. Thank God. When I think about it however, I might actually have been in quite a bit of trouble if I had been caught attempting to defraud Vietnamese immigration. My dad reminds me as much when he tells me via WhatsApp that "a Vietnamese jail is not where you want to be." I smile as the officer hands me back my passport, betraying the relief I was feeling inside. There is no place that says an onward journey is required to enter any country but I've gotta prepare better for this next time given this is now the third time
Modern HCMCModern HCMCModern HCMC

Like fellow growing Southeast Asian cities such as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, HCMC has it's fair share of flash modern buildings.
this has happened.

On my bus into town, it was nice to see that Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet. It meant I could attempt to read things unlike anything written in Thai or Cyrillic. In saying that, I don't think that I've ever seen so many accents on letters. Vietnamese words are also rarely more than one syllable, like Chinese. There definitely seemed to be less English in general around here than in Thailand too.
Vietnamese immediately sounded similar to Thai but much more nasal. Same same but different.
The people definitely didn't seem as friendly as the Thais though. They also looked a bit more Chinese than your regular Thai.

Although traffic in Bangkok is bad, at least it is slow - at a standstill, usually. But crossing the road in Vietnam is an absolute mission. You have to look out for motorbikes that could be coming from literally any direction as well as dealing with the reasonably fast and constant streams of traffic. No-one really follows traffic rules, traffic lights included.
And my God, I haven't seen so many motorbikes (and motorbikes riding on the footpath) since I was in Phnom Penh. You can even grab a Grab here (Asian version
Communist PropagandaCommunist PropagandaCommunist Propaganda

On display inside the HCMC Museum.
of Uber) on a motorbike!

As for the city itself, HCMC seemed very neat and tidy and I was a little surprised. The place seemed like a smaller and slightly less developed version of Bangkok.
One of the city's more unique features are the propaganda posters championing the ruling Communist party. No-one quite does propaganda like Communists. It is rather weird and hypocritical however, how communism is championed when Vietnam is clearly not a Communist country any more. I can't read Vietnamese though, so perhaps they are just promoting the party or general Communist values, but still.
For example, how can a country be Communist when there are millionaires here? The answer to that question is because everyone here - well, the majority of people - are millionaires, myself included. It's a nice feeling. £1 = roughly 30,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) so you only need to withdraw about £35 to be a millionaire in Vietnam.

And it can go a long way too. Food is cheaper here than in Thailand and this was apparent at the street food market near the hostel.
I got straight to work in sampling the local cuisine; I had the ubiquitous and world
Banh XeoBanh XeoBanh Xeo

Vietnamese culinary speciality of a crispy yet chewy rice pancake topped with pork, shrimps, bean sprouts and green herbs.
famous pho (rice noodle soup) and banh xeo - a crispy yet chewy rice pancake topped with pork, shrimps, bean sprouts and green herbs. I also had what I thought was a Chinese steamed BBQ pork bun but was in fact banh bao, which has a massive minced pork meatball inside it with a couple of whole quail eggs. Still prefer my Chinese char siu bao though, I think.

I needed a little bit of a break after a hectic few days in Bangkok; time to catch up sleep, time to catch up the blog and time to catch up on admin. So I did this for two days; on my other two days in HCMC, I saw the sights that were on offer.
The first one I visited was the Ho Chi Minh City Museum which is housed in a former palace which like Vietnam, has a tumultuous past. It was originally built by the French in the late 19th century when they ruled what was then Indochina; the palace then changed hands several times during WWII and after independence from France in 1954. There are bomb bunkers built beneath the building which you could explore - pretty cool and it reminded me
Inside The Central Post OfficeInside The Central Post OfficeInside The Central Post Office

This throwback to the 1920s and 30s features Ho Chi Minh's portrait taking pride of place at the end of the main concourse in true Lenin/Mao/Castro style.
a little of when I went into a former nuclear bunker in Moscow. The palace was where the president of South Vietnam resided when the nearby Independence Palace - now called the Reunification Palace - was out of action. Now the Gia Long Palace houses the HCMC Museum which documents the city's economic past, the marriage traditions of HCMC's various ethnicities, various archaeological finds from the area and a floor dedicated to the struggle for independence from France, the Vietnam/American War and the history of the ruling Communist Party. It was good to learn a bit more about the city's and Vietnam's history in general but there wasn't a set route through the museum which always helps you to make sense of what you are looking at in chronological terms, which made things a bit frustrating for me to piece together.
Just up the road is the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office, two beautiful buildings that were left behind by the French. The post office was in fact designed by one Gustave Eiffel. At the end of the main concourse of the post office - which is a nostalgic throwback to the 1920s and 1930s -
Banquet HallBanquet HallBanquet Hall

Inside the Reunification Palace.
a portrait of Ho Chi Minh takes pride of place in true Communist Lenin/Mao/Castro style.
The Botanical Gardens were a complete waste of time and money; there was little that was pretty about the place and it contains perhaps the most miserable animals I have ever seen in a zoo, even if seeing majestic beasts such as lions, tigers (including white ones) and hippos is always a thrill. I was sadly too late to see the Jade Emperor Pagoda before it closed.

On my second day of sightseeing, I started out at the Reunification Palace. The palace built to house the South Vietnamese president and for him to receive foreign guests was constructed in the 60s and inside and out, is about as glorious an example of 60s modernist architecture and design as the government buildings in Brasilia. All the rooms have been kept almost exactly as they were so exploring the building was like a trip back in time. I must say that I am a big fan of Jetsons/Thunderbirds architecture so I really enjoyed touring through the palace. I've always wanted to live in a palace too, so strolling around and imagining myself living here was a
Victim Of Agent OrangeVictim Of Agent OrangeVictim Of Agent Orange

Babies of parents affected by Agent Orange were often born with hideous and fatal deformities.
cool and geeky delight.
Just down the road is the sombre War Remnants Museum which displays a large number of actual remnants from the war; as well as harrowing photographs and stories from what is known as the Vietnam War in the West and as the American War by locals. Having visited SS21 and The Killing Fields in neighbouring Cambodia, as well as the infamous concentration camp at Auschwitz, I wasn't as emotionally touched by what I saw here as I was at the other sights but it was still affecting seeing and reading about the ghastly things that happened. Particularly moving were the photos of mutated children and maimed adults as a result of Agent Orange, a sick chemical weapon used by the Americans against the Viet Cong - the Americans' Communist enemies - and anyone suspected of aiding them which included scores of innocent women and children. Any war will claims the lives of innocent civilians and both sides will blame each other for the casualties; a sadly similar storyline still seen today in Syria. The use of Agent Orange and napalm however is particularly cowardly and inhumane and I wonder if any Americans have been brought to
Dancing With The LocalsDancing With The LocalsDancing With The Locals

Locals would often have their own street parties going on; our group of backpackers decided to join in with this one.
justice for what happened.

The two days I spent taking in HCMC's sights saw me learn a lot about Vietnam's history that I didn't know before; for example, after the Viet Minh first resisted Japanese occupation during WWII and then overthrew the French in 1954, Vietnam was split along ideological lines into North Vietnam (controlled by the Communists) and South Vietnam (controlled by anti-Communists). In similar circumstances to North and South Korea, conflict between the North and South of Vietnam became another crystallisation of the ideological war of the time as the Americans intervened to stop Vietnam turning to Communism, an ideology that was and perhaps still is, anathema to the Americans. The US withdrew in 1973 and the country was reunified in 1975 after which colonial oppression was replaced by internal repression and Vietnam became internationally isolated. Reforms in the 90s saw Vietnam reintegrated into international society. Such a tumultuous history in part explains why the locals are a bit more suspicious of foreigners and perhaps aren't as forthcoming as people in other parts of South East Asia; they've had to fight for everything.

Tourism is nevertheless alive and well and nowhere is this more apparent in
ReunionReunionReunion

I am reunited with Julian (far left) and Jeremy (second from right) in HCMC after first partying with them on Koh Phi Phi.
HCMC - formerly Saigon, a name like many other former colonial names, rightly or wrongly evokes a romantic nostalgia - than in the backpacking district of Pham Ngu Lao. Travel agencies and hostels abound here and one block behind the main road is De Bui Vien, which is packed with bars and clubs that go off every single night. It is HCMC's version of the Khao San Road. The majority of people out and about however, were actually locals - all sitting on plastic chairs and tables which are all facing the street, giving the drunk backpackers on pub crawls a public gallery - enjoying bia hoi, some food and a bit of open-mic street karaoke which was a bit of a laugh.

Fuelled by free nightly beer at my hostel - which was full of Brits and Americans - I was out every night bar the first one while I was in HCMC; having hung out with my mum for a week in Bangkok, it appears I was keen to socialise and to make up for lost time.
On my third night out, I randomly bumped into Jeremy, a Texan I met at my hostel on Koh Phi Phi; the
KhoiKhoiKhoi

Typical alley in Ho Chi Minh CIty.
next night, his buddy Julian also came out for another night of drunken revelry. We were on the Hideout Hostel bar crawl, where rather than having to down a bucket, we were fed 'free' shots instead. It was great catching up with Jeremy and Julian, partying together again just like we did in Thailand.
Having been out on so many, Hostel Nights Out (TM) seem pretty similar these days and on my four nights out in HCMC, there wasn't anything particularly unique, new or wild that went down. I did enjoy myself though, with Donkey Bar becoming a favourite with its generous dosage of hip-hop and R&B bangers.

One last observation about HCMC and Vietnam so far has to be the heat. It is so hot here; I really don't remember sweating so much anywhere else. Literally. Abu Dhabi is probably the hottest place I have ever been but it didn't come with the humidity that exists here which has you sweating in places you didn't know you could sweat from. Many people name Bangkok as the hottest and most humid place they have ever been, but I was fine there although it did rain a little during my visit.
Motorbikes!Motorbikes!Motorbikes!

I've never seen so many.
I don't know how locals can wear trousers and jackets here - it's really, really not necessary.

Like it is early in the morning near my hostel, HCMC is a city that is well and truly alive. There is a palpable energy and a frenetic pace here that seems only matched by Bangkok in South East Asia. But while it was cool to experience, in all honesty I wouldn't say that HCMC is among my favourite cities in the world - there isn't really much that sets it apart from the hundreds of others that I have visited.
So after four days getting to grips with and attuning my senses to Vietnam, it was time to make my way north; starting with the second longest bus journey of my entire trip.

Hẹn sớm gặp lại,
Derek


Additional photos below
Photos: 25, Displayed: 25


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Reunification PalaceReunification Palace
Reunification Palace

Where the president of the former South Vietnam resided and received guests of honour.
Central Post OfficeCentral Post Office
Central Post Office

Designed by one Gustave Eiffel.
The Neat Streets Of HCMCThe Neat Streets Of HCMC
The Neat Streets Of HCMC

I found HCMC to be surprisingly tidy.
White TigerWhite Tiger
White Tiger

Majestic beast on display at the Botanic Gardens.
Mad Dog BarMad Dog Bar
Mad Dog Bar

One of many bar/clubs in the backpacker district of Pham Ngu Lao.
PhoPho
Pho

"The soup that drives a nation." -Lonely Planet
Napalm GirlNapalm Girl
Napalm Girl

The famous and iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a naked girl fleeing a napalm bomb dropped by the Americans.
Hacky ShuttlecockHacky Shuttlecock
Hacky Shuttlecock

Locals played this game where they had to keep this shuttlecock-like contraption off the ground with fancy moves like this behind-the-leg kick.
HallwayHallway
Hallway

Inside the glorious ode to 60s modernist architecture that is the Reunification Palace.
Balcony View At The Reunification PalaceBalcony View At The Reunification Palace
Balcony View At The Reunification Palace

Looking down at the fountain on the front lawn of the Reunification Palace with the avenue of Le Duan behind it.
HCMC MuseumHCMC Museum
HCMC Museum

Housed in the Gia Long Palace.
Bomb ShelterBomb Shelter
Bomb Shelter

Beneath the Gia Long Palace.


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