Blogs from District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 37

Saturday, 23rd October 2010 "You see it all. The nice-looking shopping malls for the rich and sophiscated. Affordability is another issue!" After my early trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels in the morning, I decided to make my way slowly to the Dong Khoi District in the later half of day 2. Armed with my google map (mate) which I had downloaded recently, it probably took me a good 25 minutes walk from where I stayed in District 1 to the entrance of Rex Hotel. At least this was how I would demarcate the start of Dong Khoi District proper. With its tree-lined boulevards coupled with the likes of Louis Vuitton and the Lafayette Restaurant at the Continental Saigon Hotel, I would have easily imagined myself being transported to Paris. This area was in stark contrast ... read more

Friday, 22nd October 2010 "You are not going to walk to your hotel aren't you?" remarked the airport taxi touts. "Of course not, there's the Saigon Airport Bus waiting to bring me right to the doorstep!!!" I was still sleepyhead as I forced myself out of bed in preparation for my early morning flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I had booked my trip a couple of months back and was able to strike a SGD 100 deal with Jetstar Asia for my return tickets. The flight itself was smooth and it landed on schedule at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC after a brief 90 minutes on the sky. "Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City" as the words were inscribed on the neon board at the Arrivals Hall. Certainly, the HCMC airport ... read more

4th - 6th October 2010 (Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City) So... we landed in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh to you non-locals) at about 9:20pm local time. We exited the plane and walked into the customs area. Barely any security - just a normal metal detector thing and then we were outside. As soon as we stepped out of the doors of the airport, we were surrounded by taxi drivers. Being very naive and not really having a clue as to what to expect, we jumped in a cab with some crazy dude. It turns out we were over charged by an extortionate amount however it was our own fault for not being more alert to the system. As soon as we jumped in the cab, the driver started reversing the wrong way through the carpark ... read more

We continue to travel with Sara and Scott which translates as, our journey remains filled with laughter. We agree that we are all prone to being lazy tourists, by which we mean that we are more than happy with good company and a beer and that site seeing has become somewhat optional. We could try to blame this on the increasing presence of the Monsoon rains or, indeed, Gregg’s ear infection but either might be stretching the truth a little. 29 September 2010 Dreams Hotel is a place that, for once, lives up to its own hype. The staff (a family) are incredibly helpful and welcoming and they run their hotel in such a way that you really feel as if it is a home from home. Breakfast is taken in the basement around a massive ... read more

So on Saturday, we had been in Ho Chi Minh city for three days and decided it was time to visit a local nonprofit. So at about 2pm, we headed out to the Centre Medical International to avail ourselves of their medical services. Danielle had just had another bad bout of ... whatever she has ... so she figured we better see a doctor. The experience was actually very positive - Danielle got good medical care from a doctor who spoke limited English (in addition to Vietnamese and French) and diagnosed her with an infection of some kind. Fun! He prescribed some antibiotics, an electrolyte tablet, and some anti-nausea medication that is administered in such a way that you ... uh ... cannot throw it up. Including the visit with the doctor, which was 30+ minutes ... read more