Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia

Advertisement

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City February 22nd 2024

Gestern waren wir den ganzen Tag in Saigon. Wir starteten mit einem Rundgang durch Chinatown mit zwei Tempeln und einem Markt. Danach waren wir im Ben-Tanh Großmarkt. Von dort ging es weiter zum War Remnants Museum und einer Lackiererei, bevor wir in einem berühmten Restaurant eine Nudelsuppe aßen. Abends nahm ich noch an einer kulinarischen Vespatour durch die Stadt teil, wo wir in einer Rooftop Bar einen Cocktail tranken, verschiedene Spezialitäten probierten und in zwei Bars mit Livemusik halt machten.... read more
Chinesischer Tempel in Chinatown.
Das War Remnants Museum.
In einer Lackiererei.

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City February 21st 2024

Gestern sind wir schon früh aufgestanden und um etwa 08:00 zum Mekongdelta in der Nähe der Stadt Ben Tre gefahren. Hier liefen wir durch einen Markt zu unserem Boot, wo wir Kokosnussmilch bekamen. Wir fuhren ein bisschen auf dem Wasser und später mit dem Tuk Tuk und besichtigten auch einen Handwerkbetrieb und einen Einheimischen. Später aßen wir zu Mittag mit viel Fisch und ich trank ein Saigon Bier. Danach stiegen wir auf Ruderboote um, wobei wir nicht selber rudern mussten. Es hatte auch tropisches Wetter mit über 30 Grad. Am Ende waren wir noch in einem Handwerksbetrieb mit musikalischer Darbietung und kehrten mit dem Boot zu unserem Ausgangspunkt zurück. Abends aßen wir noch einmal in einem Restaurant, was eigentlich von der Essensmenge unnötig war (alleine verspeise ich im Urlaub auch nur 2 Mahlzeiten), aber es gab ... read more
Fahrt mit Tuk Tuks.
Fahrt im Mekongdelta.
20240221_151241

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City February 20th 2024

Gestern flog ich problemlos mit Singapore Airlines von München über Singapur nach Saigon. Das war einen Tag, bevor in meiner Heimatstadt das Bodenpersonal streikte. Da hatte ich nochmals Glück gehabt. Im Flugzeug kuckte ich nochmals den neuesten Film der Reihe Mission Impossible, trank ein paar Becher Wein und unterhielt mich mit einem ostdeutschen Ehepaar, welches in Hamburg lebt. Der Changi Aiiport in Singapur ist sehr schön und auch der Weiterflug nach Saigon war unproblematisch. In der alten südvietnamesischen Hauptstadt angekommen dauerte die Passkontrolle etwa eine Stunde, aber mein Koffer war da, ich besorgte mir am Geldautomat etwas Bargeld und danach fuhr ich mit dem Taxi zum Hotel. Dieses ist etwas einfacher, als meine Unterkünfte in Japan oder Taiwan. Um 14:00 traf ich meinen Reiseführer und wir machten einen Spaziergang durch die Stadt. Hervorzuheben ist die alte ... read more
Spaziergang durch Saigon - die alte Post.
Spaziergang durch Saigon - die Katedrale.
Spaziergang durch Saigon - Prachtstraße.

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City November 24th 2023

Our flight from Da Nang to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) was quick and uneventful, and we soon arrived at our hotel for the next two nights, the Avanti, set on one of the main streets of Saigon, with the busy Ben Thanh market just across the road. On the front door of the hotel was a notice banning Durian in the building. Durian is the world’s smelliest fruit, and is very popular in South East Asia. I can concur that it is indeed a very unpleasantly smelling fruit, and having sampled a Durian sweet (candy) will not be doing so again! It’s also very obvious when one is nearby, and I seriously can’t understand the appeal. I read that it tastes like ice cream and is sweet, while others say it’s more like eating cheese. I ... read more
Durians banned and  come above spitting!
Hang on in there, you guys!
A random grave in a field.

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City March 27th 2023

We took a break from the fast pace of visiting a new city every 3 days and booked a home exchange in Nha Trang for sun and beach time. Nha Trang was a 1 hour plane ride north of Ho Chi Minh City (but it is not listed with this travelblog site so I had to use Saigon again). We spent 16 days here and loved it! I felt that Nha Trang was like the Vietnam version of Waikiki but with less people, cheaper prices and a much better beach – 6 kilometres of soft sand with no rocks and gentle waves! We loved splashing and sunning and watching the intriguing culture of this Vietnam beach. Our host, Khanh was wonderful! We loved staying at her studio apartment, right in the Nha Trang Centre across the ... read more
Nha Trang Beach - Daily ritual with Beach empty until 4 pm!
Nha Trang Beach - March 22-23
Nha Trang Beach after 4 pm

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City March 19th 2023

Our river cruise took us further down the Mekong Delta to Sa Dec, a typical village on the Mekong where we stopped at the local market. They work here 364 days of the year - one day off on a national holiday only! The market was labeled a fish market but there was everything that a Vietnamese family could want here! We saw them butchering chickens - dropping them in boiling water, plucking and chopping up with hatchets. Talk about fresh! The fish was even fresher as it swam in tanks, and basins ready to be killed and taken home. Lots of vegetables as well, many I had to ask about as I didn't recognize them. We stopped at a fading French colonial home that was the site of the true life romantic novel by Marguerite ... read more
Sa Dec Market - Fish Vendor
Sa Dec Market - Plucking Chickens
Sa Dec Market - Vegetables Wholesale!

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 October 14th 2022

Well, I had a pretty rough night going at both ends!! We consulted our symptoms sheet from the Travel Doctor and decided some azithromycin could be in order. My dear husband brought three slices of white toast back from the dining room for me … and that’s all I ate all day. I managed only half a slice with a scrape of Vegemite for breakfast. For lunch and dinner I was able to get a whole slice into me washed down with lemon and ginger tea. Thank goodness I brought the Vegemite, my ultimate comfort food when recovering from feeling dodgy in the tummy. I stayed in bed all day just about comatose! Steps for the day: 1,337 (0.89km) I’m actually surprised that I moved that much! Meanwhile, Bernie, Cathy and Steve visited the Ben Thanh ... read more
Ben Thanh Market
Ben Thanh Market
Ben Thanh Market

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 October 13th 2022

We were due to be picked up at 7.00am for our big day trip today. I set an alarm for 5.15am so that we could be in the dining room at 6.00am when it opened for breakfast. As is always the case when one has an early alarm set, I was awake at 4.45am! After laying in bed for a few minutes debating with myself the pros and cons of trying to get another half an hour of sleep I decided to bite the bullet and head into the shower. We were in and out of the dining room by 6.30am which left time for us to clean our teeth and be back downstairs to meet our tour guide for the day at 7.00am. Nam was already there when we arrived in the foyer and took ... read more
Ho Chi Minh traffic
Bird at our first stop
Black Virgin Mount

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 October 12th 2022

We decided to get an earlier start today so that, hopefully, it wouldn’t be quite so hot and humid as we walked to our first sightseeing stop?? We hit the dining room for breakfast about 7.45am and we were out of the front door of the hotel before 9.00am. We were exploring on foot again today. Yesterday we saw the Hop On Hop Off bus so we looked into that on the internet yesterday afternoon. Hmmn, it turns out that it’s a bit of a misnomer because you can’t actually hop on and off the bus! You board the bus at the Opera House, you complete a 45 minute loop of the city’s main points of interest and then you hop off the when you return to the Opera House. There was also a long list ... read more
Jade Figurine
Brass Drums
Buddha

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 October 11th 2022

I woke up about 4.30am local time (8.30am Melbourne), but managed to go back to sleep until 6.30am. Figured that wasn’t too bad for trying to get the body clock aligned with local time? Fortunately Bernie noticed this morning that Telstra had charged my phone with a $10.00 day pass. Oh no, we don’t want that to be happening at all. We have purchased e-sims so that we don’t need to be paying $$ for international roaming with Telstra. Grrr, tried to turn it off from my phone, but it would not allow us to do so and gave a free number to ring to have it sorted out. After a bit of mucking about and waiting for a call-back via the app I spoke with an operator who has turned roaming off. Hopefully that will ... read more
Lanterns in Book Street
Notre Dame Cathedral
Post Office




Tot: 0.155s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 8; qc: 73; dbt: 0.0942s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb