Day 1 - Expect the Unexpected
Sooo
I went to Ho Chi Minh (last year to be exact). It was pretty fun, though plenty of unexpected things happened even before our departure.
Exactly a day before our flight, we got the news that a typhoon had hit Hanoi, it was devastating, many building were destroyed, and lots of people were missing.
I went to Ho Chi Minh (last year to be exact). It was pretty fun, though plenty of unexpected things happened even before our departure.
Exactly a day before our flight, we got the news that a typhoon had hit Hanoi, it was devastating, many building were destroyed, and lots of people were missing.
(source : https://www.dw.com/en/typhoon-yagi-evacuations-in-hanoi-as-death-toll-passes-150/a-70187009)
We considered postponing our trip, but that wasn't really an option (my friends being corporate slaves and all, don't have that luxury to reschedule things), so after a quick research, we found out that Ho Chi Minh was safe, so, 'fail we may, sail we must!'
Our flight was at the afternoon, we arrived at 5.40pm and it was raining when we arrived at our stay. The place was right in the heart of Ho Chi Minh, tucked away in a small alley — no cars could get through, but it was only a three-minute walk to the main road. Honestly, it was a pretty good deal: the price was decent, and it even had a kitchen!
After dropping our luggage, we decided to get something very 'Vietnamese', Pho of course.
Our landlord recommended a pho place about a 10-minute walk from where we stayed. Believe it or not, it turned out to be the best pho I’ve ever had (though, to be fair, it was also my first). But even after a few days in Vietnam — and after trying a Michelin-starred pho restaurant — nothing could beat that first bowl.
Our landlord recommended a pho place about a 10-minute walk from where we stayed. Believe it or not, it turned out to be the best pho I’ve ever had (though, to be fair, it was also my first). But even after a few days in Vietnam — and after trying a Michelin-starred pho restaurant — nothing could beat that first bowl.
Pho Hung : https://share.google/icbl7uqIdi4Y7RaSj
After dinner, we decided to take a walk. The city was bustling even though it wasn't weekend. We passed by a famous coffee shop our friends told us about and grabbed an ice coffee jelly. As someone who drinks coffee almost every day (and is still on a quest to find the one), this one was… a bit below my expectations. But since it was my first coffee of the day, I was still happy ( i am easy peasy lemon squeasy).
And that was it for the first day.
ps : photo below taken near Ben Thanh market
ps : photo taken near Ben Thanh market
Day 2 - Caffeine, Culture, and Chaos
Let's move on to 2nd day, shall we?
(for your information, I and my friends are meticulous about our itinerary, we planned it day by day (hour by hour even). We're (me actually) not spontaneous gal, and definitely not a big fan of unintended suprises.)
We started our morning at Little Hanoi (still in Ho Chi Minh), having breakfast and chatting. The place was nice, so many books you can read, and it's super close to where we staued! Only 1K, so we went here by foot.
Little Hanoi : https://share.google/SWSHFplSKvxVQ2ZLX
Food was nice, this is is my first time trying egg coffee, and it's supprisingly good! The price was on touristy side (understandable), but I’d say it was worth it for the cozy vibe and that Instagrammable interior.
/transportation
After breakfast, we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral, taking a Grab car. Most of our transportation in Vietnam was either Grab or walking — since there were three of us, the fare usually ended up the same as public transport anyway. We did consider renting a car, but after our first ride through city traffic, we backed out pretty quickly. Whatever you’ve heard about Vietnamese traffic… I’m sorry to confirm — it’s all true.
Unfortunately, when we arrived at NotreDame, it was still under renovation. So, we quickly crossed the street to the Central Post Office. The building was gorgeous — so yes, the detour was absolutely worth it. I even bought a postcard to send to my funny friend in South Korea.
It's almost 11 when we finished our business in post office, the sun was already too bright to handle. A glass of ice coffee wouldn't hurt, right?
Vietnam has plenty of café chains, but one of the most famous is Cong Càphê. You’ll find them every few blocks, and they serve the best coconut coffee ever. It’s a perfect blend of espresso and coconut slush — creamy, refreshing, not too sweet — just perfect. Honestly, they should declare it a national culinary heritage at this point.
After out caffeine fix, it was already lunch time. We arrived at the famous pizza place here, Pizzza 4P's. Their pizzas are thin crust, not exactly my style, but their place is lovely, and the service was excellent. Also! If you drink alcohol, I recommend to try their beer here! The beer's ingredients is made of whey water repurposed from cheese making process (citing from their website). It had such an interesting flavor, and I genuinely enjoyed it.
Next stop, we visited the War Remnants Museum. It was packed with students when we arrived and felt quite stuffy inside. The collection was nice, but the overall experince was not. By then, we were tired and sweaty, so we decided to call it a day and head back (really though?).
It started raining in the evening, just as we reached our place. We planned to go to Bui Vien (it's one of popular streets in Ho Chi Minh, bustling with nighlife), but it was still raining, hence we decided to stay at the bar near Bui Vien. It's called Las Maracas Cocktail Bar
Las Maracas : 100/25 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
The place was small, they had rooftop area though. The bartender was friendly, and the best part? The cocktail was goood! After we savoured our drink, we continued to walk to Bui Vien (at this time the raining was gone). Bui Vien wasn't as crowded as I expected (probably because of the rain), it was sure vibrant though. May be because we were tired of walking or because the night was still young, we decided to come inside a rooftop bar. The view was nice, the vibe was chill, and we had a few shots to close the night. And that's our 2nd day of Vietnam
It's been too long since last time I wrote something, so I'll stop here. Thank you for reading, I'll (probably) write the rest of it later. I visited Dalat on 3rd day and had lots of fun learning about coffee.
See ya!
