Slow Travel in Congested Ho Chi Minh - 5 days in The City of Motorbike
Earlier this month, I went to Ho Chi Minh City. Why? Because I heard from others that it is a beautiful and cheap to stay there. I found a friend to go there with. Booked my tickets, looked for accommodation, reminded myself to bring the book guide (though in the end I forgot) and save up. Even though I've heard stories about how cheap to live in Vietnam is, I wasn't confident enough with the saving I had.
So I went from Jakarta with night flight, because the next flight to Vietnam will be in the morning. I arrived in Kuala Lumpur at about 10PM. I slept in the airport (as any other backpacker do). The next flight to Vietnam was at 7AM. I tried to sleep as much as I could every here and there. I arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at about 9AM. The airport was small (for international airport). However it was easy to find your way out to the immigration and such. In the immigration, they didn't ask me much and just give me stamp on my passport and let me enter. There's small official money changer right outside the immigration (oh! FYI, please bring USD. It gives you more, especially from Rupiah). 1USD is about 22.700 VND. The money changer also sell local phone number. I would suggest you to go get this one, if you want to stroll the town on your own. Also, if you need to book Uber or Grab, please buy the number (it cost about 300.000 VND).
Once I got out, I ordered Uber Car. It took me 80.000VND to get me from the airport to the hotel I stayed in (Cong Quynh area, 5 mins from Pham Ngu Lao). However, I had a hard time finding the place. I had to call the owner and got picked up. It was an okayish, but I don't recommend it (so I'm not going to mention that place). I went to the Taka Plaza for a cold drink and went back. The weather in Vietnam during August is also unpredictable. It can be sunny then rainy the next 30 minutes. I brought some pho from the street food near the place I stayed for dinner. It took 77.000 VND for 1 portion of Pho and Ice Tea.
The next day, I decided to have lunch at the famous Pho 2000. They do have BIG portion. You can share it, if you not use with it. However, I can guarantee this is a good Pho. The taste of the broth is heave. The beef is vary tasteful and the pho is soft. Pho 2000 is located right across the Benh Tanh Market. 20 minutes from Cong Quynh and 10 mins from Pham Ngu Lao. This is probably the most mainstream lunch place in HCMC, but I think it's worth a taste. The price for 1 Large portion of Pho and Tea is 90.000 VND (pho 85.000VND and tea 5.000VND). After lunch, I walked to the War Remnant Museums. Reminder, if you also want to visit Independence Palace, it is closed during lunch time. The museum and the Palace is only 3 minutes walking distance. As its name, the museum is about the Vietnam War. It was seen from the Vietnam's point-of-view (I've wrote about this, in my previous post). It cost 15.000 VND. After from the museum, I went to the Independence Palace. It is the former President's house. The fee entrance is 40.000VND. You can hire a tour guide if you wish or can just go on your own. After a tour in the Palace, I went to the Benh Tanh Market. I bought some souvenirs and the famous Durian Pie. If you want to buy stuffs here, make sure to bargain. They do sell all kind of shoes and bags, but I wouldn't dare to say it's original. After that, I went to Bui Vien. I was thinking to get my tour. After few talks, I decided to do Cu Chi Tunnel tour. It cost about 300.000 VND (and reduce to 240.000VND). Don't worry, you can also get a pick up service from the travels. There are a lot of travels around the area, you may choose any that suits you. Unexpectedly, the pho I had for lunch was more than enough. I didn't get any dinner after that.
Third day in HCMC, I went for the Cu Chi Tunnel tour. The tour took off at 8 AM. The tour is about the area where the war take place. The guide is able to speak English, although not perfect. The location itself is pretty far, outside the town. On the way to the location, they would stop in a warehouse. This warehouse is where the generation of Agent Orange survive. They do some handicraft with egg shells. They make paintings, spoons and all the things you could imagine. I arrived at about 11AM. The guide showed us around and explain about the hideaway, tunnel for movement and some traps that the Vietnam people used for American Soldiers. For some people, this would be a boring tour, especially if you're not really into history. You can actually enter the tunnel, it was few meters length. It was so small, so if you have panic attack, heart problem, claustrophobia or problem with your lungs, this is not suggested. You can wait outside the tunnel. The guide will offer you to go back to HCMC with boat through Vietnam river. It costs about 300.000VND. The tour itself ended about 1PM and went back to HCMC with a bus. The bus itself nice and clean. The road to the location is not so much nice (for Indonesian, it's like Pantura). The travel would drop you back in your hotel or Benh Tanh Market. I decided to drop at Benh Tanh Market and had a lunch there. I had Bun Rieu, for 50.000VND. Yes, everything in the market is cheaper. At night,, I went to the rooftop bar in Pham Ngu Lao, The View Rooftop Bar. This is absolutely not expensive at all. A bottle of beer cost 66.000VND and the view is magnificent!
The fourth day, I took a stroll on my own. I had lunch in Pho 24, which is also across Benh Tanh Market. Pho 24 has lunch package. It costs only 88.000VND for Pho, Spring-roll, and dessert. It is also taste good, but I still think Pho 2000 has richer taste of broth. After that, I went to the Saigon post office. I walked to the post office for about 10 minutes. Right before enter the Post Office, there is Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon. Unfortunately, it was under refinement when I was there. I could only took picture from the outside. It was beautiful however from the outside. There are a of tourist and won't be easy to get good picture of it. Then I went to the Saigon post office. It does have a beautiful interior. It has amazing European feeling. You can buy some postcard, unique Vietnamese postcard over there from 20.000-120.00VND. It's depend on which type that you buy. There's no fee to go to these places. I took a further walked to the Saigon History Museum. I passed through the book street. It was so beautiful an peaceful. This is a heave for book lover. The walking distance to the Historical Museum was about 30mins. The fee was 15.000 VND. the museum itself was about the Vietnam from the stone-age. However, the museum doesn't explain about the start time of the communism. It has to be somewhere else. It was around 5PM and I went to Vincom Center Shopping Mall. If you want to buy some original products, you might want to visit the shopping center. If you compare to Indonesia, the number of the price is almost the same. However, because of the currency (USD to VND) it will be much cheaper over there.
Last day I spent my time in the airport. I decided to stay in the airport until flight at 4PM. They do have waiting room, although it is not big. However, you can still lie down if you want to. Most of my time in HCMC, I traveled with Uber Motor. It was not only because of the traffic, but I had an injury in my ankle. Here is the breakdown of the overall cost:
- Flight CGK-KUL-CGK: IDR 812.912
- Flight KUL-SGN-KUL: IDR 900.000
- Accommodation: VND 700.000
- Transportation: Airport - Cong Quynh: VND 80.000
Taka Plaza - Cong Quynh: VND 5.000
Independence Palace - Cong Quynh: VND 10.000
Cong Quynh - Benh Tanh Market: VND 10.000
Benh Tanh - Bui Vien: VND 10.000
Bui Vien - Cong Quynh: VND 10.000
Cong Quynh - Bui Vien: VND 10.000
Benh Tanh - Cong Quynh: VND 10.000
Museum - Vincom: VND 29.000
Cong Quynh - Airport: VND 80.000
- Attraction fee: War Remnant Museum: VND 15.000
Independence Palace: VND 40.000
Cu Chi Tunnel: VND 240.000 (you can bargain for tour tho. I was too tired moving around with 20box of pies)
Historical Museum: VND 15.000
- Food: Pho 2000: VND 90.000
Bun Rieu: VND 50.000
Pho 24: VND 88.000
Pho at Airport: VND 100.000
Countless drinks and dessert: VND 200.000
- Local Phone Number: VND 200.000 (Viet-tel - much cheaper in the airport)
Total without the shopping is USD130 (include accommodation, exclude flight). I don't recommend the place I stayed. I'd recommend CLCC Hostel (because the last day I spent my night crashing at my friend's place there) or Vy Kanh (where my brother used to stay). In both places they have tours, so you don't have to go far to find one. The transportation as Uber or Grab is very welcome there. You might want to use Grab as it is more popular there. Also, since they can't speak English you might want to show your order to the driver. The helmet they use is unlike in Indonesia or anywhere else. They use like bike helmet. Beware of motorbike driver that stop you by the road, you can just ignore them. If you love coffee, there are a lot of cafe. You may find a lot of instagramable place around Pham Ngu Lao.
Vietnam is definitely cheap and I definitely will come back. Still so many places that I felt I haven't seen enough. This was actually a very slow travel. You can actually done this in 3 days. It was an amazing journey and I really can't wait to go back.
