Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Travel Blogs

Day 75: Scooter Dodging
Aug 4, 2008 (13 photos)

... coffee houses surrounding this area, but today's dinner would be had elsewhere. As I don't have my bootleg photocopied Vietnam LP guidebook beside me, any attempt to remember this restaurant's unpronounceable name will be futile, but this was one *good* ...

Vietnam, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - "Same Same"
Dec 11, 2008 (10 photos)

Vietnam, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - "Same Same" Arrived early afternoon into Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it is now known, and our first task was to find a hotel as from here onwards we haven't booked any accommodation..... Using the faithful ...

Saigon (for one night)
Feb 2, 2005

We left a chilly, drizzly Hanoi on the 2nd and flew down to Ho Chi Minh City via Pacific Airlines. As some sort of Happy New Year promotion, the airline was giving out prizes to randomly picked passengers. Halfway through the flight I heard an announcement ...

Tet celebrations, HCMC
Feb 9, 2005 (2 photos)

Happy New Year! The journey back to Vietnam was long, if uneventful. It felt like a homecoming of sorts. The second we crossed the border, I had to restrain myself from hugging the first lady I saw wearing a conical hat. Maybe I only had 2 dollars left in ...

Easy Riding through Vietnam
Apr 20, 2007 (4 photos)

... handle your chickens due to the presence of bird flu. Hammer and Sickle signs line the streets that read " Vietnam is forever, Communism is forever." Ho Chi Minh's (or Uncle Ho, as he's referred to by the population) face is on each and every note of ...

So who won the war??
Mar 2, 2005 (11 photos)

... We met some alcoholic Canadians- Jen, Charlotte and Jake- en route, who were taking full decadent capitalist advantage of Vietnam's newfound bourgeousie, and spent the rest of our time in Saigon exploring the bars and noodle houses with them. The noodles ...

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Mar 7, 2008 (4 photos)

... bus steps to a barrage of eager-eyed touts and an incredible wall of heat and humidity. Were we still in Vietnam? Having eventually found a hotel that was open and better still perhaps offering the opportunity of a bed (although trying to operate ...

Good Morning Vietnam!
Apr 13, 2007 (1 photos)

... "old man." Safe to say, I am thrilled we had different routes, and I am now sans James.  Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) is a bustling city with so many motorbikes and hardly any crosswalks. When I still thought James was a good guy, I made ...

S-S-S-S-Saigon
Dec 3, 2005 (10 photos)

We are now getting used to the Vietnamese minibuses which rudely drop us off at the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) but I still feel apprehensive knowing that we will have to continue our journey balancing precariously on the back of a motorcycle and ...

Good Morning Vietnam
Apr 12, 2009 (42 photos)

... 't be for at least 5/6 weeks, so don't check BBC news all the time worrying about us, ok.   When we got to Ho Chi Minh City, (lets call it Saigon, easier to spell), the bus dropped us right in the middle of backpacker land, how convenient! The ...

Days 76-79: Twelve Saigon Memories
Aug 9, 2008 (23 photos)

... in endless circles, never pausing for a breath (or allowing us a non-rude escape.) We chatted deeply about China, the US, relations between Vietnam and the US, Vietnam's (bad) history with China, etc... Then he looped around and started talking about it ...

Cu Chi Coup!
May 11, 2004 (9 photos)

Wednesday 5th May We moved on to Saigon today. Now Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1975 but you wouldn't really know it as everyone still calls it Saigon. I will call it Saigon cause every one else does and writing Ho Chi Minh City all the time ...

Capitalist Saigon...but isn't Vietnam communist?
Mar 30, 2007 (9 photos)

... . A short flight brought us from the ultra-sedate and orderly Singapore to the vibrant chaos of Saigon (now officially known as "Ho Chi Minh City". Forget any preconceptions you may have, a lot has changed since the "American War" ended back in 1975. Tall ...

Saigon Sightseeing
May 7, 2004 (2 photos)

Today I woke up about six feeling sick and we were going to go to a doctor after dinner but (thankfully) I got to feeling better. We did some laundry in the hotel tub this morning before heading out to find two motorbiek taxis (xe om) to take us to the ...

Vietnam - HoChiMinh City
Apr 17, 2007 (44 photos)

... the true horror of war and the effect it can have for generations after the fighting has ceased.     Just south of Ho Chi Minh City is a district known as the Mekong Delta. It is the point at which the mighty Mekong River reaches the sea. The ...

Tour of Duty Free
Feb 13, 2004 (5 photos)

... this year. It was clear we were only just clinging to our sanity. 10/1 09:00 hours. 98 degrees. Saigon, Vietnam. Our first tour of duty around the battleground in temperatures and polution weíve never before experienced in all our years serving the ...

Ho Ho Ho
Mar 8, 2006 (1 photos)

... . Only problem now is that I am carrying round the equivalent of a library-worth of travel books. So are actually leaving Vietnam tomorrow after a great couple of weeks here. Thoroughly recommend it if you are thinking of coming is a great mix of asian ...

Sigon via Singapore
Apr 22, 2008 (15 photos)

Yes, Bulgarians do need visa for Vietnam. Note to self - never make plans based on a phone conversation. For example, if the Vietnamese consulate in the UK tells you that you don't need a visa - get one any ways. Not a biggy. Almost any problem ...

Day 74: Rejecting Lady-Boom-Boom
Aug 4, 2008 (7 photos)

... enough.) Option 3, the nuttiest option: Forgo Chiang Mai and instead continue even further east to the nearby Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh City/HCMC aka Saigon. A longer stay in Cambodia was out, and though it made the most sense logistically, neither ...

Ho Chi Minh City - where's my helmet?
Jan 12, 2008 (11 photos)

... fairly well. They LOVE the US dollar! One-dollar bills in your pocket are a must-have. Our tour bus returns to Ho Chi Minh City and we're set loose among the 3-million people and all their motorcycles! Streets are a maze of traffic coming from all ...

Lazy day coz it's Sunday!
Aug 3, 2008 (44 photos)

... fastest mouse in all Mehico was mentioned, but I think it will most likely be "Trumpity Trumpity - Speedy Gone Arse Less, the fastest sh*t in all Vietnam" by tomorrow!! We shall see. Tomorrow we will meet our new group for our 3 week tour of Vietnam.

Hello Saigon
Apr 8, 2006 (40 photos)

... three weeks ago. The city, though, certainly has a grasp of its history. After arriving in what is officially now called Ho Chi Minh City at 5 am, I found a hotel, relaxed for a little and headed to the War Remnants Museum. There was certainly a bias to ...

I couldn't Miss Saigon
Aug 28, 2004 (4 photos)

So, with Sarah well on her way back to blighty i continued my journey alone to Saigon. I endured a 10 hour bus journey, which apart from drinking with some locals en-route (always seems to happen to me) was uneventful. I arrived in Saigon in darkness, ...

Miss (and Mr) Saigon....
Jan 5, 2004 (1 photos)

... like 'where do we get the bus' where answered by the taxi's with 'oh, there are no buses', again we are learning about Vietnam fast... Our bus dropped us right in the centre of the cheap hotel district and we got a plush place with fridge and tv etc. ...

Back to Ho Chi Minh City - and to bed!
Aug 6, 2008 (14 photos)

... off the boat, not literally of course coz that would be stupid! Just at the boat staion where we got our bus back to Ho Chi Minh City. When we got back to the hotel, Lorna and I just collapsed in bed for a couple of hours....to sleep you dirty minded ...

We have arrived
Jan 4, 2007 (6 photos)

... her little sixteen year old niece who looked as hip as any of my New Yorker college students. I was actually surprised how modern Vietnam is now since I last visited in '98. The Vietnamese have progressed in such a short time. I dig Saigon and could live ...

S-S-S-S-Saigon, Saigon. (for Paul Hardcastle fans)
Aug 3, 2008 (27 photos)

Got up for breakfast and then decided to have a walk round the City. First stop was the War Remnants Museum which was really good. There was loads of memorabilia from the war including tanks, planes, helicopters etc. There is also an internal part to the ...

One Bird Flu Over The Cuckoos Nest
Feb 28, 2004 (8 photos)

... seen in all its digital flesh for some time, but we had an 8am flight (in Business Class we'll have you know) back to Ho Chi Minh City for four more days of seeing what more it could offer us. Once again a member of staff at the Thienh Thanh hotel had ...

The Traffic Madness of Saigon
Feb 17, 2008 (20 photos)

... ; And compared to the days of The American War, things are quite peaceful and calm, except for the traffic.  Ho Chi Minh City...or Saigon ...is absolute traffic madness!   There are literally millions of motor scooters in the streets and ...

Overland to Vietnam
May 25, 2006 (8 photos)

... Tours giving us all an introduction to Vietnam! The rep made the remaining two hour journey from the border to Ho Chi Minh City very entertaining, by singing songs, teaching us Vietnamese phrases and explaining some of the history of Saigon; now known as ...