Majestic ho Chi Minh

Every few days throughout the trip we'll try and let you know what we've been getting up to, where we're heading, what we've seen and who we've met, along with uploading photos for you to share the journey with us.

Salut de Saigon! We've been in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) for the last few days, and the best way to describe it is through some key sensory words. Sounds: beep beep beep, HONK, beep beep, HONK, beep, "Massage," "Would you like massage?" "Sir, sir!" ...

... English 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 ...

We asked ourselves what one word would describe our first impression of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh).  Short answer is that there isn't ONE..........Bewildering, Jaw Dropping certainly!  The drive from the airport was the scariest ever with hundreds of ...

We got into Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and were escorted to our hotel. Although the tour guides were convenient, we were relieved to know that Vietnam was one of the last times we would have a tour guide. It's certainly advised to have one but to an extent ...

... side of us we went to battle the evil motorcycles like the brave 300, the victory cry ‘Tonight we dine in Ho Chi Minh City’ sent shudders of fear through the ferocious motorcycles and the ugly brute trucks (lorries for you English). Once on ...

... flight to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). A one hour journey through Vietnamese airspace. The taxi from the airport to Ho Chi Minh City cost 5 bucks. Unfortunately, the two arrived at the hotel for which they had a reservation only to find that ...

... of the first displays was a passage from the US Declaration of Independence; at least I think it was the US Declaration as Ho Chi Mihn had apparently modelled the Vietnamese Declaration very similarly to the US, although that doesn't matter. It was the ...

... - marble columns & lovely! We had a beer or 2 at The Shamrock Hotel (lovely irish pub).  We walked to the Majestic Hotel & enjoyed cocktails on their roof ("wow wow" & "bayside breeze") before having dinner at a french restuarant ...

... prison that was located on the site complete with the guillotine used to carry out executions. I had my driver drop me at the Ho Chi Minh Museum, tipping him 10,000d. It was closed but I took a walk around the garden which has a pretty pond covered in ...

... 6 hours with about 4 hours spent on Cambodian soil and the rest through Vietnam densely populated areas before reaching Ho Chi Minh City.Although, there are some similarities between the two countries, the contrasts and differences are more obvious. For ...

Decided to take the road from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City(HCMC) instead of flying.There is no better way to see the country and its people other than going by road. Booked our tickets two days earlier at Mekong Express at Sangakat Wat Phnom.Ticket ...

... fighting the Americans.  Both his grandfathers died fighting the French.  But he talked about how the soldiers today follow Ho Chi Minh's principals of being the servants of the people - their job is to help the people in the villages.  By ...

... . We briefly visited the markets before picking up our laundry. We left our hotel at 6:30pm to get our flight to Phuket at 9:30. Ho Chi Minh was definitely a shocking educational experience and I will never think of the Vietnam War the same way again. ...

We arrived in Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City or even HCMC for those in the know, at around midday to be picked up at the airport and transferred to our hotel. HCMC is the capital of Vietnam with a population of about 6 million people and just as crazy ...

... So, forget about the old images of Saigon as a war-torn city of the '70s or the huge spartan Communist city of Ho Chi Minh. Saigon of today of a city of frenetic activity, incredible shops and restaurants, museums, parks, classy hotels, and more ...