To get to Ho Chi Minh from Ha Tien was not easy … First we tried to hitchhike … and nobody took us … but luckily, a bus to Rach Gia, which was in our direction, passed by the road … cost us 45,000 dongs to each one.
Once in the bus station of Rach Gia, we looked for a bus to Can Tho, we suffered the siege of the taxi-motorbike, which told us that there was no such bus, that they took us to a point where they would take us by boat … suspect … better wait and investigate a little more. In the end, after the siege of the weasels a lady who did not speak any English told us to sit down, that was the bus … saved!
The bus started, trusting us to let us know when it was time. After a while of the trip, a guy who spoke good English explained the situation: that bus was not going to Can Tho, we had to take another bus in Thanh Anh to An Giang and a last one from LoTe to Can Tho … We thought it was going to It’s impossible to arrive on the same day, but the buses are chained! so the journey was like silk and we arrived at Can Tho, after a few hours, but on the same day !! We pay between 15,000 and 20,000 dongs per person on each of the buses.
The pity was that we were very tired, and we decided to just stay one night in Can Tho and leave the next morning for Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). We did not see the floating markets of the Mekong Delta … We took the Futa company bus to the big city for 110,000 dongs each. The station is called Phuong Trang Futa bus station.
From this moment, we discovered the usefulness of the app that we had not used so far: Booking.com. Until now, the best accommodation prices were obtained by reviewing other people’s blogs, door to door and finally haggling. In Vietnam it is a bit more difficult, directly the prices are higher and it costs a lot more to haggle a better price, so the best option is Booking.com offers. In HCMC we found the hotel Bali B for 245,000 dongs a night … yes, a category room with air conditioning, for now the best room in which we have been …
Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City since 1975, is the largest city in Vietnam with 14 million inhabitants (counting annexed populations). In the French colonial era it was the capital of the Conchinchina … so we are in the Conchinchina !!!!
Hahahaha … this was the typical expression of my mother to say that something is far away … It was called HCMC when North Vietnam occupied South Vietnam, after the victory over the Americans. with an exasperating motorcycle population.
The first priority was to find a motorcycle for sale. We went through all the hostels in search of ads and we navigated through all the websites that we found. We launched the messages and we waited for answers … Until a boy from Taiwan, Arguen, accepted the economic offer, we went looking for it, we went for a test drive, and that’s it! deal done and we have a bike!
Welcome Vietnamese Senior Dynamite, because she looks just as old and looks older than the last … if possible.
Driving through Ho Chi Minh is a challenge … there are motorcycles everywhere! It is the city with the most motorcycles in the world !! there are more than 6 million motorcycles … it seems like a scooter convention but without the “like” … it’s a real chaos !!!
Although if you catch the trick is not so difficult, a matter of doing things with well-marked intentions and unhurried … when you edit a video you’re going to freak out … laugh at Barcelona … multiply it by 1000 … So we enjoyed that you shit driving around Saigon, well, I more than Mayra … she kept shouting and for me it was like being in another world !! We saw many crashes without consequences, but it did not surprise us, they stick between them and there are so many that this is the most normal … crazy …
For the accommodation of the following nights we decided to try Couchsurfing, a platform that allows you to contact people from the city you are going to visit and get free accommodation, we stayed 3 more nights.
Dining at home with the girls.
The tortilla that we cooked them as thanks for welcoming us.
The purpose is to make a cultural exchange … And so we met Jane and Thao, the two girls who welcomed us at their home, in exchange for intervening in the English classes at the premises that Thao taught in the dining room of the same house …
A fun experience, we made mime games with the students, taking advantage of the fact that we are clown … what a disaster … they are ultra shy! they did not even dare to do very simple and daily actions … anyway. In this way they practiced vocabulary with us and we got to know them a little more.
Thanks to a girl we met in Phu Quoc we learned about the existence of Saigon Free Walking Tours. It is an initiative of the University of Hoasen, in Saigon. It is an opportunity for students who aim to practice their English by making tours to tourists who request it for free!
There are several tours and it is very good, and the students are lovely … The girl who accompanied us is called Lan, and we did the Saigon City tour, visiting the following points of the city:
Ben Thanh Market, one of the oldest markets, of the time of the French colony, wide and colorful, with the best food quality in Saigon, and where you should always get a discount of at least 40% of what you get at home. The town hall of the city, built by the French, where some sculptures can be seen in its entrance representing the French domination over the Vietnamese, and for this reason, according to Lan, this building is not shown in the guides edited by the government.
The municipal theater, a nice building built by the French, apparently the tickets are very expensive. The post office, also built by the French in colonial style, is beautiful! all wooden, high ceilings, French style decorations, although in the end look a great portrait of Ho Chi Minh … Notre Dame, a cathedral that is right in front of the post office, all the elements except the brick were brought from France.
The Reunification Palace, former Government House of the President of South Vietnam, which in 1975 became a symbol of the reunification of Vietnam, is now used as a place for events and meetings and on the facade the Vietnamese flag and the flag are hung of the visiting country. In the park next door there is a plane on display and in the tail it has one of the few flags of South Vietnam that can be seen in the city, even if it is crossed out.
Another place we visit is the Nguyen Hue promenade, which is filled with locals in the afternoon for a walk. In this trip we could see a curious case: during our visit a triathlon was held, the media montage seemed considerable, we could witness the exit, very exciting, until it was heard: Corten !!, and everyone stopped running, and again to the starting point …
We asked Lan if it was a film or a documentary, and they told us no, that later on in the news it appears that a triathlon has been held at HCMC … it is part of the party’s propaganda … Lan explained that the flags that shine in Vietnam there are two, the country and the communist party. The government is a single party and elections are held to elect representatives who are anonymous to citizens … something quite sub-realistic …
From what we understood about Lan and other people’s reactions, in the south they prefer Saigon to Ho Chi Minh, even a suspicion of the state of communism is sensed … but nobody says it openly. Apparently any demonstration against the communist state is punishable by jail, as if you were breaking a ticket (which bears the image of Ho Chi Minh, the liberating communist politician praised as a hero throughout the country).
One of the most important tourist spots is the Museum of the remains of the war. It is a collection of objects, articles and photographs about the Vietnam War with the United States. It is very spectacular, especially the photographic reports, the articles of the American press describing the barbarism, with famous photographers of the time, the death of Frank Zappa in the Vietnamese fields.
It shows the disasters of the agent orange, genetic deformations, the practices carried out by the American army. It shows the desperate atrocities that made the United States to the limit of losing the war, and all fed with the communist point of view, angels against devils … In the gardens of the building there is a collection of American planes, helicopters, tanks and cannons It is spectacular, although it does not exceed the impact received by the aforementioned information.
During the search to buy a motorbike we met Toni, a Barcelonian also on a route through Asia. We stayed one night and went to dinner together. He explained his adventures along the way, which you can read in his blog Motxilles Abismals, and we explain ours.
Afterwards we went to have some beers in the area of Pham Ngu Lao, the backpacker area, similar to Khao San Road in Bangkok, although full of locals and other people drinking everywhere! It was very fun and a pleasure to share it with Toni !!
What you liked best for dinner was one night we went to a restaurant called Panda, there were mini barbecues where you could order meat or fish, it was fun and delicious !!!! and since there were only stores, everyone looked at us, even some customers offered to try some skewer …
And after 5 nights in Saigon, we’re going with our Vietnamese Dynamite Mr. towards Vung Tau, a town on the coast. Here we go!!!!