We had an early morning flight from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), and so naturally we barely made it! We actually left in time but getting through customs took forever... Anyway, we go into HCMC in the late morning and it was already super hot. However, it was not as “sticky” and humid as Hong Kong which was a nice change. Immediately, I noticed how much less developed it was compared to Hong Kong. I found the driving conditions were similar to those in India as the traffic was crazy! There were motorbikes everywhere, horns were honking and the rules of the road were not really followed.
I guess that's one way to beat traffic... skip to 0:42 to see bikes on the sidewalk.
View from above
We eventually got to the guest house we booked, but not before getting slightly ripped off on our cab ride over. I think the heat and the craziness of the city made it hard to focus and so we just agreed with what we were offered. Oh well, you live and you learn. Looking back, we really just paid an extra $10 USD (double what we should have) for a 45-minute ride.
The guest house was awesome! We paid the same thing we did for the hostel in Hong Kong but were able to get private rooms. It was much needed after sharing a room with nine people for 5 days! The owners were super nice and they even brought iced tea to our rooms (super refreshing in the HCMC heat) when we checked in. I worried about water in the ice being unsafe – but said “f*ck it” and drank it even if it tasted too strong #Drake #LightUp #Jay-Z.
Ny Tranh was the name of the hostel and it was right on the backpacker street (Pham Ngu Lao). It is family run and they helped us exchange money and book tours for the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta. They even organized a cab to the airport for us so we didn’t get ripped off again.
Aside: I soon realized that you restrict yourself from a lot of new experiences if you worry about the sanitation. I mean, I wasn’t eating out of the garbage or anything. But I ended up eating the raw vegetables, street food and drank stuff with ice in it. Some days, the stomach was not great but I didn’t get super sick or anything. All in all, it was worth it! And why pay for all those expensive shots anyway?