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Seeing the World | South Vietnam

After we'd seen all that we wanted to see in Cambodia, our trip took us across the border and into South Vietnam. Previously, in Sihanoukville, I arranged my Vietnam e-visa online through the Vietnamese government website, which got me 30 days of travel. Having a British passport is a luxury in this world and it was easy for us to get the e-visa for only $25; however, if your country isn't on the list, you'll have to arrange your visa through a travel agent or the local Vietnamese consulate.

This happened with Tamsin, but we got the visa sorted for $50. Once these were sorted, we booked a hotel bus through Bison Tours for $20 each. A hotel bus is a sleeping bus that has actual beds in it, rather than reclining seats (which meant I could actually sleep!) and its a great way of travelling long distances. A minibus picked us up from our hostel to take us to Phnom Penh where we would catch our hotel bus. This minibus ride was meant to be a 3 hour journey in a crammed minibus (16 people), going backwards; but it turned out to be more like 4 but felt like 6. This was probably the worst bus we've been on since we arrived in Asia, but we were so glad to see Phnom Penh and stretch our legs. Originally we were told we would be picked up in the hotel bus at 11pm and would drive through the night; however, when we arrived, we were told it wasn't until 1:30am and we had to wait in the city (cue grumpy travellers!). There wasn't anything we could do, so we found a local Burger King and watched a movie on my computer. This closed at 10 and we found a small little sports bar near the bus station to sit in until our time came. 

Ho Chi Minh City

We finally boarded the bus and made our way to the Bavet/Moc Bai border. After about 6 hours of sleeping, we were (loudly) woken up by the staff on the bus as we had arrived at the border. The Bavet border is a very ominous place, it's almost like an abandoned mall in a zombie movie but we made our way through and after a couple of hours, we were back on the bus and ready to sleep. 3 hours passed pretty quickly and we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and quickly headed into the nearest Burger King for a snack and to use the WiFi. Fortunately for us, our hostel was literally around the corner and we arrived there in no time. We booked 5 nights in the Lee Hostel on the Saigon Pub Street,and we kinda wished we'd booked somewhere else. It only cost us $3.45 each per night, but that came with various problems. I'm not going to go into details (that's what reviews are for) , however we had issues with the aircon, the breakfast and the room itself so when we left we were glad to go. 

P.S. Our stay in the hostel is no reflection of Saigon itself as we had a great time. 

Out of all the cities we've visited on our adventure, HCMC is probably our favourite. It's a lot more western than the others and the streets are always full of life. We would spend hours sat watching the locals dancing, skateboarding or doing their group exercises; it was amazing to see a different side to them.

Vietnam was host to a devastating war during the 60s and the country is still recovering from this to this day. In the centre of the city is the HCMC War Remnants Museum and this gives you a glimpse into the atrocities that happened in Vietnam. They had original tanks and planes that landed as well as a lot of pictures and descriptions of what happened. The media portrays the Americans as the good guys in this war and we never see it from the other side as thousands of Vietnamese innocents were brutally slaughtered and  are still suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical the Americans would spray over the land, damaging the land and the genes of whoever came into contact with it, giving the descendents deformities. It's horrible to see that people are still affected by this and to see that even to this day countries are using chemicals to destroy others is despicable; why can't we learn? I urge you to check out the museum if you visit the city as its a real eye opener and only 15,000₫ each. 

One of our days in HCMC, me and Tamsin decided to visit the Cu Chi tunnels on the outskirts of the city. These tunnels were home to a multitude of Vietnamese soldiers during the war and they would lay traps around the forests in order to catch (and kill) American soldiers. These people were incredibly clever and knew how to be stealthy when cooking, relaxing or laying the traps. We got to get in one of the tunnels which was no more than 1 metre high and smaller in width. I was getting a bit claustrophobic (and I rarely get claustrophobic), so I couldn't imagine how it must've been to live in these places. The total cost of the tour was 190,000₫ each, but this included the bus, the tour guide and the entrance into the park, plus a small taste of the food they used to eat. There was also a shooting range on-site in which you could try out AK-47s and M60s, but the cheapest one was 500,000₫, so we missed it.

One thing we love when checking out new cities is the local markets and Ho Chi Minh has an huge indoor one; the Ben Thanh market. You can find pretty much everything you need here: clothes, speakers, food and plenty of other things. The downside is that it can get quite crowded and the vendors are pushy, but this is their culture, so we can't get angry at it. At night, the Ben Thanh market closes and the street in front is closed and becomes a night market. They sell pretty much the same things as the indoor market, but you're more likely to find a deal, because they put everything on 'sale'. Also, around the corner from the market is a new street food market. You can choose from a variety of different foods from different places around the world; although it can get hard to choose.

On the weekend we were there, the local park hosted an international food market which had some amazing foods and drinks. The aroma and sights were something to behold and the food tasted wonderful. We had a Korean hotdogs coated in fries (25,000₫ - amazing) and a cheese burger (40,000₫); it was so good, we headed back later that evening for round 2. I'm not sure if they have this market every week or whether it was a one of thing, but if it's there every weekend I recommend that you check it out. The food is awesome, there is so much to choose from and it's cheap! (Always a benefit!). 

Whilst browsing the local stores, Tamsin and I found a travel store which sold us a sleeper bus to our next stop, Nha Trang for $10 each. This would be our first experience of a sleeper bus (the other was a hotel bus) and it was not a great one. The bus picked us up at 9pm and we were shown to two 70% reclining seats that were definitely made for Vietnamese people but after a cramped and sleepless 10 hours of travel we made it to Nha Trang. 

Nha Trang

Now Nha Trang is not the best representation of Vietnam and tends to only really attract Russian holiday makers, but we were determined to make the most of it. We stayed in a lovely little hostel across the road from the beach called iFriends hostel. We paid $4.50 each per night for three nights and it was worth every penny; clean rooms, the best shower we've had and the most helpful staff. The only downside to staying here was that there isn't really a common room so it's a bit harder to socialise with other travellers, but we managed to meet people in our room and in the reception. Outside of the hostel is two, very popular and cheap restaurants as well as a small store just on the corner. Across the road from is the Central Park area of the beach, where you can rent a sunbed and get access to awesome swimming pools for 80,000₫ daily; we were super tempted to do this to get in the pool, but decided we'd rather swim in the sea. The beach was beautiful white sands with clear blue, warm waters and I could've spent all day in the water. It's quite a large beach, so there is always an open area where you can sunbathe without being bothered by anyone else. Along the beach are several trendy restaurants and bars where you can chill during the day and party at night, however these places are a lot more expensive than restaurants that are just off the beach area; as a budget traveller, these bars weren't quite in our price bracket. 

Nha Trang isn't the most cultural of places and if you're travelling solely to look at the temples and study the history of the country, this place probably isn't the best for you, however, a short scooter ride out of the city and the scenery changes drastically. We decided to hire a scooter from our hostel (80,000₫ per day) and took a 50 minute drive  to the Ba Ho waterfalls. In order to get here, you drive through beautiful farm villages with forests and hills, which is a stark contrast to the city life of Nha Trang. Arriving at the waterfalls, you have to pay a park entrance fee of 45,000₫ each, but you can park your scooter there for free. From the entrance its about a 25 minute walk to the actual waterfall, but the walk itself is an experience. The first 10 minutes is a path that takes you through the forest to an opening to where the water flows. From here, you have to have your climbing head on; for about 15 minutes you are literally climbing up rocks and through trees in order to make it to the waterfall (the whole way is marked with red arrows painted on rocks). As we arrived at the waterfall we were greeted be about 20 people who were swimming in the water and jumping off the cliffs into the lagoon; it was a paradise. Initially we'd decided to spend an hour or so here, but ended up staying for about 5 hours. The water was cold, but we could welcome this as the day was sweltering. Swimming through the water were small schools of fish that would nibble the dead skin off of our feet; at first it was weird, but we soon had gotten used to it. I figured that we probably weren't going to come back to the Ba Ho waterfalls, so I decided to jump off the cliff. You could choose to do the higher one or one just below and I went for the smaller one, but it was still about 25 feet high. I feel if you're not going to be there again, then you should make the most of wherever you are! There were so many groups of people arriving and leaving whilst we were there and we got to meet a lot of lovely people. 

On the way back from the falls, we decided to hit up a local temple in Nha Trang. The Po Nagar Cham Towers is an old Hindu temple which had been recently restored and it was stunning. It's stood on top of a hill just by the river and from the top you can see the whole landscape of the city, its beautiful. It cost us 22,000₫ each for entry into the temple and about 5,000₫ for parking. You're unlikely to spend a long time at this temple, but it's definitely worth it.

Other than the Ba Ho waterfall and the Po Nagar Cham Towers we didn't find much to do in Nha Trang and we pretty much used our time here to chill out and catch up on our sun tan. There are plenty of places to eat, especially once you leave the beach area and we were eating for about 100,000₫ between us for a meal, which isn't too bad. Nha Trang is great if you're looking for a holiday destination, but if you're after a cultural destination, then I probably wouldn't recommend it. After deciding that Hoi An would be the next stop on our journey, we booked sleeper bus tickets through our hostel for 200,000₫ each and headed north.

Hoi An

After about 10 hours on another cramped bus, we landed in Hoi An and once we knew where we going we arrived at our hotel: Uptown Hotel. This place was recommended to us by a lovely couple we had spoken to in Nha Trang and although it was a bit more expensive than we'd been spending previously, we decided to treat ourselves. For $46 we got an air-conditioned, double room with a free breakfast consisting of a menu full of choices; I miss the banana pancakes from this place. If you go to Hoi An, I'd 100% recommend Uptown Hotel; the place is clean, the staff are lovely and its located pretty much halfway between the old town and the beach. 

Hoi An itself if a gorgeous city situated in the centre of Vietnam in the Quang Nam Province. It looks very European in style (almost like Venice), however takes elements of design from Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese architecture; it's stunning to see these different styles overlapping. Historically, the city is rife with old stories and the people are very proud of their history. There are multiple temples and pagodas, ancient bridges and old homes that you are able to explore. For 120,000₫ you can buy a ticket to visit 5 of the historical sites; Tamsin and myself visited a couple of old homes, the famous Japanese bridge, a temple and a pagoda, it was definitely worth the money. There are over 20 attractions that the ticket covers, so each person can pick their own 5 and do what interests them. 

Every month in Hoi An, they host a lantern festival in the old town and our trip happened to fall on this date. At about 8pm on the night of the later festival, the whole towns turns off their electricity (no lights, no aircon, etc.) and everyone lights a lantern and places it into the river. It absolutely amazing to see a beautiful dark town, lit up from the light of thousands of candles. Although it's crowded, it's lovely to sit with your friends and eat in a candlelit restaurant, its kinda romantic. 

One of the main selling points in Hoi An is the Marble Mountains. Strictly speaking, the mountains aren't in Hoi An (they're in Danang) but for $5, we hired a scooter and took the 40 minute drive. When you approach the mountains, you will be approached by people offering you free parking spaces in their shops, try and avoid this as once you go to pick up your scooter afterwards, they'll want to charge you. Anyway, entry to the mountains is 40,000₫ per person and if you want to take the elevator to the top, you can pay an extra 15,000₫ ; we decided to take the stairs. Once you reach the first level, you'll be greeted by a huge Buddha statue next to a cute little temple which covers the entrance to one of the caves. The further up you go, there are more temples and caves to explore including a huge cave which hosts a small temple inside. We arrived at this cave at the perfect time and the sun was right above the holes in the top of the cave, creating an array spotlights beaming down. I've never seen anything like this before and it was absolutely beautiful. Outside of the caves there are stairs that will take you to the highest point of the mountain; from here you can see the whole of Danang and probably Hoi An, although the ascent up the mountain isn't the easiest. The Marble Mountains are incredibly gorgeous and don't cost a lot to visit, so I'd definitely recommend it, just make sure you remember sunscreen as it can get sweltering when you're at the top of the mount. 

About another 20 minutes along the coast, is the huge statue of the Lady Buddha. Standing at over 67 metres tall (nearly double the size of Christ the Redeemer in Rio) this statue is a sight to behold. The statue is of Bodhisattva of Mercy and is recognised as the highest one nationwide, with 17 floors inside and a temple at the bottom. Unfortunately, you cannot scale the statue, but the sheer beauty of just seeing it, is amazing. To visit the Lady Buddha, you don't have to pay anything, although if you take a vehicle, they do ask for a small donation to keep it in their parking lot. 

There is a lot more to do in Hoi An such as bike tours and photography classes, but unfortunately we couldn't afford them at the time; however, I do want to visit it again one day, so maybe next time. There are plenty of places to eat starting at about 20,000₫ (70p), so you'll never go hungry. Hoi An is such a beautiful town and I wish we could've spent longer and done more there, but our Visa was only for 30 days and we needed to move on; so after deliberation, we decided to to the historical city of Hue. We booked a bus through our hotel and it was only 130,000₫ each (you may be able to find it cheaper, but it was easier for us this way).

Hue

Arriving in Hue, we were dropped at the local bus station on the outskirts of the town as apparently 'buses aren't allowed in the town', but the station put on a minibus that would take us to our hostel. It cost us an extra 40,000₫ each, but we didn't fancy walking the distance so we paid it. The bus dropped us right outside of where we were staying, the Tigon Hostel, in the centre of the city. For two nights, we paid $16 and got 2 beds in a lovely 6 bed dorm room. I much prefer having a small dorm room like this one as its much easier to get to know people (we met some guys here who we'd end up travelling with). The staff were very nice and tried to help when we needed anything, although they would always give you the most expensive option to begin with.

Hue itself is littered with Vietnamese history as it was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors and the national capital from 1802 to 1945. It is home to a huge, 19th century Citadel which contains the Forbidden Purple City (this used to be home to the emperors) and the Imperial City. Tickets to the Citadel are 150,000₫ per person and in my opinion isn't worth seeing. Ancient Vietnamese history isn't really something that I'm interested in, so the Citadel didn't interest me. The buildings are lovely, but inside was just boards with writing on to tell you about the emperors. Plus, it was throwing it down with rain, so it made the day a bit worse. Overall, we were glad to leave and head back to the hostel. 

The day after, we rented scooters through our hostel for 100,000₫ and headed to a local abandoned waterpark. Honestly, for myself, this was the most fun thing to do in Hue and the best part? It's free! Back. In 2005, a brand new waterpark opened up on the outskirts of Hue and for reasons unbeknown, it shut down in 2010. It was literally just left and even now there are waterslides and rides left in the park. The waterpark is situated around a big lake and in the centre of the lake, is a giant dragon which you can scale and go up into the mouth of. Its quite an experience and frankly a little bit scary in parts, but it was amazing to see. Also, once the park was abandoned, teams of crocodiles moved in to the lake and lived there for a while before the government issued a project to remove them; however, it's still a minor worry when walking around the park that there may be the odd one left behind. 

Shortly after the waterpark, we headed over to the Tomb of Emperor Tu Duc. Although this was some more of the Vietnamese history, the tombs and buildings in the site we absolutely beautiful. It was 100,000₫ entry per person (in hindsight, it probably wasn't worth it) and you had access to the tombs of Tu Duc, his wife and his son, as well as various different buildings. The best part of this place was the grounds of the attraction; it had a beautiful, calm lake in the centre as well as a band of ladies playing traditional Vietnamese music. We stayed here for about and hour or so before heading back to our hostel. Hue itself could be an awesome destination if you're into your Vietnamese history, but for us, it's a place probably could've missed and spent more time in a place which we enjoyed more. 

Don't let me put you off going here as it is full of history, but it just wasn't for us (and a lot of people we spoke to). After our two days were up, we booked a bus through the Travel Desk for 130,000₫ and headed over the demilitarised zone into the North of Vietnam.

Quick Vietnamese lesson:

Hello - Xin-Chao (Sin-Chow)

How are you? - Ban co khoe khong? (Ban co kwe khome?)

Fine, Thank you - Cam on ban toi khoe (Gahm un ban thoy kwe)

Thank you - Cam on (Gahm un)

Yes - Vang (Vung)

No - Khong (Khome)

If you have any questions about my time in South Vietnam, hit me up on social media or via email and I’ll be happy to answer them as quickly as possible.

Stay blessed, stay you.