5th March 2011
I arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) around 9:30pm to a very hot and humid evening. I don’t know what it is (probably the humidity mixed with the pollution) but Saigon smells funny. I swiftly got out of the international airport and searched for a reliable taxi company that won't try to rip me off (Look for Mai Linh or Vina Sun Taxis). Taxi Scams are notorious in Vietnam. The drive to the hotel was pretty interesting! Straight away I noticed the Vietnamese way of driving – it’s so crazy – motorcycles, cars, trucks, bicycles, scooters and bicycle rickshaws called “cyclos" all careering past with their horns blaring. Officially Vietnamese drive on the right hand side but really anything goes. Vehicles just come from all directions.
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| The crazy traffic in Vietnam |
After the traffic the next thing I noticed after getting off the air conditioned taxi to my hotel was the intense humidity and heat. Even at night, I was sweating. I checked into my hotel, spoke to them in English even though I knew a bit of Vietnamese (Note: My background is not Vietnamese!). I discovered throughout my trip that most Vietnamese do understand a bit of English so the language barrier wasn’t really a problem. So yup, you guessed it... I just used
English most of the time in my trip!
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| Dong Khoi St, District 1 |
The hotel I was staying in was called Ho Sen Hotel located close to the main street (Dong Khoi) in District One. It is the most prominent area in the city featuring fashionable shops, museums and restaurants, and French colonial structures such as the Municipal Theatre, Notre Dame Cathedral and the General Post Office. My room was $60 for two nights, it was a normal sized room with double bed, air conditioning, free wi-fi and clean bathroom. My only complaint was that they sealed the tinted window shut so there was no way of opening it to see the view outside. Oh and the mattress was a bit hard too. But I guess it was alright for the price.
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| Ho Sen Hotel |
By now it was around 10:30pm so I had an hour or two to explore before calling it a night. I was just walking around the streets with the camera, photographing the local landmarks – Municipal Theatre, City Hall and Rex Hotel.
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| City Hall and Statue of Ho Chi Minh with a child |
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| Municipal Theatre |
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| Side view of the Municipal Theatre |
My hotel happened to be located a few metres to Apocalypse Now, one of the more popular night clubs in Saigon. So I decided to check it out. It was overcrowded with a mix of locals and expats. The club had a nice interior with a large dance floor. Didn't really stayed there long, as I was feeling a bit tired from the flight. I was also getting pretty hungry so scouted around the street food vendors for a bit but ended up just going to the convenience store to get some snacks. I did not want to get gastro on my first night!
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| Apocalypse Now Bar |
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| The Dance Floor |
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