Vietnam Weekend Part 1: Adventures in Ho Chi Minh City

Just one week after visiting Cambodia, Megan and I embarked on a three day weekend to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). We desired to explore the food and history of this booming developing country.  Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies and that commercial energy was palpable in Ho Chi Minh City.  All sorts of people were hawking goods and services, the traffic was hectic and the construction industry was active.

'Welcome to Saigon?' - That's what I think this sign says

Travel and Accommodations

We flew Tiger Asia directly from Singapore into Ho Chi Minh City.  A lengthy delay got in us in pretty late on Friday night.  Vietnamese customs was slow but smooth (FYI: it helps to apply for your visa in advance).

Our hostel had sent a taxi to pick us up which was much appreciated at the late hour.  Sadly, our taxi driver had been waiting for us for over 3 hours, so he was not in a good mood.  Undoubtedly the best part was the placard he held up for us with perfect handwriting that read  "FEFFREY".  Megan and I got a great laugh out of it but we didn't have the heart to ask our perturbed driver to take a picture.

The Hong Han Hotel (a misnomer as it's really a guesthouse) was a solid place to stay.  It's located right at the end of the backpacker's district, Pham Ngu Lao.  This provides the advantages of being close to cheap food, western-friendly nightlife, and sightseeing areas while still having enough separation from the craziness.

Hong Han - great location, nice rooms, good breakfast

Anh, the Hong Han Hotel manager, was hilarious.  He seemed to be awake at all hours and was constantly running around trying to fix things.  I think he might be the most forgetful person I've ever met; especially for someone around 20 years of age.  He repeatedly asked us when we were checking out, if we had left our keys, and what room we were in.  Anh even forgot to reserve us a cab to the airport.  Fortunately, none of his forgetfulness created any difficulties which is likely why I remember him fondly.

The big win at the Hong Han Hotel was the complimentary breakfast.  Each morning we were able to wake up and enjoy eggs and a fresh baguette on a nice patio overlooking the morning bustle.  It provided good focus and energy for the day. 

Sights and Eats on the 1st Day

The first day we explored Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) without any real distinct plan.  The first thing that attracted us on our wanderings was the Ben Thanh market.  The Ben Thahn market sells to both locals and tourists alike with food, knick-knacks, groceries and much more.  There were over a hundred different stalls packed into this place.  The sellers were quite aggressive, regularly physically touching us to pull us into their stall.  Quite unnerving at first.  The haggling was my favorite part; just a battle of wills to get to a price that was suitable for both parties. 

Benh Thanh market with relatively light traffic

Another cool sight was the Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of the city.  The cathedral was built during the French colonial era and it still towers over the landscape today.  The building materials were imported from France and the Romanesque design is beautiful.  Unfortunately, the English mass was not at a convenient time so were unable to see the inside.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica

Megan and I have a goal of trying new foods.  We are willing to try everything at least once.  With that in mind we wanted to explore the Vietnamese cuisine with no holds bar during our trip.  For our first meal away from the hotel, we desired to find some 'yummy' street food but had to settle for a restaurant.  An initial glance at the menu made it clear, we had no other option but to try some exotic food.  For starters we ordered BBQ snails.  The BBQ snails were awful.  The texture was slimy yet chewy, the flavor was gross and they were a pain to eat.  It's safe to say I won't be trying Vietnamese snails again very soon.

BBQ SNAILS = AWFUL

Megan ordered Fish Cake soup which was just blah and my Vietnamese pancakes were pretty good but had prawns with their shells-still-on cooked in the omelet.  I later found out the leaving the shells on the shrimp was not uncommon in Vietnamese cuisine.  That gives me hope that maybe Dave Tighe could succeed as a Vietnamese cook*!  The drinks were a strong positive though.  Vietnamese iced coffee (made with condensed milk) is absolutely delicious.  I think I could drink that stuff all day.  And the fruit drinks were fabulous.  The abundance of delicious tropical fruit in Southeast Asia has made the fruit drink selection diverse, delicious, and cheap.

On the Back of the Bike Tour

Our food experience definitely picked up when we started to rely on the experts.  Megan and I booked a trip for the Back of the Bike Tour.  The tour involves us traveling around on motorbikes while sampling the street food of HCMC and seeing many of the city's different districts.  We had been looking forward to the tour as soon as we booked it.  Even with high expectations, the tour absolutely delivered.  During the tour Megan and I mentioned that we were having so much fun at least 3-4 times.  What was so great?

The People - Our tour guides were so nice and knowledgeable about the city.  They were fun to be around as people and they provided lots of great recommendations for things to see and do. Our fellow tourists were a blast too.  There were two middle-age Australian ladies who were really nice and a bit cooky.  They didn't want to try any of the food which seemed outrageous (especially when they rejected the desserts) but they were happy to converse and hang around.  The other tourist K-F was the exact opposite.  His motto was "I'm Chinese, I eat everything".  I was impressed how he dug right into baby duck eggs (yes it's as gross as it sounds).  He was also quite funny.

The Food - the baby duck eggs notwithstanding, all the food was amazing.  The street vendors in Vietnam really are better than the low or mid-tier restaurants.  Their flavors and the spices are great and the food is cheap.  Our tour menu included some delicious delicacies:

• Starters: Grilled Squid, Radish Rolls with Sausage, dried Shrimp and Hoison sauce
• Banh Xeo - Crispy Rice Flour "Crepe" stuffed with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts, served with fresh lettuce and sweet fish sauce
• Bun Bo Hue - Spicy Hue Style Pork and Beef Soup, with lemongrass and mam tom.  Served with sliced beef, pork sausage and shaved vegetables
• Mi Goi Xao Bo - stir fried instant noodle with beef and cabbage.  Served with a fried egg and chilli sauce
• Desserts:
• Banh Flan - Steam egg custard topped with crushed ice and coffee
• Che Dau Xanh - Mung Bean Sweet Soup with coconut milk (The Best Dessert)
• Che Com - green sticky rice with coconut milk

Step 1 in making the Flour "Crepe"

A finished Vietnamese Crepe next to a local brew.

The Ride - motorbike ride itself was an adventure.  My buddy Jeff Nathan warned me that the traffic in Vietnam was crazy and he was absolutely right.  There were motorbikes everywhere competing for space with aggressive taxis.  The traffic circles most represent a free for all.  It was thrilling for sure and it reminded me of the adrenaline rush I get on amusement park rides or from adventure sports (e.g. skydiving). Despite the chaos there was never a moment where I didn't doubt our drivers.**

View from the Back of the Bike

Overall the Back of the Bike Tour was phenomenal and definitely the pinnacle of the trip.  We still had two more days of adventure in Ho Chi Minh City and I'll post about our history lessons and sightseeing in my next post.

To Be Continued

*Back in college Dave made shrimp pasta for a couple of good friends.  It was his first time making it and somewhere in the instructions it never mentioned de-shelling the shrimp.  Hilarity ensued.  Have Dave tell the story to you sometime.
**I have great video of us on the back of the bikes going through a traffic circle.  Unfortunately, my external hard drive has taken on hard times and crashed.  If I get it fixed, I'll post that video and my other great pictures.