The first stop on our month-long trip to Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City. Therese ended up getting sick so we weren’t able to do as much as we wanted, and we didn’t get a chance to explore any places outside of the city such as the Mekong Delta or Cu Chi Tunnels. But we did hit most of the big sites within the city, including the War Remnants Museum, the A O Show at the Saigon Opera House, Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, the Post Office, Independence Palace, Ben Thanh Market, Bui Vien Walking Street, and even the “Avengers Tower.” Not sure if the Bitexco Financial Tower/Saigon Skydeck was the inspiration for Tony Stark’s building in the movies but it sure does look like it!
Also known by its former name of Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and easily has the worst traffic of all the places we’ve ever visited (granted, we were in Manila during a major holiday). The population is over 8 million and there are almost that many scooters on the road, seemingly all at once, so crossing the street was always an adventure. The craziest thing is that scooters, and sometimes even buses, ride on the sidewalks to bypass traffic. They have no problem playing chicken with pedestrians, so you always need to be on guard, which was not a fun way to enjoy walking the streets. That being said, we still had a great time and recommend that travelers start there and work their way up to Hanoi, or vice versa.
The coffee was amazing, but be sure to stir it well if you get it with condensed milk, otherwise you’ll think everyone is crazy for liking such strong coffee. Definitely try an egg coffee!
