I was no stranger to the busy streets of Ho Chi Minh City, where millions of bikes make a chaotic art form out of weaving around each other. But this visit would give me the opportunity to learn more about some horrific crimes of the past, and have another crack at a bar crawl that eats people’s phones.
Crossing the border with a visa should be a doddle, but it can have its worries. Technically, for it to be valid, you have to list the exact crossing checkpoint; which isn’t an easy thing to research from a remote Cambodian island with very little Wi-Fi. (I’ve since discovered this page if you’re ever in the same boat: Click here.)
We were crossing between Ha Tien and Phu Quoc, which wasn’t the checkpoint we’d listed. The immigration officer’s broken English added to the stress, as he flapped and pointed to another building. It turns out it was about to close, so we hurried onwards with the looming risk of sleeping on the road of no man’s land between the two countries.
Crossing the border with a visa should be a doddle, but it can have its worries. Technically, for it to be valid, you have to list the exact crossing checkpoint; which isn’t an easy thing to research from a remote Cambodian island with very little Wi-Fi. (I’ve since discovered this page if you’re ever in the same boat: Click here.)
We were crossing between Ha Tien and Phu Quoc, which wasn’t the checkpoint we’d listed. The immigration officer’s broken English added to the stress, as he flapped and pointed to another building. It turns out it was about to close, so we hurried onwards with the looming risk of sleeping on the road of no man’s land between the two countries.
As we approached the Vietnamese side, two guys in military uniform halted us and asked for more money. We thought we were getting well and truly shafted, but they only wanted $1 from each of us (on top of the $25 we paid for the visa in the first place). A very reasonable bribe, or ‘processing fee’, if I’ve ever seen one.
There didn’t seem to be anyone around else around, so we were a little worried about being stranded – but sure enough there was a mini bus waiting just outside. It took us a short distance down the road, where we had a three hour wait in a café until the overnight bus.
Soon enough we began to loathe the café, as the same eight Westlife songs repeated for a fourth or maybe fifth time. It seemed like an eternity anyway, the seven-hour bus journey was nothing in comparison.
There didn’t seem to be anyone around else around, so we were a little worried about being stranded – but sure enough there was a mini bus waiting just outside. It took us a short distance down the road, where we had a three hour wait in a café until the overnight bus.
Soon enough we began to loathe the café, as the same eight Westlife songs repeated for a fourth or maybe fifth time. It seemed like an eternity anyway, the seven-hour bus journey was nothing in comparison.
We woke up at a busy central bus station in Ho Chi Minh City. It took a lot of brain power to lug all our belongings around at the crack of dawn, after such a broken and uncomfortable sleep, but it was good to be back. Thanks to the services of Grab (the Asian version of Uber), I was soon checking into the familiar surroundings of The Hideout Hostel Saigon.
It was way too early to check in, so we had an extended doze on beanbags in the luggage/ chill room – common practice while travelling. When eventually checked into the Kurt Cobain dorm room, which was the same one I’d stayed in two years earlier. In fact, I was in the exact same bed (though hopefully with new sheets).
With our heads rested and back on the level, we went out in search of food. I’d forgot just how many mopeds and bikes there are in the city – five million in fact. Crossing in some points is pretty hectic, laughable almost, and you need confidence to stand any chance of success.
It was way too early to check in, so we had an extended doze on beanbags in the luggage/ chill room – common practice while travelling. When eventually checked into the Kurt Cobain dorm room, which was the same one I’d stayed in two years earlier. In fact, I was in the exact same bed (though hopefully with new sheets).
With our heads rested and back on the level, we went out in search of food. I’d forgot just how many mopeds and bikes there are in the city – five million in fact. Crossing in some points is pretty hectic, laughable almost, and you need confidence to stand any chance of success.
As hectic and busy as the streets can be, it’s fair to say Ho Chi Minh City is probably one of the most advanced in South East Asia. Unlike many cities, electrical wires are routed sensibly underground; rather than hanging precariously all over the place. So at least one impending risk of death is reduced.
I don’t think we’d wandered far but it had taken long enough to get there, and it was pretty humid, so after a quick coffee pitstop we went back to the Hideout (more on Vietnamese coffee in a future post). I don’t recall spending much time on a rooftop bar previously – so that could be a new thing.
The rooftop was a welcome quiet space, with the only downside being that it was in the adjacent building to the dorm rooms. You’d been surprised how many times you need to do this arduous trek, mostly due to poor planning; to fetch more money, a pack of cards, to use the toilet, to take a shower, or just to freshen up.
I don’t think we’d wandered far but it had taken long enough to get there, and it was pretty humid, so after a quick coffee pitstop we went back to the Hideout (more on Vietnamese coffee in a future post). I don’t recall spending much time on a rooftop bar previously – so that could be a new thing.
The rooftop was a welcome quiet space, with the only downside being that it was in the adjacent building to the dorm rooms. You’d been surprised how many times you need to do this arduous trek, mostly due to poor planning; to fetch more money, a pack of cards, to use the toilet, to take a shower, or just to freshen up.
One thing in Vietnam there can’t be any grumbling about though is the price, everything seems much cheaper than in Thailand. Even in the hostel you could get two big bottles of Saigon for 100,000 Dong, which is about £3.50, plus two free ones included each night with our stay.
It made a nice change from the Cambodian beers of the past several weeks too. I wouldn’t say any of the beers in Asia are particularly good, but the first couple of a new brand in a new location always taste great.
As the evening went on, more people made their way to the rooftop in preparation for the hostel’s bar crawl. It was a pretty good vibe, with everyone taking a turn at choosing the tunes – until one of the reps turned it into a dictatorship of Busted, McFly and pop music of that ilk.
The bar crawl takes place on a strip called Bui Vien street just round the back of the hostel. This is basically the rowdy backpacker district and something of a cleaner, much less dusty, less chaotic, version of Bangkok’s Khao San Road. There is still a certain level of seediness and plenty of sideshows or people trying to hustle you in one way or another, but maybe not as explicitly.
It made a nice change from the Cambodian beers of the past several weeks too. I wouldn’t say any of the beers in Asia are particularly good, but the first couple of a new brand in a new location always taste great.
As the evening went on, more people made their way to the rooftop in preparation for the hostel’s bar crawl. It was a pretty good vibe, with everyone taking a turn at choosing the tunes – until one of the reps turned it into a dictatorship of Busted, McFly and pop music of that ilk.
The bar crawl takes place on a strip called Bui Vien street just round the back of the hostel. This is basically the rowdy backpacker district and something of a cleaner, much less dusty, less chaotic, version of Bangkok’s Khao San Road. There is still a certain level of seediness and plenty of sideshows or people trying to hustle you in one way or another, but maybe not as explicitly.
Many of the bars on the crawl are based on rooftops, so we spent most of our time out on the balconies people watching and waffling on to anyone who’d entertain us. All said, it’s a decent enough night without being too much to scream about.
One of our group did get a little too sauced and fell asleep on one of the bars. When we tried to take him home, he adamantly refused and wandered off into another bar.
We waved goodbye to him, knowing it was just a three-minute walk back to the hostel. As it turns out he waved goodbye to his phone later that night as well - yet another phone claimed by the trip. In fact, the same pub crawl claimed mine and a friend’s phones on my last visit here.
One of our group did get a little too sauced and fell asleep on one of the bars. When we tried to take him home, he adamantly refused and wandered off into another bar.
We waved goodbye to him, knowing it was just a three-minute walk back to the hostel. As it turns out he waved goodbye to his phone later that night as well - yet another phone claimed by the trip. In fact, the same pub crawl claimed mine and a friend’s phones on my last visit here.
In the morning, we woke to the sound of a mass yoga/ exercise class in the park opposite. Looking out from the balcony, I wasn’t at all envious of people who feel the need to exercise at the crack of dawn.
After a toastie or something else not uniquely Vietnamese for breakfast, we planned our itinerary for the day.
One of the key tourist attractions in the Ho Chi Minh area is the Cu Chi tunnels, a network of underground passages used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. But since I’d been previously (and it’s a full day out), we opted to go to the War Remnants Museum instead. You can read about my last trip to the tunnels by clicking here though if you wish.
It costs 40,000 dong (£1.44) to enter the museum, which gives a snapshot into the Vietnam and First Indochina wars and many of the war crimes or atrocities carried by the French and Americans.
Of course, the museum paints just one side of the story, from the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) perspective; but it’s still an incredibly dark, shameful and sobering one. And it’s quite unrelenting of its description on the South Vietnamese as puppets or traitors.
In the courtyard are an array of tanks, helicopters, chinooks, bombers, vehicles and heavy artillery.
Then each room inside has a slightly different theme. Some cover war propaganda, anti-war artwork, photojournalism, while others looking at the horrific weapons used such as napalm and phosphorus bombs.
Some of the pictures and displays can be pretty graphic: Soldiers holding strewn human carcasses, barbaric torture devices such as the ‘Tiger Cage’, and stories about the slaughter of civilians by US Navy Seals.
In the courtyard are an array of tanks, helicopters, chinooks, bombers, vehicles and heavy artillery.
Then each room inside has a slightly different theme. Some cover war propaganda, anti-war artwork, photojournalism, while others looking at the horrific weapons used such as napalm and phosphorus bombs.
Some of the pictures and displays can be pretty graphic: Soldiers holding strewn human carcasses, barbaric torture devices such as the ‘Tiger Cage’, and stories about the slaughter of civilians by US Navy Seals.
The starkest however, were those which looked at the damage caused by the American’s use of Agent Orange. If you've never heard of it, the chemical was intended as a defoliant; to destroy crops, plants and trees, which the Viet Cong used as effective cover for the guerrilla tactics. But the impact was far worse and enduring.
Some rooms were lined with hundreds of pictures of the victims, including children born years later with terrible and heart-breaking deformities. Children are still being born with defects associated to this, 45 years on.
I’m glad we went to learn some history, but that was enough sadness and mortality for one day.
Biblical rain on the way back threatened to damped the evening some more, until eventually it calmed and we made our way up to the hostel’s rooftop bar.
They were having one of the ever-so-popular nights where you’re encouraged to dress as the opposite sex, with the reward of two-for-one drinks. Without fully committing, I did make some small adjustments to my t-shirt every time I went to the bar to qualify for the drinks offer.
Some rooms were lined with hundreds of pictures of the victims, including children born years later with terrible and heart-breaking deformities. Children are still being born with defects associated to this, 45 years on.
I’m glad we went to learn some history, but that was enough sadness and mortality for one day.
Biblical rain on the way back threatened to damped the evening some more, until eventually it calmed and we made our way up to the hostel’s rooftop bar.
They were having one of the ever-so-popular nights where you’re encouraged to dress as the opposite sex, with the reward of two-for-one drinks. Without fully committing, I did make some small adjustments to my t-shirt every time I went to the bar to qualify for the drinks offer.
I also ran into an Australian guy who happened to be wearing a Fat Willy’s Surf Shack t-shirt (a relatively small brand with two shops in Cornwall). What are the chances? In all the places, and out of all the t-shirts we both could have chosen to wear that night. It really is a small world sometimes.
The rest of the night involved much of the standard procedure, with a few unbeaten games of beer pong, games of pool, and then some horrendously overzealous dancing in a random underground bar/club.
The rest of the night involved much of the standard procedure, with a few unbeaten games of beer pong, games of pool, and then some horrendously overzealous dancing in a random underground bar/club.
Thankfully it didn’t escalate any further than that, as we had a bus to Mui Ne in the morning. I ended my return to Ho Chi Minh City with a night cap on the balcony before retiring to bed. One last glance at the bikes still speeding past below did make me somewhat glad to moving to a quieter destination – with fewer reminders of the past.