Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam has been in my bucket list for quite some time and now that i am based in Singapore it is super easy to reach it, even for just a long weekend trip.
The flight Singapore – Saigon is only 1 hour and 45 minutes so HCMC is the perfect place for a long weekend, flights are still very cheap from Singapore and Vietnam in general is pretty affordable ( total breakdown of the trip at the bottom of the post.
I had in total 3 full days so my schedule was pretty packed with sightseeing and day trips.
The first day I went to visit the Củ Chi tunnels and with hindsight I wish I didn’t go. Too touristy with lines of coaches just outside the complex waiting to get in. The whole thing felt more like a theme park rather than an historic landmark. This is the sort of placeI avoid when I travel but I decided to give it a go.
On my second day in HCMC I joined a full day trip to the Mekong delta. I usually prefer exploring places on my own but due to the little time I had available I decided to join one of the many tours that visit every day this place. The trip was good but still couldn’t connect with the place; all I could see was a sea of tourists taking selfies at every stop. After 2 days of not so great experiences I was ready to go home as I didn’t feel the love for this place.
Suddenlythe last day everything changed: I met Mai! She is a local of Saigon, She takes people around the city on her scooter and show her city; in this way she can pay her tuition fees to become an urban engineer. I sat on the back of her scooter and we speeded our way through the crazy traffic of Ho Chi Minh. I finally felt a connection with the place, something that I couldn’t find inside the tourist coaches that took me to the tunnels or to the Mekong Delta. Meeting locals is a very important part of my travels as this is one of the best way to really get to know a place; that’s the reason why when I travel I always opt for a third class train like I did during my recent trip to Uzbekistan. ( you can read about it here)
We went from one place to another in Saigon, we chatted about our daily life and our dreams; we went to coffee shops (where I learnt how to make proper Vietnamese coffee from a clay pot), we visited markets ( where I was horrified to see a bowl of eyes of some sort of animals, BEWARE: picture at the end of the post), we got stuck under the heavy rain for 20 minutes and we stopped to eat some yummy Vietnamese food.
I strongly recommend connecting with a local to see the city, this is not only a great way to discover less touristy areas but also a great way to help them. I am so glad and grateful that I met Mai, not only she took me around for 5 hours on her scooter but she made me fell in love with the city! This was my very first time in Vietnam and now I want to discover even more of this place and meet more locals like Mai. Thank you Mai!
Budget for the 4 days in Ho Chi Minh City
- Flight Singapore - HCMC : 120 USD
- Hotel for 3 nights in a double bedroom 70 USD ( cheaper options available in one of the many backpackers hostels. I decided to stay in a hotel as it was my birthday weekend)
- Củ Chi tunnelsTunnels trip: 20 USD
- Mekong Delta trip 35 USD ( included lunch, coach transport, speedboat, canoe ride)
- Saigon tour with Mai: 30 USD ( 5 hours around the city included lunch and entrance to all the sights)