This was stop #2 out of our whirlwind five-country-jaunt through Southeast Asia.
If you’re interested in the preceding trip to Phuket, click here.
If you’re interested in how much it all cost, click here.
I was really excited to get o Ho Chi Minh, been waiting to visit Vietnam since I was in middle school. I love the food and I knew this would be a goodie! Country #67.
(…..as always, links to the places, restaurants, tours etc. are embedded in the names! If you’d like to do some of these activities on your trip to Ho Chi Minh)
Thursday, December 26th
So on departure from Phuket, our flight with VietJet Air was an hour delayed. We thought okay, that’s not too bad……until we got to Ho Chi Minh.
We landed at Ho Chi Minh airport and waited in line FOR TWO FUCKING HOURS to get through security. Between the delay in Phuket and this, we pretty much lost an entire afternoon of shenanigans in Ho Chi Minh. We didn’t get to our AirBnB until 830pm!!
Once we arrived at our AirBnB, we were happy at how spacious it was. The building has a 7/11 at the base of it, a pharmacy, another market and a pool as well.
If you’re interested in the AirBnB – click here. We liked the location, the space and the host was responsive. Nothing super duper impressive, but it did the job.
We made an attempt to walk around to get some food, but the area was all like bridges? It was super confusing and we were so tired. Totally not in the mood for any particularly long walks.
Such a waste, we just walked back to the AirBnB and ordered some Popeyes on Grab. That is how tired we were and over this day. Stupid airport.
Friday, December 27th
Woke up today and ordered some more food on Grab. Don’t judge. This was really good!
Today we had a reservation at Emerald Spa.
I had contacted them a month or so before and made our bookings.
My boyfriend was going to get the 105 minute premium hair wash, 45 minute basic facial package and the 50 minute salt soak for his feet. I was going to also get the 105 minute premium hair wash and a 90 minute back massage.
Total: 2,496,000 VND = $142.61 CAD.
What a freaking deal!!! If you use TikTok I am sure you have seen those viral head massages with the hair wash. Yes, they are as amazing as they look. You MUST get one. I fell asleep during mine, that is how relaxed I was.
The masseuse was wonderful, the facilities were clean and at the end you got to enjoy some soup and yogurt. Loved it.
After the spa we were actually supposed to go on a food tour, but there was a torrential downpour outside. See photo below.
No way I was walking around in that.
We rescheduled the food tour and went back to the AirBnB.
At the concierge desk we had seen these cards for a laundry service. We were messaging them on WhatsApp and they came to pick up all the dirty clothes we brought from Thailand. Very clutch service.
Again, we ordered some food on Grab and watched Netflix. The weather really messed up the evening plans. The banh mi was really good though! Small win.
To salvage SOME part of this day, we woke up from our naps at 1130pm and decided to go out to the infamous Bui Vien Walking Street.
The rain had stopped, this was our chance to see some action.
This was akin to the fun party street in Phuket. Best comparison. Only thing I didn’t enjoy was that unlike the street in Phuket, they allowed vehicles on this walking street. I really hated that. In Phuket you were able to walk peacefully without worrying a motorcycle or car would hit you. No such peace here.
We just picked two different bars and ordered some drinks to people watch. Very entertaining.
So many people. So many clubs and bars. Soooo many shenanigans to watch.
Saturday, December 28th
Woke up today and made our way to this gorgeous cafe named Cafe Miền Thảo Mộc.
While you’re in Ho Chi Minh, you have to stop by here. It is STUNNING.
Might be the biggest cafe I have ever seen and you can tell so much thought went into it looking beautiful. If you’re into pretty photos, this place is for you.
Also, the food and the smoothies were really good and cheap. We tried not to eat too much before our food tour, but this was lovely.
We went back to the AirBnB for a bit, because our laundry was scheduled to be returned.
For 8.1kg of laundry picked up, washed, dried, folded and delivered back to us.
Total? About $24.00 CAD. HELL YEAH. USE THIS SERVICE. Totally worth it.
No hardcore rain today, food tour time!! Booyah.
The one we booked is called ‘Ho Chi Minh City: Walking Food Tour with 13 Tastings‘.
I want to apologize ahead of time, I have NO clue where my photos from this food tour went. Every night during my trip I upload everything to my drive, but for this? I truly have no idea where all the photos went. All I have is the photos I had uploaded to my Instagram. Sorry for the captions. But at least I have something!
Here are all the items we ate on this food tour:
1 : Bún Cá Kiên Giang (Kien Giang Fish Noodle Soup) – this was MY FAVE item
2 : Bánh Tráng Nướng (Vietnamese Pizza) – hearty
3 : Bò Lụi Xả (Grilled Beef With Lemon Grass) – my second favourite thing, but everyone else on the tour said this was their favourite
4 : Khoai Lang Bong Bóng (Balloon or Sweet Potato) – I liked the sweet potato one
5 : Ốc Nhồi Thịt (Snails Stuffed with Pork) – I know this sounds crazy, but I love snails and I love pork so??? Duh. Delicious for me..
6 : Bánh Tráng Mè (Cracker with Coconut tasted) – yummy!
(Also the drink in this stop is Nước Mía – Sugar Cane Juice) – this was SO good. You can get it with cumquat. First time I ever had that, must mix it.
7 : Bánh Mì (Vietnamese Banhmi) – when is banh mi not delicious?
8 : Bánh Bao Chiên (Savory Dumpling) – very good
9 : Bánh Tiêu (Empty Donuts) – when are donuts bad? Yeah. Exactly.
10 : Cơm Cháy Chà Bông (Crispy Fried Rice) – my boyfriend really liked this dish
11 : Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Pancake) – I liked all the stuff in this
12 : Bò Nướng Lá Lốt (Grilled Beef with Betel Leaf) – I failed miserable at putting this together
13 : Bánh Plan (Flan cake) – good
14 : Chè Bắp hoặc Chè Bà Ba (Sweet Soup with Corn or Mixed Sweep Soup) – I had the sweet soup corn option and I liked it! Great finish.
This food tour was probably the best deal you will ever get in your life. All those items were $30.00 CAD per person. That was the cost of the tour. Unbeatable.
We loved our guides and the other people on the tour from USA and Europe were cool. Great walking tour, yummy food. Totally stuffed.
Today we were leaving for our next stop, Bali.
Catastrophe at airport again. I can’t even make this shit up.
First you show up, and have to go stand in the check-in line for your airline (for us it was VietJet again). We only had carry-ons and we checked in online, but no, that doesn’t matter. At this airport you MUST have the physical boarding pass to go through security. Also, we had the exact same bags flying TO Ho Chi Minh, but the VietJet person at the counter made my boyfriend check his bag (for free) for this flight to Bali? Didn’t understand that. It was the same bag, same airline, same size. Just another nuisance for when we land in our next destination.
Please see photos below for how long this fucking line was again. Two hours of standing, part two.
If it wasn’t for the damn airport, Ho Chi Minh would have been damn near perfect. But the two hours on arrival of waiting and two hours of waiting on departure, no thank you. I will not be returning here until someone posts that this has been fixed in some way. For a massive city with many tourists, this is unacceptable.
Maybe enter somewhere less busy and get to Ho Chi Minh by car? I don’t know. You have to get there just for the food alone.
- Mirna