Charm CluttonHo Chi Minh City.
We landed at around 12:20am in Ho Chi Minh. They are set an hour back from the time in Manila. Foreigners (countries that aren’t granted Visas upon arrival you can apply for a visa through this website: govietnamvisa), aside from those who were from Asia, had to line up at the immigration to get a Visa to enter Vietnam. It only took a few minutes.
We had booked a hotel in advance that was just 20 minutes away from the hotel. We requested for a car to pick us up at the airport. It was a Mercedes Benz that arrived complete with wet towels and complimentary bottles of water. The ride was smooth and we were excited. There wasn’t much to observe since it was late in the evening.
We had gotten to the hotel and it was really spectacular. I am a picky hotel-stayer, if there is such a word. I went through most of the hotels trying to find something that was more or less $50 or $100 a night and that had everything and was in the middle of everything. In some countries, countries were we have been to more than twice or where we knew people, I would also opt to book through Airbnb. Sometimes, it was cheaper.
However, it was our first time in Vietnam. We did not know anything in Vietnamese and we did not know anyone. It was best to just stay at a hotel.
Upon arriving at the hotel, we had to check-in at the concierge since it was an early check in at 1:00am and we had learned that I had booked a twin deluxe room instead of the king deluxe room I thought I had booked. We requested if we could be moved to a different room, unfortunately they were fully booked and the only available room was a suite, for an additional $300.
Now, I am one to splurge on good accommodations. My boyfriend however didn’t think we needed it. After a tantrum throwing debate, I had conceded into just sticking with the deluxe twin room, but not without asking them if they could “try” and make it into a King bed. They had assured me that they would be putting the beds together.
We got our access cards and headed up to our room. Upon entering it, we looked at the bed thinking if they had understood that we did not want to change our room, just put the two twin beds together to make one bed because we thought they had either:
- Upgraded us to a suite
- Gave me a different room
This would mean additional costs, so when one of the hotel staffs asked how we were doing, we had to clarify if our bed was just two beds placed together. He smiled and assured us it was. We were impressed. The room was really nice and all for $120 a night. Expensive? Kinda, but it was worth it. Remember, a goodnight’s sleep is important and if you are staying for more than one night, unpack!
We did not go to sleep right away. We were to ecstatic to be in Vietnam that we took more photos of how comfy the hotel room was. Did I mention that the hotel itself was futuristic? This is Hotel Nikko Saigon, it’s pretty rad. And the bathroom is large enough for you to dance around it.
They have a separate secret door for the toilet. The toilet has a rear cleaning thing with a seat warmer. How cool is that?!
We ordered room service. This is my way of testing how good the hotel is, and my my did they not disappoint. The food was delicious! We had Com Gá and chicken nuggets (these were healthy-ass chicken nuggets) and fresh spring rolls. Now, if you want to know what fresh-from-the-farm vegetables taste like, this is it.
We went to bed around 4:00am and got up at 10:00am. They’re complimentary breakfast buffet was only till 10:00am so we had missed that. We decided to go out and eat. The hotel is in fact connected to a mall they call the “NowZone”. We decided to eat in their food court.
One thing you have to know about Vietnam is that it is best to have Vietnamese Dong. The hotel was able to convert most of the cash we had. I had to always be prepared, credit cards (I brought 3 to be sure), Hong Kong Dollars and US Dollars. Just to be sure.
Most of the restaurants all offered food with a side dish of vegetables. We walked around a lot. Instead of taking the tour to the famous landmarks in Ho Chi Minh, we opted to walk around instead.
What can we say about Ho Chi Minh?
- It is hard to cross the roads. People mostly get about by using scooters. And there are a lot of scooters. A LOT.
- The air is pretty clean.
- Not a lot of people understand English, and most of the signs on stores are in Vietnamese.
- It’s pretty safe and really nice to walk around. The weather is hot and humid but nice.
The Notre Dame Cathedral
French designed cathedral, the Notre Dame was a sight to see. At the side from where the photo was taken were pigeon. Little kids were feeding them. It truly was a majestic sight.
Look at what else we found! A Carl’s Jr. The burgers are great.
TOUR TIME
After roaming around the entire day. We decided to head back to the hotel and watch some T.V. I was pretty happy because I was able to find the Mac retro Lipgloss that I’ve been looking for, the price too was reasonably cheaper than most places.
The hotel had tours from which we could choose from. We had chosen the whole day tour, the Mekong Delta tour. It was really fun. First we had gone to see the famous Buddhas–Happy Buddha, Standing Buddha and Sleeping Buddha.
We had a boat ride along the Mekong River. We went to a bee farm, where were got to try real honey in hot tea and lime.
And the best part was taking a small boat down the Mekong River. A Vietnamese boatman or woman would row it for you. They brought us down the river covered by very tall palm trees. It was beautiful. Reminded me of the Nile River in Egypt when they would tell us about it in Ancient Egyptian mythology.
We got back to the hotel and opted to take a shower and then go out to have dinner. We went to this place a co-tourist told us about. It was called “The Hidden Garden.” Literally hidden because you would not know where it was, it served the best Vietnamese food.
We spent a really good fourth of July just shopping at the Benh Than market getting really good coffee to take back home.
Also their coffee shop, Phuc Long, has this really good Guava Juice. And yes, it is really fresh guava juice as I found a small leaf in my drink. Rather have that.
Vietnam was a really cool place to go. They also have this Adidas store, which we had to look for somewhere in District 10. BTW, do not wonder around by yourselves and do not go out of District 1, in Ho Chi Minh unless you have a guide.
Visit Vietnam, it is a country that has preserved it’s culture despite modernisation and somehow it leaves you in awe. It was truly a well spent fourth of July in Vietnam.
Fourth of July in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City. We landed at around 12:20am in Ho Chi Minh. They are set an hour back from the time in Manila.
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