Ho Chi Minh in Two Days

“I feel like a fish..“

“Out of water,” I cut him off. “I know what you mean.”

“No, not out of water but like a fish in a packet that needs to acclimatise to its new environment before it can be let into its new environment” Benjy replies.

“Oh..” I respond stupidly

It is my second time in Ho Chi Ninh City and Benjy’s first. It is a more chaotic, Asian version of our home Johannesburg, South Africa; following its own rules and unique rhythm with elements of familiarity strum throughout.

We arrived in the city as the sun began to set. Crossed the street with our luggage hoping all the while that the motorbikes would dodge us and booked into our three-night home, located in the backpacker’s quarter of District 1. We googled where the closest vegetarian restaurant was and began to walk the 1km stretch. Jetlagged and overwhelmed we reluctantly settled for a far dirtier and dodgier vegetarian restaurant that was only 20m from our hotel door.

The following day we walked to Benh That market. The market has three main sections. The fabrics of any seamstresses dream, the tourists haven (luggage bags, knock-off watches, and even Chinese-made souvenirs) and finally the food court. The market is overwhelming and bargaining is a requirement. Benjy and I discuss the fish.

With a small purchase made, we head out towards to opera house. The streets are as chaotic as the market and if you are not careful you could step on a packet of tomato source and spray your foot with the sticky substance. This unfortunate incident led to the discovery of a local café with dozens of Vietnamese books and ironically, a fish bowl in the window.

We continue onto the Opera house where we are informed that there are no appropriate shows that evening. We continue however, to spend time in this upmarket section of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Here we try on fancy cloths at obscenely cheap prices, examine Japanese sweets and eat delicious Vietnamese food at Hum Café. We even try to go to the fine arts museum where we are kicked out of the archaeology section for an unknown reason and can only find one other display. That evening we do the only thing we can think of: dinner at the restaurant we planned go to the first night where we are laughed at our inability to use a hot pot and then sleep.

With a late start the following day we made our way to independence palace. The palace closes from 11:30-13:00 and we realised quickly that we would have only a few minutes to spend in the palace before we have to leave. As such we redirected for the post office. For those of you who have not been to Vietnam before this may seem like a strange location to visit but at the heart of the city this impressive building is a statement to the former French colonial presence within the city. With a sudden change of whether we experience our first Vietnamese downpour and insolently find a Harry Potter obsessed gift shop.

With an hour to go before the palace closed for the day we walked quickly towards the complex which housed South Vietnam’s power for much of the war. The palace is maintained as it was used. At times luxurious and at others simply outdated. The palace was both functional and recreational. Though this recreation often held diplomatic purposes. Covered in sweat from the humidity and renewed heat we go to one final museum on the history of the city. Biased in content would be describing some of the displays mildly however, it is informative and gives tribute to both the recent history of the city and archaeological sites it is built on top of. A simply baguette with Nutella for supper we retire for an early evening as we set off to Dalat in the morning.

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