We arrived at Ho Chi Munh, Tan Son Nhat International Airport after 2 hours flight from Singapore!! After collecting our luggage, we headed to the counter at the exit of airport to exchange currency as we have no ‘Dong’! Be careful of the taxi scam!! Advisable to take Vinasun or Manlih Taxi to avoid overcharge! Taxi fares from airport to hotel is USD$8.
Vinasun Taxi
It took about 20 minutes to reach our hotel. Along the way to hotel, we saw a lot of motorbikes on the road and the drivers like to honk. The traffic was terribly messy and the noise is unbearable!! You really need some guts and good driving skill to drive on the road in Ho Chi Minh.
We are so lucky to find a Pho24 restaurant nearby our hotel to settle our lunch. Actually it is not difficult to find this restaurant in Vietnam as there are a lot of branches distributed at different location. It’s up to 13 branches located in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh. There are some unforgettable yummy foods served with reasonable price!!
Utensils
Without delay after lunch, we headed to sincafe to book our local tour. This travel agency is highly recommended by most of the tourist due to its good service of travel package tour and reasonable price. In the end, we booked 1 day tour to Mekong Delta with lunch included. But we paid for a higher package price than usual price as that was Public Holiday in Vietnam!
Sinh Cafe
We took a break at Highlands cafe which is something like starbucks in Singapore. The price of drinks there is considered expensive in HCM. But we still choose to have a drink there because we need air-con to cool down!! I would say that, the drinks is normal and rather pricey. So, we never go back to this cafe again since after this=p
Highlands coffee
Next destination is Ben Thanh Market which is just 3 minute from our hotel. It was hot ,crowded and noisy, but fortunately it is covered with shelter and fans. From what i know, this is a tourist place. Implying that the price here is much more higher than other local market like Bin Tay Market. It is a good place to show your bargaining power with the seller there to get a good deal. Eventually, we bought some souvenirs with a close to 40% off the retail price =)
Ben Thanh Market with the cloths stall
Ben Thanh Market with the food
This is another popular restaurant where we had our dinner – Bun Bo Hue 3A3. They serve Hue foods and Vietnamese local foods. The restaurant environment is good and comfortable with the nice decoration and the wooden furniture. It is a good place for a family meal with reasonable price. The other reason i like this restaurant is the waiters/waitress there are friendly and polite. They always stand beside the table to wait for customer to order foods patiently and always with a smiley face!
Vietnam Hue Restaurant
We planned to walk around in HCM city after dinner. Unfortunately, it was raining. Thus we found a good place to sit down for a drink, Saigon Bar which is about 10 min away from Bun Bo Hue 3A3 and located at the rooftop of Caravelle Hotel. We are lucky to be seated at the balcony of the bar to enjoy with the natural air. It was indeed a good experience to chill out and listen to the live band there while enjoying the good view of HCM city.
Saigon bar
And after that, we made our slow stroll back to hotel to oink…
Related posts:
