Every year, we plan to go at least for one holiday. And this time, we choose to visit Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) of Vietnam. Decide to go for a DIY holiday approach from booking air tickets, hotel to travel itinerary. These are some of the information we collected which will help you with your holiday in Ho Chi Minh City.
Originally a small fishing village, it became a significant Vietnamese city from the early 1700’s. When Vietnam was officially partitioned into North and South it became the capital of South Vietnam. It is home to more than 12 million people(2009).
Ho Chi Minh is the largest city in Vietnam and here are some information which will help you to plan a nice holiday there.
Getting there
Tan Son Nhat Airport is Ho Chi Minh international airport. We made the decision to fly via Tigerairways at a cost of SGD$160 for a 2 way ticket. Depends on promotion available, you may be able to purchase the air tickets at a lower price. FYI, Hanoi ’s international airport is Noi Bai Airpot.
Language
Vietnamese is the national language and quite a number of the people in Ho Chi Minh can speak Chinese. However, some Vietnamese’s people whom I met could not understand a word from my mouth even when I speak English. So learning the art of hand sign to tell what you want to those who don’t understand your language can be challenging.
Public holidays in Vietnam
Vietnam has 9 public holiday a year. Why is this important? Because we were there during Labour day and quite a number of shops were closed during that day. Chinatown Market in Ho Chi Minh was rather quiet 
Other than that, usually tour packages are more expensive during public holidays. And also, do make hotel bookings earlier if you are going during public holidays.
| Typical Dates | Public Holiday | |
| 1 January | New Years Day | |
| 6 February | Tet Eve (Vietnamese Lunar New Years Eve) | |
| 7 February | Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Years Day) | |
| 8 February | Tet (Second day of Tet holiday) | |
| 9 February | Tet (Third day of Tet holiday) | |
| 15 April | Hung Kings Commemorations | |
| 30 April | Reunification Day (or Liberation Day) | |
| 1 May 2007 | International Labour Day | |
| 2 September | National Day | |
Money
The official currency, the dong(VND). There are coins 1000, 2,000, 5,000 used in the local currency and the notes come in 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 and 500,000 dong notes.
The US dollar is widely accepted. Most restaurants have prices usually quoted in dong but they will convert the total prices in USD if needed. In the hotel, prices are usually quote in USD. So if you are paying in dong/USD, check their exchange rate first. Best if you have both kinds of currency in your pocket at all times.
The rates to exchange to Dong seems to be more attractive if you do so in Vietnam. I manage to trade at 17,000VND to US$ 1 and 11,809 VND to SGD$1 in May 2009 in Ho Chi Minh. Looking at the exchange rate, you can easily become a millionaire in Vietnam!
Electricity
The electricity system is 220 volts. Connections are either a round two-pin plug or a flat two-pin plug. My advice is to always have a universal plug in your travel kit so you have no power connection issue with your laptop/charger whether you travel
Lastly, location of Vietnam in South East Asia using Google Maps
We will share more information on our trip to Ho Chi Minh more on food, hotel and sign-seeing places in our next post.
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