Ho Chi Minh
I thought a 18 hour coach journey was bad, well imagine a 26 hour coach journey. This was officially the worst part of my travelling experience so far. Ho Chi Minh was my least favourite place whilst travelling and this is why.
It started out to be pretty pants to begin with. When we booked this bus we asked to have bottom seats, however when we got on we were told we have to be on top seats. We stated we paid for bottom so in the end we had bottom seats. I was sat in between Natalia and a Indonesian guy who was lovely however it was awkward when he fell asleep and his head kept falling on my shoulder. I decided to move to another seat. FINALLY I didn’t have a strangers head on me. Until…
BOOM – I woke up by a guy slapping me on the arm and shouted at me to move. Well I was so shocked I didn’t even know what to say. I was so annoyed and thought great this journey is going to be horrendous ha-ha! Again we had to change bus which was bound to happen however we had to move seats a few times, it was frustrating as when we got comfortable they would tell us to move to another seat. The staff were so rude and would shout at you to move. Finally I fell asleep until I heard two women screaming at each other. I literally just looked up into the sky and said
“Really?”
They were arguing over grapes, bloody grapes! So it wasn’t exactly the best journey to Ho Chin Minh.
We finally arrived to our hostel where we was introduced to EJ – The best staff member we have ever encountered. He was so funny and kept us so entertained. That night we chilled and went to bed!
The following day we went to the war museum which was really interesting. However it wasn’t exactly a good day as we ended up getting ripped of by these men who drove us around on a bike. He said it would cost something silly like 50 p to take us somewhere. When we stopped it actually cost us nearly 20 quid, which okay it doesn’t seem that much. It was just frustrating more than anything. However on this day we got to see the Notre Dame and a pretty temple.
The following day we checked out a place called Bin Tang market which was quite pricey compared to other markets we have been to, however it was nice to check out the city. It was a pretty much a chilled day so we didn’t do much! That evening when we went to bed, I was woken up by a guy jumping on my bed – What is wrong with people?!? I said:
“What the hell are you doing?”
He said:
“I thought this was my bed.”
He got off and after that I was so paranoid, I saw him walking around and he tried to get on my bed a second time and I kicked him and said
“Seriously go away.”
Then he tried to get onto my bed a final time, I got up turned on the light and lets just say I wasn’t pleasant with him and went a bit mad! He finally got into his bed and the next day apologised, he was clearly really embarrassed! It was the icing on the cake in my time in Ho Chi Minh. It was more frustrating as I had to be up early the next day for the Coogi tunnels (THIS WHOLE POST I AM JUST MOANING).
So the next day we went to the Coogi tunnels for the day, my favourite day in Ho Chi Minh. It was such a interesting day and made me realise a lot about the Vietnam War, something I barely knew about before. I nearly got stuck in one of the tunnels, but thank god I got out! I would recommend anyone who visits Vietnam to check out the Coogi tunnels. To believe people lived in these tunnels for so many years is crazy!
As you can imagine that evening I was so tired, so decided to nap. Whilst I was sleeping I had a dream that Natalia and I had missed our flight to the Philippines, I woke up in a panic and thought I better check! OUR FLIGHT WAS THAT NIGHT! So we quickly packed and got ready to go to the airport! However before we left we made sure we got some selfies with our favourite person in Ho Chi Minh – EJ! See below!
It had been a palaver from day one, it was crazy! Nothing was ever going to go smooth however I am glad I have visited Vietnam as it help me learn a lot about the Vietnam war.
Our last stop is finally upon us… Philippines.
See below for tips
Rae.x
Where to stay –
Himalaya Phoenix Saigon Hostel (Free breakfast and EJ is amazing)
What to do –
War museum, Notre Dame, Coogi tunnels, check out the city, Bin Tang market.
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