Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

After a short stay in Cambodia, we crossed the border by minivan and started our Vietnam adventure in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

We spent the first day in the city, exploring District 1 on foot. In addition to several interesting buildings from colonial times and modernity, we visited the Ben Thanh Market. A hall full of clothes, food, jewelry, and souvenir stalls of all kinds - a veritable ant's nest of tourists, vendors, and us in the middle. We stocked up on a few necessary things and negotiated the best we could - even if we failed at the exchange rate or mental arithmetic from time to time and then amused ourselves afterwards about the price we paid. The experience was worth it :) We spent the evening in the backpacker zone around Bui Vien, where there is a hive of activity around the clock.

On the second day, we took a trip that had been on our travel bucket list for a long time. Like many people who came here, we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, unfortunately famous from the Vietnam War. This was the first time we experienced such a large tourist crowd, and it was difficult to see the tunnel entrances amidst the sea of people. Nevertheless, we managed to crawl through the tunnels - a really oppressive feeling, even though we were only about 60 meters underground and the tunnels were even widened compared to the original ones so that tourists like us could fit through...

And just like that, our time in Ho Chi Minh City is over. On the second evening, we enjoy the view from a rooftop bar. The next day, we take a 5-hour bus ride to the coast to Mui Ne, where we plan to spend an afternoon at the beach. The weather is not particularly good and the sea is very rough, but it's enough to lounge on the beach chair for a bit.

After the stopover in Mui Ne, we took a train and traveled nearly 17 hours overnight north to Hue, where we are currently sitting and will soon update you on the train journey experience and our visit to the old town of Hoi An.

Why such short stops? We are leaving Vietnam again on Thursday because we made plans with Daniel & Daniel (Holliger and Zihlmann) in Kuching (the Malaysian part of Borneo) and will be attending the Rainforest World Music Festival there.