Ho-Chi-Minh (Saigon)

Xin chào, you sweeties.

Holy Guacamole, what was that? After spending ages thinking about how to get out of Siem Reap, we finally decided to take a bus to Ho Chi Minh City. The decision wasn't easy for us since the bus ride took 16 FUCKING hours! But other than flying, we didn't find a better alternative to get out of Cambodia. We whiled away the day with a massage that was still in our muscles days later and simply vegetating in the humid heat of Cambodia. We set off on a night bus at 11 p.m. As so often before, we were really happy about our cotton inlay sleeping bags because the “beds” weren’t necessarily the cleanest. It was enough to travel. In Phnom Pen we changed to another bus, which was more reminiscent of a party bus. Since none of the people spoke English, we were simply herded from one corner to the other and put into tuk tuks without saying a word. We had previously been able to avoid giving our passports to strangers, but our bus driver suddenly collected all the passports and drove off. When I asked him why he needed our passports, I didn't get a particularly coherent answer. A few hours later we crossed the border and (how lucky) got our passports back. Our travel days are by far the most stressful, as we discovered once again.

We spent the next three days (one of which was my birthday) in the city of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and deciding how we wanted to travel. We were actually thinking about renting motorbikes and driving through Vietnam. The guy we actually wanted to do this with doesn't rent motorbikes to tourists. Such crap. So we thought about buying some. Ultimately, however, we decided against it. In Ho Chi Minh City we also discovered our love for hot pot. On my birthday, we found a restaurant that was affordable for us and where you can eat hot pot, which is not so easy in Ho Chi Minh City.

Quick fact check: The city of Ho Chi Minh City was founded in 1698 and was known at the time as Saigon. Saigon was the capital of Vietnam until 1975, but was replaced by the city of Hanoi in the north after reunification. After reunification in 1976, the entire metropolitan area around Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, while the city center is still called Saigon. Today, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is the largest city in Vietnam with around 8.9 million inhabitants and therefore also the most expensive.

Unlike Bangkok, we found the city very pretty despite the many people, as it has its own character thanks to its old French buildings and new buildings as well as traditional markets and restaurants. There is also a functioning public transport system there, which I thought was great. Riding the bus for the first time in half an eternity. Splendid. We also found a hair stylist who was able to braid Julian's hair, which took just under 3 hours. However, we didn't want to stay there any longer and decided to move further north. More on that later…

Tạm biệt.