We touch down in Ho Chi Minh City after an 11 hour flight without a wink of sleep and barely 5 hours from the night before. We spend about an hour at the airport waiting to get our visa and then we head outside to take our first steps on our adventure....
That's when the mayhem begins. We landed at 7am local time and the taxi driver is blaring dance music on our way to the hotel. There's what seems like thousands of people riding scooters in the street, all in a rush, all beeping their horns constantly and all zigzagging in every direction. I try to deduce if they drive on the right side of the road but you'd be easily confused by some people disobeying that apparent convention by driving the wrong way and stopping wherever they want. I'm instantly reminded of documentaries of salmon swimming against the tide. We are full of adrenaline (the only thing keeping us awake) and we can't stop laughing at the madness around us. We ask the driver if he ever crashes, the reply we get is "all the time!".
We are dropped off near our hotel but we can't see it, we then face something we never realised would be so daunting: crossing the road. When there are constant streams of bikes and cars going in all directions without stopping for any lights, you quickly realise crossing is going to take some bravery. Claire and I watched and waited for a couple of minutes before taking a run at it - holding each other's hands for dear life and nearly screaming all the way.
After that drama we found our hotel (the Thien Thao in district 3) and as we were 4 hours early they took our bags in for us - which was great of them - and to pass the time we went for a walk to gather our bearings. In our jet lagged state, the narrow pavements, dirty streets and crazy traffic were just as scary but eventually we found a park which allowed us some respite from the roads. We returned to the hotel for a power nap before setting out for dinner down to the backpacker area and we stumbled across an amazing rooftop bar called "The view" where we gladly sank a couple of drinks among the sunset skyline - it was just what we needed.
We ventured further and found a local place that did the specialty dish Vietnam is most famous for: Pho. If you've ever had ramen it is quite similar in that it is a big bowl of noodles and soup with vegetables and whichever meat you choose. You also get extra veg and sauces to use as you wish - to which we added chillies for a kick. This is the most common dish in Vietnam and I've instantly fallen in love, plus it cost less than £1 so my wallet is as happy as my stomach!
Day 2
We sleep deeply and wake up refreshed, then head straight out to see the sights. We take a taxi to district 1 (where all the sights and embassies seem to be) and arrive at the Notre Dame cathedral (yes just like the one in Paris). District 1 is so different to the other districts, the influence from French rule is obvious here with the beautiful buildings that also include a grand post office, museums, parks and boulevards. It's also clear this district is the most popular as not only are the streets clean and wide enough to walk alongside each other, but we also spot other westerners for the first time. We find a place to get a Vietnamese coffee nearby and instantly I fall in love with that too - just what you want in 35 degree heat.
We head to the war museum and get quite an education, during which we barely speak to one another as we both feel so bad for all of the people that were involved in the war, I especially feel terrible for the victims of agent orange. Claire's brother had told us the museum isn't for the faint of heart and he was spot on, however I'd recommend it as it certainly gives you a view of the events you wouldn't have heard of before.
We spend over an hour in the evening trying to find a place as nice and cheap as the place we went to the night before. We fail and therefore head back to the rooftop bar to eat as well as drink this time and further discover how much of a star find it is. I have braised pork and eggs and once again I am blown away by how amazing it tastes.
Day 3
We sleep terribly - the effects of being on a different timeline now fully taking effect. We get breakfast at an amazing local bakery that does amazing pastries, Claire then naps while I delight in watching a childhood favourite in Vietnamese (Pokémon! Yay!). We then head out to buy local sim cards - needed while we are living here - and enjoy more coffee and noodles.
After lunch we head to the Xa Loi pagoda which is a Buddhist temple. Claire has a real moment of enjoyment here as she gets just a tiny sense of the spirituality that surrounds this beautiful setting, a feeling I would've shared had my jet lag not fully kicked in and I rendered me unable to appreciate nothing other than the lovely scenery and peace and quiet.
We return to the hotel so I can take my own power nap, and in the evening we head out to the backpacker disctict again to eat.
When we get back to the hotel I feel the pollution of the city has started to take its toll on me as I can feel it in my lungs - if I were to stay any longer I'd need a mask like the locals wear!
I do get a treat to end the day with; thanks to Asia's love of premier league football, I get to watch my beloved Southampton beat Crystal Palace 1-0 live from my own hotel room! Being 7 hours ahead it means I'm watching a 3 o'clock kickoff at 10pm, so by the time it finishes I switch off the TV and fall asleep instantaneously.
Day 4
Not much to be done today and as we are still adapting to life here we decide to take it easy today so we head back up to district 1 to check where the British embassy is - which we need to visit tomorrow to complete the documents needed for our work permit. We get some more coffee but we can see that I'm district 1 the price is significantly higher than other places; in fact we paid the same price here for 2 coffees than we did for 2 meals and 2 beers in the backpacker district! Everything in this area is more expensive, so my tip is come here for the nice views and streets, then get out to eat and drink!
As we head to the park Claire spots a coconut seller hassling tourists and decides it is the time to try one out. He cuts one up and shoves it in our hands before telling us the price is 150,000D - again, the same as the meal and drinks in the backpacker district but this time just for one coconut! - as we both take sips we immediately regret the decision and grumble about the price.
We stroll through the park which is full on this Sunday with kids having fun making their own little dance videos and take our time to lap up the nice district before returning once again to our area which is a stark contrast.
Tomorrow morning we sort out our documents and then get picked up by our employer to spend a couple of days finalising our work permit in Can Tho City before heading to where we will be living: Tan An.
We've waited so long to start our adventure, so we've both felt bad that we haven't settled so far, however we've both come to the conclusion that Ho Chi Minh just isn't our cup of tea (too big, too noisy, too busy and too dirty) and that the jet lag and upheaval of leaving home has made our experience tougher than we thought it would. We won't be perturbed though as we know the rest of Vietnam will be very different, plus it makes us realise we just aren't big city people.
4 days in and we are already finding out a lot about the world and ourselves, so we just have to roll with the punches and take it all in! So we look forward to heading to Can Tho for a couple of days as it's supposed to be more laid back - like us.
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