The last time we were in HCMC was in 2014 and I got pretty sick, and that coloured my impression of it, unsurprisingly. Happily, this time I was able to enjoy it much more and revise my first impressions.
We flew in via Singapore, since I’d booked flights way before the Vietnam Air and Vietjet started their non-stop flights to Perth. The bounce in Singapore was a couple of hours, so we wandered Changi, checking out what had reopened. Turns out, a lot! The most amusing bit was the “robot bartender” in the newly reopened Lotte duty free, which makes you a free cocktail if you download the Lotte app.
After wasting some time, we eventually flew to HCMC, collected our bags and found our transport to the hotel.
As we remembered from last time, traffic was hectic – scooters buzzing everywhere, cars zooming through the middle, and people walking across the middle of it. Our hotel, the Amanaki, was in the 1st district, near the river. It’s a narrow little boutique-y hotel with comfortable beds, good aircon and a great buffet brekky – what more can you ask for?
We wandered around taking in some of the sights – the famous Post Office, the Notre Dame cathedral, the Independence Palace, stopped for lunch of bun bo in stone bowls, then walked along the river. In the evening we strapped on bike helmets for the Saigon Kiss Evening Food Tour as our wonderful hosts zoomed us around Saigon tasting excellent dishes like crab soup, coconut water with pineapple and orange, my favourite crispy banh xeo and then snails and a panna cotta-type dessert. Delish! Our drivers were lovely – friendly, knowledgeable, and more importantly, safe drivers! Highly recommended if you’re in HCMC.
On our last day before heading back to the airport to fly to Quy Nhon, we decided to head up to the nearby Skydeck to have a look. You all know my feelings about heights, so suffice to say it was very high up!
Two Weeks Away 
Great pics