Ho Chi Minh is a city on the rise. Both economically and physically. With towering buildings, and massive infrastructure projects under construction across the city. I imagine the rate of change in this city must be staggering for anyone who has lived here a while.
The huge city is split into districts, around 15 I think. We just about managed to get to know District 1 over our two weeks.The other districts, however, are still a mystery to me.
We probably spent a bit too long in HCM because we were bike hunting and taking things rather slowly. Good job we aren’t in a rush. This did allow us to explore the city at a more leisurely pace taking in sights and doing activities most tourists would miss. But I left knowing that we barely scratched the surface.
Working and Networking
I heard HCM was a big developer city. It’s the third best digital nomad city so I had been looking forward to seeing what the scene was like.
First up the uniqueness and quantity of the coffee shops was amazing. On every street, there is a coffee shop, usually with some funky decor and comfy seating and always serving delicious Vietnamese coffee. Great spots for some work. I would have liked to explore more of them, hopefully, one day I will.
Then I had a go a networking. I met up with a lovely bunch of Vietnamese students who had started a freeCodeCamp meetup in Ho Chi Minh. In fact, I went to their first ever meetup. It was great to hear their experiences while learning to program. I even tried to give them some advice. We all went for lunch after and a lovely lady offered to give me a lift home even though it was completely out of her way.
It was a really enjoyable experience. The kindness that they showed me is largely representative of the majority of Vietnamese that I have met.
Unfortunately, I didn’t actually meet any digital nomads. I could and probably should have tried harder at this but I was more occupied with exploring the city and checking out bikes.
Also, despite this being a big developer city with lovely cafes I didn’t actually get much programming done. I spent most of my time working on my next smart article called Cultivating Ideas. Hopefully, it will be published soon. Check out my smart profile here.
Recreational Activities
As me and Doug spent a lot of time in HCM we had rather a lot of free time. While having a beer was probably our go to use of this time we did try to mix it up.
A highlight for me was exploring Japan Town. A warren of little alleyways just off the main street in District 1. It was full of Japanese food, suspect ‘massage parlors’ and sake. An interesting change to the hustle and bustle of the rest of District 1.
Another activity to make us feel better about our lack of excercise was squash. We spent half a day hunting a squash court which we eventually found at the Landmark Health club. A posh and rather expensive gym. We spent a good 5 hours here playing squash, hitting the gym, swimming in the rooftop pool and relaxing in the sauna. So probably worth it.
Also, we played a lot of pool. And I mean a lot. If a bar has a pool table we were certainly going to use it and most bars had one. We tried to find a snooker table but this eluded us. It always ended up with us at a billiards club playing pool.
One evening we went to a trendy jazz club called La Fenetre Soleil. It was a open jam night and we were treated to some very talented musicians who got up to have a jam. So impressive how they could join in and create some wonderful music straight off the bat.
Learning about the war
We did two historical tourism activities about the Vietnamese war. One, the war remnants museum, is a hard hitting must do when visiting HCM. It is a museum looking at the atrocities committed by America during the war. And it is shocking.
I knew about it but I didn’t really know. You see graphic images of people affected by agent orange. A chemical that America dropped all over Vietnam to defoliate the trees where the Vietcong could be hiding. But this chemical has caused death and birth defects in many generations of Vietnamese. How did someone make that decision to drop this chemical? Condemning unborn babies to a life of hardship and pain. How do they live with themselves?
This was harder hitting for me than the crimes of Cambodia. Partly because the museum is more graphic, partly because it was committed by America and can be generalized to the West. It highlighted the worst that humanity can do to each other.
The blatant disregard for civilian life was appalling.
For an American to visit this museum must be tough. How could you not feel ashamed of your country?
We also went on a tour to Cu Chi Tunnels and while the history of this place is fascinating it is not a tour I would recommend. It takes around 2 hours to get there then you’re whisked through a rather stale over crowded tour that takes an hour and a half then you head back for another two hours.
The history of the tunnels though is worth learning about. The Vietcong dug over 200km of tunnels spanning all the way to the Cambodian border during the war. Inside this tunnel system, there were work stations, hospitals, and war rooms. They were used hide from and ambush the Americans. And despite being so close to Ho Chi Minh the Americans never managed to subdue the Vietcong in Cu Chi.
Crawling through the 100m section of tunnel that has been widened for tourists makes you admire the courage and resistance of the Vietnamese. It also makes you imagine the terror and impossibility of the task for the Americans. Especially when the tunnels were regularly booby trapped.
Tasting the Craft Beer
Ho Chi Minh is home to a surprisingly large amount of craft beer. With a number of different breweries calling the city there home. We visited a few establishments and saw many more. The price was a bit steep for us two stingy travelers though, so it was only as a treat.
Unfortunately, none of these breweries offered a brewery tour. Something we are always on the hunt for after our eventful time at Kingdom brewery in Cambodia.
The Food
Vietnamese food is lovely. With a wide variety of different dishes and flavoyrs. I am always on the look out for new street food to try. I tasted the Pho, tried some savory pancakes, and some lovely deep fried savory pastries. Throughout my trip, I am going to keep tasting as much as I can.
Also as a standard go to you always have a Banh Mi. A tasty baguette that often costs less than a dollar. We had a regular stall where they were $0.40. That was breakfast sorted.
Watch out if you don’t like coriander because they put it on everything.
Rescuing Binbe
During an excursion to District 2 to check out some bars recommended to us by a resident there we stumbled across a cute little kitten in distress under a bin bag. After a short debate, we decided to cut our evening short to bring her back to our hostel.
We named her Binbe and hid her in our hostel room for the next 4 days. Nursing her from a shaking wreck back to a cheeky playful kitten that enjoyed defecating on Doug’s things. His bed mainly. It crossed our mind to take her with us as a mascot. Which would have been amazing. But we decided the more sensible course of action would be to find her a suitable home. Which we did with the help of an animal rescue service in Ho Chi Minh.
Having a kitten was hard work and took up a lot of our time over those 4 days. But I feel happy that we almost certainly saved her life. We both miss her, she was an unexpected, enjoyable distraction during our time in the city.
Now I’m hitting the road with my new, hopefully trusty motorbike. Only time will tell.