Saigon, Vietnam – 29 December 2022 to 1 January 2023

We finally land into Saigon Airport at 8.15pm on Thursday 29 December 2022. I’m praying the bags don’t take forever to come out! Food and a very strong drink or 3 is needed. 

And of course we need to get on a bus to get to the terminal. The rate we are going the luggage should arrive before we do. 

So no the luggage doesn’t arrive before we do, let the fun and games begin. 

50 minutes later I’m walking out of the terminal ordering a Grab. All going well he’ll be here in 6 minutes. 

Well this is far from fun! What should have been a 5-6 minute walk has turned into much longer. Tonight’s theme in seems 😞 

I finally manage to locate my Grab driver (a good 25 minutes after booking) - thank you photos! Bloody hell this place is crazy busy. There are cars for Africa!! 

The streets of Saigon are just how I remembered. Organized chaos. I love it! 

Check in is super easy! Unfortunately the restaurants in the hotel have already done their last call and there is no room service. Right. Inside cursing the airline!!! I’m given a welcome drink, cold hand towel and dried mangos. To say I inhale them would be an understatement. 

The friendly front desk employee takes me to my room. He advises I have a great view, one of the best views of the room type I have. Thank you Nick! I was recommended this hotel by someone at work who currently lives here. He also pointed out some food. Ooh thank you!! 

I’m 42 floors up yet I can still hear music pumping. Right now it’s all about the food. 

I’m woken just after 7am on Friday 30 December by a noise in the hallway. Feeling exhausted after a short night. Just after midnight I was up turning up the air conditioning as it was freezing! 

When I get down to breakfast it’s a much smaller affair that the hotel in Phu Quoc, thank goodness! I find a window seat and make myself comfortable. While I would like to sit here for hours the sensible part of my brain is get in and out before the heat really steps up. 

I spy the table next to me drinking coffee and within seconds order a Vietnamese coffee. 

Albert the F&B / restaurant manager comes over and introduces himself. Apologizes for my late arrival last night - so sweet and totally not necessary! 

Looking out the window I notice a few familiar buildings - no need for a map now. 

 

 

I’m so excited when I spy Shin Heritage, one of the coffee places that Nick recommended. It’s on the same street as the restaurant Lemongrass which I have been to a few times. Unfortunately they are closed today. Nooooo! The staff give me a recommendation which is near by. No worries, more street wandering. And it’s one of the places that Nick also recommended.  I’ll return tomorrow. 

The Workshop is only a few minutes walk away, always something to look at from the streets of Saigon. 

Unfortunately they only have white Vietnamese coffee. Buggar! I debate going somewhere else but I have no idea where so decide on a white coffee. Let’s hope it’s not too too sweet for me! 

 

Success with the coffee. Not overly sweet. 

The loud pumping music coming from outside is breaking the peace in here. I ask one of the staff what it is - rehearse for tomorrow night’s count down. Something to look forward to. 

As I leave the building I immediately notice the rehearsal has stopped. The street noise returns. 

I wander to the Ban Thanh Market – crossing the road like a local! No running and maintaining eye contact. Walking through the market reminds me of why I hate this - the constant “missy what you want”, “missy a handbag”, “missy a wallet”. Get me out of here!!

I continue wandering the streets until I find a coffee a shop that I have always visited. As I walk towards it I’m asked if I want my shoes polished. I’m wearing sneakers so that is a no, but thanks. 

I spy one table free. I’m not on the pavement so means less harassment. But still great for people watching. 

 

Sitting here watching the world go by is great. A constantly busy corner.  One of the shoe-shining men keeps wandering by trying to get business. 

When the number of children begging increases it’s time for me to pay for my coffee and leave. 

I wander back to the hotel along different streets. In the end deciding to eat lunch in the hotel. 

No prizes for guessing what I had….it didn’t disappoint! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and doing life admin in the room. 

I’m 100% not paying attention when I get into the lift and end up at basement 4, whoops! Thankfully I’m where I need to be before our meeting time. I meeting Nick and Rebecca for dinner. 

We walk around 15-20 minutes to the restaurant - passing some of the places I saw today. One place is blaring music like we are at a nightclub…..I look at my watch and notice it’s 6.45pm. Right oh. 

Dinner is great! I love eating with a group as it means you can order more dishes.

 

 

The Grab arrives within minutes of us arriving out on the street.  Next stop is a cocktail bar near where I had my second coffee stop. 

The crowds of people around definitely haven’t decreased! Saigon is most definitely a city that never sleeps and will always have many options for food at all hours of the day and night. 

It’s hard deciding what cocktail to have with so much choice! I was going to go with a classic cocktail but was told that’s too boring. 

It’s a short walk back to the hotel. I 100% took the longest route when I came back to the hotel earlier. Hey ho. 

Finally I manage to get the a/c working again - zero idea how but that’s not the focus. It’s working! 

It’s been great to experience new (for me) places in Saigon today, and even better to be with Nick and Rebecca.  

New Year’s Eve (Saturday) I wake just before 8.30am, a sleep in! And coffee is needed. I now rethinking the order of this trip….clearly far too late to change. 

One of first things I notice when I head outside is the number of people around is increased tenfold since yesterday. Nick and Rebecca had warned me about this last night. 

Shin Heritage is in full swing when I arrive, but in a peaceful and calming way. Wholly smoke and bottles of rum, the coffee is pricey!! Compared to other places in Vietnam. When exchanged to other currencies it’s reasonable. 

When my coffee finally arrives I can understand why the cost is high - the time and effort they put into it and the end presentation. I’m told to wait a few minutes to the coffee is all through.

Time for me to depart from the tranquil Shin Heritage. 

I wander the street towards the Cathedral and Post Office. 

The cathedral is covered with scaffolding which is a shame. 

 

Inside the Post Office I’m most definitely not the only tourist. 

I come across Book Street and wander down. It’s a short quiet escape from the endless noise of the motorbikes and cars tooting. 

I head back in the direction of the hotel, locating The Secret Garden Restaurant where I want to go to this evening.

 

 

Nick and Rebecca had recommended a couple of places to eat in the mall attacked to the hotel. The one place I decide on, Pizza 4 P’s, has a 35-45 minute wait. No problem, I’ll head back to my room for a bit. 

When I return I have a good 10 minute wait before being taken to my table. I wasn’t hungry before so am pleased I did have to wait. 

Now the decision on what to eat! In the end I choose a pasta dish. 

Wow it was super tasty! Let’s hope they open a Pizza 4 P’s in Hong Kong. 

I have a couple of hours back at the hotel relaxing and watching the streets below.

 

Just after the sun goes down (before 6pm) I decide to head out to The Secret Garden Restaurant. It’s basically 2 blocks from the hotel so nice and close. The number of people on the streets (pedestrians and drivers) has increased yet again. Unfortunately so have the beggars. 

I’m glad I had researched that it’s on a roof top as there is only one sign when you arrive at the building. My timing couldn’t have worked out better if I tried! I took the last table - phew!

Deciding what to eat was the hard part. So many amazing items. In the end it’s beer (obviously!) and a beef salad. 

While I wanted to order another beer and something else to eat I felt pushed out - instead I’ll go a couple of doors down to a Nha Hang Ngon (also known as Quan An Ngon) where I always go when I’m in Saigon. 

I’m told to sit down and wait 5 minutes, no problem. In less than 1 minute I’m being taken to the table.

This time last year I was in New Zealand, hard to believe that 2022 is coming to an end. 

Like most places the menu is super long! 

 

There are SO many people out and about, I’m really having to pay attention to where I’m walking. 

 

I enjoy the rest of the evening in my room listening to the different blaring music. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

New Year’s Day (Sunday) it’s like I’ve woken up in a new city! The streets below are super quiet and I can’t hear anyone else at the hotel. 

RAT test completed, now time for coffee. 

Post breakfast I do a bit of packing then decide to go out for a walk and in search of coffee.

It’s great to be able to wander the streets without a motorbike every 5 meters. I stumble across a local market, selling everything from fresh (???!) meat, to rice, to beer and stronger alcohol, to fruit and vegetables. 

Choosing somewhere to go seems to take a while - in the end I find a place where I can sit outside and watch the world go by.  

The security guard sitting at the table opposite me kindly says Happy New Year. 

I enjoy my iced coffee before wandering back to the hotel.

Check out seems to take quite a while but we get there in the end. Time for the pool! 

It’s super relaxing here! Not quite warm enough for me to swim though.

After showering I decide to head back to the hotel restaurant for lunch. I know this way I can get something Vietnamese for lunch.

It takes all my willpower not to order the rice noodles with pork, instead it’s Chicken Lemongrass with coconut water rice. 

 

I feel like I’ve been away for much longer than 9 days which is a good sign! 

When I checked out this morning the front desk staff told me I should be at the airport 3 hours early, no thank you! I’ll instead get in a Grab 3 hours before my departure time. 

My Grab driver finally arrives at 4.30pm, he has missed the turn of and ended up driving around the block. And this is why we go earlier than we need to. 

The drive to the airport takes less than half an hour, Murphy’s law when you have time! 

I’m straight through at check-in and through immigration (thanks to the APEC card). The line for security is loooooong. 

In the end the line moves quickly considering how many of us are in it! It’s like I’ve never been through airport security before as I forgot to take out my laptop and iPad and am told off for not taking out my battery pack. Never had to do that before. 

I make it to the lounge with over two hours to my departure - I now get to sit back, relax and watch the sun setting.

  

As soon as I walk onboard, I’m asked to put on my mask on, aah yes it’s back to mask land! At least it helps keep my face warm. 

We all seem to be on board very promptly so I’m hoping this means we’ll be ready to depart on time in 20 minutes. 

Goodbye for now Vietnam, I’ve loved being back here again!  Here’s to more adventures in 2023.