My last stop in Vietnam

My last stop on my trip through Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City. In the evening, shortly before 9 pm., the bus arrived at the bus station in Ho Chi Minh City. From there it was more than 10 kilometers to my hostel. I had already looked in the Grab app how expensive a taxi would be and in fact it would not have been that cheap.

Luckily the bus driver pointed out to me and the other backpackers that there would be a free shuttle into town. We all then got into the van but had no idea where we would be dropped off. The driver fought his way through the heavy traffic of Ho Chi Minh City for quite a while until we finally arrived in the center.

From there it was only 300 meters to my hostel. At this point it was raining, so I had to fight my way not only through the traffic but also through the rain. Arriving at the hostel, I was able to check in immediately. Since it was now almost ten o’clock in the evening and I hadn’t eaten anything yet, this was the first thing I did. Across from the hostel was a Familymart where I bought cheap rice. Of course, I hadn’t looked closely at the packaging and thus overlooked the „Spicy“ label.

The History of Vietnam

The next morning, while I was having breakfast in the hostel, I texted to the girl I had met in Da Lat two days earlier, asking if she already had plans for the coming day. Since I still didn’t had an answer after breakfast, I first set out on my own to explore the city. My first stop was the War Remnants Museum. Before I left the country, I definitely wanted to learn a bit more about its history.

The museum was about 2 kilometers from the hostel. Not wanting to spend money on a taxi, I decided to walk the path. But since it was quite warm, I later arrived at the museum a little sweaty.

I took my time to look at the tanks and planes and to read the many information boards, which fortunately were also in English.

About the war in Vietnam 1955 – 1975:

A communist regime is in power in northern Vietnam, while a military regime is in power in the south.  South Vietnam threatens to be subdued by the North. South Vietnam then receives support from the US, as they fear a domino effect on neighboring countries if South Vietnam were to fall to the communists in the north.

At the beginning of August 1964 the alleged Tonkin Incident occurred, after which the US issued a declaration of war. Years later, it turns out that the Tonkin Incident never happened, but was used as fake news to allow the US to enter the war.

North Vietnam is supported by China and the Soviet Union with arms supplies. Therefore, the war is also referred to as a proxy war between the Soviet Union and the US.

The war claims a total of over 3 million dead on the Vietnamese side. Another 2 million suffer serious damage to their health from highly toxic chemicals used by Americans.

In January 1973, an armistice agreement is signed and the Americas withdraw their troops from Vietnam. However, the war did not end until 1975 with North Vietnam’s conquest of South Vietnam and the reunification of Vietnam.

Exploring Ho Chi Minh City

While touring the museum and learning more about the Vietnam War, I also got a response from Nathalia. Since we had similar things planned for the day anyway, we decided to meet up soon. After the museum visit I went to Tan Dinh Church where I met Nathalia. The church was colored pink which looked really cool. But since it was the weekend, the church was closed and we could only view it from the street.

The moment we arrived at the church it also started to rain, so we waited a while for the rain to stop. When the rain actually stopped after a while, we made our way to the Book Street. This is a small alley that was lined with numerous book shops and cafes, which looked really cute.

We then went from Book Street to the Café Apartments. This is a building complex where there are only cafes. But the moment we got there, it started raining again. So we chose a nice café from the outside and then went inside the building to this café. We sat there for a while and drank coffee.

In the afternoon when the rain started to let up, we both went back to our hostels. For the evening we had arranged to meet again to watch the famous Waterpuppet Show. In the hostel I didn’t have more than an hour until I had to leave again.

Watching the famous water puppet show

When I made my way to the Waterpuppet Theater shortly before six, it was of course raining again, which is why I arrived at the theater wet 15 minutes later.

The ticket purchase went very quickly and therefore we were sitting in the theater shortly afterwards, waiting for the 45-minute show to begin. The show was really well done and quite funny at times. Music was played most of the time, but sometimes there was dialogue that we didn’t understand as it was in Vietnamese.

The brightly colored puppets recreate daily life in Vietnam’s northern villages, including duck herding, fishing, rice planting, boat rowing and royal parades.

After the show we had to fight our way back to our hostels through the rain. Since the famous Bui Vien walking street was on the way, we decided to walk through it. The Bui Vien Walking Street reminded me a lot of the Kao Shan Road in Bangkok. Colorful lights were everywhere, loud music and you could buy drinks. Since it was raining, there wasn’t much going on on the street itself. Also, it was only half past seven in the evening, which is why there weren’t that many people there in general.

From Bui Vien Walking Street we went back to our hostels. I bought something to eat in the supermarket across from the hostel and ate my food in the hostel.

On a bus journey to the Cu Chi Tunnels

The next morning after breakfast I met Nathalia at the bus stop from where we were going to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The lady in the hostel had previously told me that the way there would be very time-consuming and should take at least three hours. But since she first wanted to sell me a tour that I had rejected, I was somehow aware that it probably wouldn’t be that complicated, but that she just kept trying to sell me the tour.

It actually took us just under three hours to get to the Cu Chi Tunnels, but that was because traffic in Ho Chi Minh City was a disaster. We had to change busses once, but the transfer was fairly quick and easy.

Just as we were let out at the Cu Chi Tunnels, it started raining. Nevertheless, we made our way to the entrance with umbrella and rain jacket and bought a ticket. After a long search we finally found the entrance to the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Exploring the Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels are underground tunnels which were used by Viet Cong Soldiers as hiding spots. They were fighting from there against the american soldiers. The tunnels were also used for living and hospitals.

It kept raining, stopping after a few minutes, only to start again a few minutes later. First we went through a small forest where there wasn’t much exciting to see. Eventually, however, we stood in line that was supposed to lead down to the Cu Chi Tunnels. However, one of the staff members came to us and showed us another tunnel. There we could all climb down and walk through the tunnels ourselves, which were very narrow.

He also showed us a trap and an entrance to the tunnels hidden in the foliage. Suddenly it started to rain heavily again, which is why everyone took shelter. Nathalia and I waited for the rain to stop and the tour to continue. When the rain stopped, we were told that the tour was over and that we could head towards the exit.

We were very surprised as we hadn’t been on the Cu Chi Tunnels site long at all and had only seen one tunnel. Then we had no choice but to go to the exit. We were both convinced that the tours usually take longer and that it had something to do with the rain.

3 hours back to Ho Chi Minh City

So we made our way back to the bus stop. Luckily the bus came at the same moment. Half an hour later we had to change again. Due to the rain it had cooled down quite a bit by now. Nevertheless, the air conditioning in the bus was still running at the lowest temperature. Of course we didn’t have any sweaters with us, so we froze the whole trip. Due to the heavy traffic, the journey took almost two hours.

When we got back to Ho Chi Minh City it was 5pm. Our whole day was spent visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, which we ended up not seeing much of. We were glad we didn’t book a tour, otherwise we would have paid three times as much for the same thing.

I spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the hostel. With the constant rain there was nothing else to do anyway.

Shopping day in Ho Chi Minh City

Luckily the sun was shining again the next morning. I first had breakfast in the hostel and then went into town. I had actually seen everything in Ho Chi Minh City, which is why there wasn’t so much left for me to do. However, I didn’t feel that comfortable in my hostel, which is why I wanted to avoid staying there at all costs.

First I went to a shopping mall, where I bought a new pair of pants. From there I wanted to go to the Tan Dinh Church again, since it was Monday and it was therefore open again. So I walked on from the shopping mall to the Tan Dinh Church. Although the grounds were open and you could get closer to the church, you could not go inside the church.

I had seen on the internet that the inside of the church should also be pink, so I thought it was a bit of a shame that the church could not be visited. Since I had already looked at the church two days before, I didn’t stay too long there.

I then walked 3 kilometers from the church to a café that was close to my hostel. There I had one last coconut coffee and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Around 6 o’clock in the evening I was back in the hostel. There I booked my bus to Cambodia for the next day and started packing. After I took a shower, I bought something to eat and ate at the hostel.

The next morning my bus left at 8.30 for Cambodia. If you would like to find out what I experienced during my time in Cambodia, check out my next posts.