A Little Bit Caotic

Thursday 11 Aug 2011. Ho Chi Minh City.

The Reunification Hall, Ho Chi Minh City

Prior to our Air Asia plane touching down on Tan Son Nhat airpport I can see that HCMC is really densely populated but organized. There are houses and buildings everywhere my eyes can see. Not many roads though, and vehicles on the roads are slow-going. I would later find out that the Vietnam population is about 87 million.

HCMC is 1 hour in time behind KL and 3 hours behind that of Melbourne. By the time I get through customs and immigration and out of the airport with my luggage it is already 5.30pm. I get on an airport cab in the taxi line outside the arrival hall and head on out to Sophia Hotel in District 1. It is located right in the tourist area and is close by to several major landmarks such as the Rex Hotel, the Caravelle Hotel, The Reunification Center, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Ben Thanh Market.

Checking into Sophia is painless and I settle in to my room and begin finding my feet in the city. A city I knew well, and a city I want to spend a few days in before going across the border to Cambodia. Find Sophia on Agoda.com and they are located at 36 Thai Van Lung, Ben Nghe, District 1, HCMC. Tel: (08) 38256972.

Dinner is at Pho 2000 just around the corner from Sophia. I try their beef pho which is quite small portion and so I order a few Vietnamese shrimp spring rolls and wash it down with Vietnamese black coffee. The pho is so so compared to what we have in Melbourne which has a large population of Vietnamese. My bill comes to VND (Dong) 114,000 and at 1 US$ to VND 20,000 the meal is all right.

View outside my room window

Comfortable bed

I go around Sophia to stretch my legs and also to find my bearing. Sophia is on Thai Van Lung St and it is at one end of District 1. I pay US$104.55 for 3 nights. Sophia is close to a Shop & Go convenience store and surprise, surprise; a Pizza Hut, a Coffee Bean, and a couple of spas. Nice. I popped into Royal Spa nearby to have a foot massage them make my way to the more touristy part of District 1 to have a look around. On the way back to Sophia I chanced upon this little cafe called Phuc Long for a Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. Heavens. At VND 23,000 ($1 and a bit) it was great. Find it on 63 Mac Thi Buoi-P, District 1.

So that is it for the 1st day in Vietnam.

I decide to hunker down for the night, satisfied that I have made it to HCMC. Even though I have been to this country on numerous business trips before I am still looking forward to my solo journey here, wanting more, yearning for the independence and personal space ......