Sandwiches and Motorbikes. Chinese New Year in Vietnam

Although my job doesn't afford me as much time off as one might think a teaching job would, I do get about a week off for Chinese New Year. So for 2017 I decided to finally get out of the country and see some more of Southeast Asia (something I had somehow neglected to do for over a year). The destination of choice was Vietnam, and I was not prepared.

Coffee
Sandwiches
Motorcycles

This might seem weird but they're all things I realized I was missing in China. Although coffee is gaining popularity in China, it's still kind of a niche, expensive product. Tea is king. China doesn't really have sandwiches, at least not in the same sense that we do, outside of some expensive foreign restaurants. And motorcycles are illegal in Shenzhen. There are some electric bikes, but they're vastly outnumbered by cars and motorbikes are, because of their legal status, virtually nonexistant. The coffee is a side effect of the large coffee industry in Vietnam...I think. The sandwiches are a remnant of French occupation...probably. And motorbikes are...inexpensive and convenient? I guess I really have no idea. But I didn't realize just how little influence these things had in China until I saw their huge influence in Vietnam.

Now we can get to what you came for. If you go to Vietnam what should you do? What do I, with all of my wisdom and experience, recommend? Beats me, I'm just some schmuck. But I can tell you what I saw and how it was. My trip brought me to Ho Chi Minh City (hereafter referred to as HCMC) in the southern part of Vietnam. Keep in mind that HCMC (that's SO much easier to type) doesn't have a metro, so if you go try to plan all the things you want to see so you don't have to spend too much time backtracking. First off you can see the second (third? fourth?) most famous Notre Dame Cathedral, which was built by, you guessed it, the French. Near the Cathedral is the Central Post Office, which has some impressive architecture and a picture of Ho Chi Minh in the back. As it's become a tourist spot you can buy some knick knacks there as well. The Reunification Palace is also quite impressive, but I didn't want to pay to go in so I only saw it from the outside. One day I hope to have enough time and money to go see all the attractions I want to see. Why did I opt to save money and not go into the reunification palace you ask? Because a lot of things to do in HCMC are actually things to do AROUND HCMC. I went to see both the Cu Chi Tunnels from the Vietnam War and the Mekong River Delta, and since I'm just an average Joe and not a professional traveller I went as part of a tour group. Afterwards I hit the beach.

Pham Ngu Lao

Before getting into where I went outside the city, I'll mention one place I did spend some time in within the city. Referred to as the 'Backpacker Street' by my girlfriend, Pham Ngu Lao is a street in District 1 (near? in the vicinity?) that I've read caters to backpackers, and it certainly seemed that way. Thronged with backpackers making their way to or from their trip, the street is full of motels and places to stay, in addition to numerous tour companies (I booked my tours through The Sinh Tourist here). The street has plenty of western food if you need an escape from pho and bahn mi and plenty of Vietnamese food if you don't, although I found the local food a little more expensive than in other areas. A little bit of poking around some of the smaller side streets would probably yield some cheaper Vietnamese fare though. Full of neat restaurants, coffee shops, and bars (including an awesome craft beer bar called Ong Cao) the street is a great example of something I'd never seen before; overt people watching. Many of the outdoor areas of cafe's and restaurants have their chairs seated facing the road, instead of facing each other, so that as you sit and eat or drink you can watch people go about their day. This may seem weird at first, but people watching is just as relaxing and interesting here as it is in the airport.

Should you go?

Yes: You're in HCMC. Seriously it's in the middle of the city. You'd have to try to miss it.
No: You're hotel is really far away or you like exploring the roads less traveled.

Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels take an old Viet Cong area and turn it into a half tourist trip half history lesson. You get to see what some of the tunnels were like (from the outside), walk through one that's been enlarged for tourists, and see some of the traps that were used. If you go with a tour group (you can probably go alone but I didn't try) the guide will (probably) give you information about different things, like what people did to breathe underground or why they chose the area they did. Although not ground breaking it was a neat little history lesson and probably better than trudging through the jungle looking for hidden holes in the ground.

Should you go?

Yes: You're interested in a little bit of history and would prefer something that's been modified for tourists to trudging through the jungle.
No: You prefer to avoid things that are overtly touristy and would rather trudge through the jungle.

Mekong Delta

Another tip outside the city, another tour. This one takes you via boat, horse, and foot around some areas of the Mekong River Delta to see the sights and what people who live there do. This one was EXTRA touristy. The tour I took takes you around some little islands (they're probably not really islands so much as bits of land that jut into the river, but some of them might be islands) around the river. The first stop lets you off to walk through the jungle, admiring the fruit grown there, to see how people make some sort of rice paper, which involves grinding the rice, making some sort of watery paste, and laying it out to dry. After that you get lunch, which was excellent, and consisted of fish, rice, vegetables, and meat. Next you take a smaller boat (with photo op!!) down the river to see where they make some honey. A short horse ride down a paved street takes you to some fruit and a dance show. This is followed by the smallest boat yet taking you down a little tributary (are my river terms right here??) back to the original boat and you're taken to where the coconut candy is made and given one last chance to buy things. Other than the aforementioned candy there was also strange liquor (the snake liquor was NOT good), bags, and other more generic tourist things.

Should you go?

Yes: You want to ride around on a boat and see some neat jungle stuff
No: You don't like overtly touristy things and already skipped the tunnels. Because this was a tourist trap, no doubt about it

Mui Ne

After a couple days in the city I went Mui Ne, a beach east of HCMC. The area is only 130 some odd miles away but it takes 6 hours to get there by sleeper bus, which is rough to say the least. I somehow...missed the good part of the beach. The bus drove right past it on the way to the hotel and ended up in an area where all of the restaurants and hotels and such were pushed right up next to the beach. Maybe it was so each place could have a tiny piece of private beach, but I'm not sure. Either way it was unfortunate, because I didn't get any beautiful sweeping beach views. Luckily the hotel had a little area above the beach with chairs and umbrellas so I could jump in the water, swim a bit, then go sit and relax. Mui Ne was nice, there was lots of seafood, some things to see (if you can ride a motorbike) and the beach of course, but if you go make sure to do some research of which part of the beach you'll be at. I didn't. Mui Ne did have one great place to see though...

Fairy Stream

Fairy stream was a small stream that came from a little brook, flowed downwards, over a little waterfall, and just kept going. When you get there you pay to enter (because of course), then take off your shoes and wade through ankle deep water upstream. There are sand dunes and little sandy cliffs on both sides which are impressive to look at, and the occasional person selling food or oddly placed tourist attraction (like ostriches and a sad zoo). At the top there's a restaurant where you can relax a bit before heading back. Overall there isn't much to do other than walk up and then back but wading through the water keeps and you cool and the dunes are great to look at and take some pictures with. Just remember your sunscreen.

Should you go? Mui Ne

Yes: You want to get away from the city to relax for a bit and don't mind the mind numbing bus ride.
No: You want to get away from the city but don't mind going to a closer beach like Vung Tau.
No: You can't find where the good part of Mui Ne is.

Should you go? Fairy Stream

Yes: You're in Mui Ne.
No: You're not in Mui Ne.
Fairy Stream is definitly worth the time if you're already in Mui Ne. It's not too far from the beach (although you might need to rent a bike), it doesn't take too long to see, and it's not nearly as touristy as the other stuff I mentioned. It's not worth going all the way to Mui Ne just to see, but if that's the beach you end up at it would be a shame to miss it.

It was strange and awesome at the same time

Final Notes

I had some trouble using ATMs to withdraw money while in Vietnam. They seemed to work okay with a US Visa debit card but were very spotty with a Chinese UnionPay debit card. If you plan to go to Vietnam ask around to see if your card is likely to work and make sure to bring enough cash to pay for whatever you need to get settled when you arrive, like your hotel or a taxi from the airport. That way even if it doesn't work you have a base from which to figure out how to withdraw money. As always be careful with your belongings, but be extra careful in Vietnam. The owners of a coffee shop I sheltered at in the rain warned us that people will sometimes steal unattended motorbikes, so if you're renting one, be sure to ask how to keep it from getting stolen and try to keep an eye on it.

I didn't see that much but Vietnam was a nice escape from the towering malls of Shenzhen. If you find yourself in HCMC be careful because some of the tours are even more shameless than tours tend to be. Poke around the city though and you can find some neat things, from palaces to hip coffee shops tucked down alleys. And the food is excellent. And if you go to Vietnam don't miss the beaches. Thanks for reading and I'll see you on my next trip.

Click the links above to see more pictures from the trip on Flickr and see what I'm up to on Instagram without waiting for a post.