Ho Chi Minh City - Day 1

We woke feeling very independent in our little apartment. The day before, I'd spotted a nice-looking beauty salon in the apartment complex and arranged to get my lashes curled. For anyone interested, I've been using growth serum on my lashes to make them longer and they're now very long, and I've been desperate to curl them so they'd look extra voluminous. The end result was perfect AND it cost me £7! In the UK, this treatment costs £60, so the price alone made it incredibly worth it! And now I look like I'm wearing mascara without having to actually wear it.

After my morning appointment, we headed to the War Remnants Museum, which was pretty harrowing. Outside, it had a load of US Army vehicles from the Vietnam War, and inside, they showed very graphic images of the effects of the war and of the napalm damage to people and generations after. It was very interesting to see the Vietnam War from the other side's view and although the museum was a little hard to follow, the images of destruction, death, and suffering definitely spoke volumes.

We then went across the road and enjoyed our first Banh Mi sandwich, which is a small baguette stuffed with noodles and fried vegetables. It was super delicious.

We then took a humid stroll past an old royal palace called Independence Palace, which is where the final battle was won by North Vietnam when a tank broke through the gates and unified the country. We then went to an excellent coffee shop, Tonkin Specialty Coffee, hidden down a thin alley and up on the second floor. They served an excellent egg coffee, a specialty of the city, with a fantastic vibe too. As we were discovering, the French colonial past definitely left an influence on the food culture of the city. As one tour guide said, "we took the French stuff and made it better." We then walked slowly back to our apartment, walking through the high-end shopping district which seemed so juxtaposed with the communist flag flying right next to a Cartier shop. Through a long square and up to the river, which we followed over a cute bridge and back to ours.

We then chilled out and went for another swim before going out in the evening to a nearby rooftop bar with an exceptional view for some drinks, which we had to access by going through a rough looking car park.Läs mer