Saigon

We were greeted by pouring rain, outlandish traffic and very persistent street vendors. Yet somehow, we don't hate it. Quite the opposite. We actually kinda like it here and it is more than the happy hour beer price of 40 cents! There are nice buildings in this huge city, the backpacker area is fun (as long as you take care of your wallet) and the food is great. 

We arrived on Monday and successfully took the bus instead of the taxi from the airport (40 cents instead of 7 EUR). Finding the hotel might have proven difficult, but one guy on the bus got off with us, brought us to the door step and said goodbye. Made our day! In the evening we explored the area a bit and ended up at the Bui Vien street, that turns into a bar at night. The traffic still flows through it, but on the sidewalks hundreds of small plastic chairs are placed and beer, cocktail and shots are served. One could easily spend hours there just watching drunk Germans, street vendors selling all kinds of stuff (books, dried Calmar, knifes etc.) and other backpackers looking for their hostel. Absolutely great!

Today we walked around again to see some of the sights of HCMC. Notre Dame or the Independence Palace for example. Because we walked a lot these days we got a little foot massage after that. Very nice.

Tonight we went for dinner and drinks with a girl we met in Melaka. We're totally part of the backpacker community now!Read more