A couple weeks ago was a long weekend for us due to a public holiday in Hong Kong, so since we didn’t have to work, we went to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with Aani and David. Aani and David went there last year, so they knew a good area to stay in, which was great. Very much appreciated when I was (over)-researching hotels! The massive city of 8 million people (and almost 1000 square miles) was narrowed down to small radius. Definitely saved me hours of time. We ended up choosing the Millennium Boutique Hotel right near the river in District 1, pretty close to the “backpacking” area, but a bit more upscale. It was within walking distance of everything we wanted, though Uber is there now, so we definitely took advantage of that. Our most expensive ride was $8 (USD). And that was the 6-mile (and 30 minute) trip to the airport. Most were around $2. Uber had made traveling SE Asia much less stressful. No haggling with taxi drivers and no worrying about being ripped off. Though we did do a lot less walking that we would have, but we were able to cover more ground. So some pros and some cons. Brandon and I arrived about 12 hours before Aani and David because we had Friday off and they didn’t. Our first stop was lunch. I really wanted something local, so I went on tripadvisor and found something near our hotel. It wasn’t quite a good as the food I had in Hoi An last year, but it was definitely delicious. I’m absolutely obsessed with lemongrass, so some sort of stirfry with lots of that is my go-to now for Vietnamese food. After lunch, Brandon and I did some walking around the main tourist sights, and then went on a bit of a craft beer adventure throughout the city. We found a neat little place online called “Pasteur Street Brewing,” so we called an Uber and went there. It was a bit hidden, so I was glad it was daylight because walking down the narrow alley and up the hidden stairs would have been a bit scary at night. They had quite a few local beers, so we got a flight and tried them all. They had this coconut porter that was so unique and very good. I can’t believe we’d never come across anything like that before, especially living in Asia where there’s coconut everything! After that we decided to go to the “backpackers” area and wander for a bit. It was a really neat area with lots of cool little shops and restaurants. Very similar to every other SE Asian country we’ve been to. We found a place that we could sit outside with a beer and people watch. After we were done there, we decided to go to Rogue Saigon, which was another craft beer place. Again, the Uber dropped us off and we were a bit confused. It didn’t look like anything. The address was correct (checked Google maps, just in case), but there wasn’t any sign or anything. But there was a curtain in front of stairs that had the correct address listed above. Again, at least it wasn’t dark, so we cautiously went up the stairs (note the picture below was taken when we left… so it was dark then) and sure enough, we found an awesome rooftop bar with lots of craft beer! And we were the only ones there! We spent a couple hours there enjoying the awesome view of the area, including the Bitexco Financial Tower. Unfortunately I don’t have a good picture of this, but it was a tall building with a heli-pad that was lit up (you can kind of see it in the picture of Brandon and David). So I guess nothing amazing compared to the buildings in Hong Kong, but it stuck out like crazy in Saigon. We ended up enjoying this bar so much that we went back with Aani and David the next night. Unfortunately the difference in popularity between Friday and Saturday was huge. We only were able to get a standing table, so we didn’t stay there quite as long with them. On Saturday we decided to go to the War Remnants Museum. I have to say that this was a lot more interesting that I thought it was going to be. First of all, I’m not a huge fan of museums, and second I’m just not that in to history. But, as Americans, we thought we really needed to go. And I’m glad we did. It definitely gave me a way different perspective of the war than I was ever taught in high school in the US. I completely understand now why my mom freaks out a bit when I tell her I’m going to Vietnam for vacation. After the museum, we decided to get some pho. I found a place in a guide book called Pho Hoa and it wasn’t far away, so we walked there. But first we took a pit stop for some amazing Vietnamese iced coffee. I’m not quite sure what makes Vietnamese coffee so good, but it’s delicious. They put tons of ice in it, so at first you think it’s a rip off. But then when you taste it and see how incredibly concentrated it is, you’re glad that there’s so much ice to dilute it. Anyway, back to the pho…. This place was a little hole-in-the-wall, but it was pretty good. It seemed a bit sketchy, but again, it was light out, so it was okay :) We had some pho and fresh coconuts and I think it cost $13 for all four of us. Not bad. We headed to the famous Ben Thahn market after lunch. It was crazy. Just like any SE Asia market. But I was on a mission to get something cool for our apartment. I hate shopping, so this consisted of walking down two aisles and then deciding that I wanted piece of art that looked like a painting, but it was made from different colors of rice. I hate haggling, but I know you have to at places like this, so after two “back and forths” with the price, I settled on $10. I know, I probably got ripped off. But I’m happy and I’m sure she’s happy too, so a win-win, right? After the craziness of the market, we decided it was appropriate to start drinking beer. We went back to the backpacking area and got a tower of good beer at “Sancho’s Craft Beer and Mexican Kitchen”. 3 liters of a pretty decent IPA for $14. We pay almost that for 500ml in HK! So it was a pretty great deal. And as a bonus, we got to sit outside and people watch on a cool street. A great start to the evening! Our hotel had a rooftop bar and pool and we wanted to take advantage of it, so we went back there for a quick swim and drinks before heading out to dinner and for the rest of the night. It was raining when we got back to the hotel, but we wanted to get our moneys worth of that rooftop pool we paid for. So we went swimming in the rain. It had cooled off quite a bit (probably like 75*F, so that now feels cold to me… I’m screwed when I move back to MN!), so it wasn’t that enjoyable. But having beer and being able to look over the city definitely made it better. After having a local lunch of pho (which isn’t very filling), we wanted to get some western food for dinner. Aani and David recommended a pizza place called “4P’s” that was near our hotel, so we went there. It was so good! Fresh everything and straight from a brick oven. I’m pretty sure our first pizza was gone in about 30 seconds. I’m sure the wait staff was secretly judging us. After dinner we went back to that craft beer place that Brandon and I discovered the day before. But like I mentioned before, lots more popular on Saturday than Friday. Sunday morning was spent relaxing by the pool until we had to check out. We then decided to do an escape room (Lost—Escape Game) because Aani and David had never done one before, and Brandon and I are quite obsessed. I did warn them that I might a little bossy (okay, maybe a lot bossy because I’m probably a little bossy all the time) and that I hope they would still like me after. Hopefully that was a success? We did manage to escape, even though there were some technical problems with the room. Not the best room we’ve even done, but not the worst either. All in all and awesome weekend with some great friends!
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