bexxgo.: Ho Chi Minh City

Previous Stop: Can Tho - bus
Duration: 5 days
Accommodation: G Adventures Hotel
Next Stop: Nha Trang - bus

We arrived at the hotel in Vietnam where we would be staying for a night before meeting Courtney's family and moving to an apartment. Once we'd arrived we went for lunch at Pho 2000 which was supposedly the best Pho but mine was disgusting and put me off ever ordering pho again. We went to the banh tan market and explored Ho Chi Minh, then went for our last dinner with the group which was sad as you become so close to people in such a short space of time. I really enjoyed spending 10 days with the same people and being guided however I couldn't help but feel incredibly lazy not sorting anything out myself or researching what to do. A tour is probably not something I would do again purely due to how much it cost us compared to what travelling alone would of done.. However I met amazing people I'm still in touch with and something I would recommend doing if you're a lone traveller wanting to meet people. Or have a little more money to spend and enjoy the ease of being toured.

The next morning we went to the Cu Chi tunnels which I'm sure would have been very interesting however we had the worst tour guide who we couldn't hear anything he said as we were in such a large group. It was very interesting, however as excepted incredibly one sided. When we got back we grabbed lunch and took a cab to our new apartment ready to meet the fam.

Arriving at the apartment was like a breath of fresh air, it was so nice to be in a clean apartment and not a dingy hostel or budget hotel. Courtney and I sorted everything before the family arrived that evening and cleaned out our bags and washed our clothes. It was the 19th February which meant it was Tet that day! Once all the family had arrived at the apartment we decided to go for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe before watching the most amazing fire works I've ever seen! It was a lovely evening!

We headed out to flower street which was beautiful and a great to see the amount of amazing poses people could pull in front of various greenery. We went to the botanical gardens, however they were joined with the zoo which made me feel terrible, the cages and conditions were atrocious and I feel horrendous about giving over my money. Later that night we headed out for dinner at Al Fresco, yum! My stomach was feeling very happy with two very good meals!

On our fourth day in Ho Chi Minh we went to Dam Sen water park for the morning it was very interesting, I don't think I've ever been stared at so much! We were one of 2 European groups which normally wouldn't seem like such a big thing until your photos are being taken everywhere you look. It was very overwhelming and there was a 'foreigner only' area for sunbathing. Normally I would hate something like that but after the way we were treated it was nice to escape. I also went on a kamikaze water slide which I swear broke me - be warned!! -. We grabbed some lunch once we'd left and went back to the apartment to chill in the pool. That evening we went to The Refinery which did wonderful food and somewhere (if you're not on a backpackers budget) that you should definitely visit if you're nearby.

On the final day we did a little more exploring; we went to the post office, war museum and a few other museums and the sky bar for a drink which was great to see the whole city from a height. The family headed off early the next day whilst we hung out at the pool, repacked, got takeaway pizza hut and headed north...