#urbanfamilyinvietnam……Saigon
I have been meaning to add Saigon to this blog for ages. We’ve been busy!
Our arrival in Saigon - officially called Ho Chi Minh City - marked the last leg of our Vietnamese adventure. It is a crazy bustling city and although it still manages to hold on to some of its old world charm, it is known to be the brash, commercialised opposite of Hanoi.
Get ready for traffic! A trip of 60km can take 2hours in peak hour in Saigon. If it rains (as it did often) the roads flood due to the old and somewhat redundant storm water system, or lack thereof. There are roughly 13 million people in Saigon alone. Ive never seen so many motorcycles, even in Hanoi and Cambodia. Hold on to your kids as you cross the road!!
The city is much more orderly than Hanoi and commuters seem to observe road rules, but it feels like traffic does not flow as fast.
Accommodation
We stayed at the Saigon Prince Hotel. The hotel is in a great location in downtown city centre.
The hotel is really nice although a renovation while we were there made it smell like lacquer and paint. We found it hard to spend any time in the hotel due to the noise and smell. On the upside, Im sure its done by now so you may get to enjoy it where we did not 😟. The staff and the food at the hotel were excellent and the service was top notch.
Be prepared. Saigon is noisy. Even at night there is no lull in the buzz and hum of the bustling city. We were tired after 2 weeks travelling and found it hard to sleep. Handy tip - take ear plugs.
Where to Eat
We stumbled into he Cocochin Food Court right next to our hotel and it was so great we went back 3 times in 4 days.
It was really quick and fresh food but offered a genuine plethora of options, which was great for the kids. Food and drinks at Cocochin for the 4 of us cost around $25 USD. I would highly recommend this place if you aren’t after fine dining and need to refuel on the cheap, without sacrificing quality.
Like many big Asian cities, Saigon really comes alive above street level. The rooftop bars are many and the cocktails are really reasonably priced. So look up!
Activities
The Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre
All across Vietnam you will see flyers for the local water puppet theatre. We decided to finally go when we were in Saigon. The Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre is Saigon's main water-puppet venue, with shows starting at 5pm, 6.30pm and 7.45pm and lasting about 50 minutes.
All the show is in Vietnamese which adds to the charm and authenticity of this ancient art.
Tickets cost around $8 USD.
Củ chi tunnels
The Củ Chi Tunnels are well worth a look.
The site has over 120km of underground tunnels, with trapdoors, living areas, kitchens, storage facilities, armoury, hospitals, and command centres. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations in 1968.
The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped to counter the growing American military effort.
Its a 1-2 hour long drive from Saigon but worth a look if you have an interest in the history of the Vietnam war. We found it fascinating, as did our kids, however the explanations of the traps and techniques of guerrilla warfare were quite graphic so consider the age of your kids before going. Our kids at 9 and 11 were ok with it all. The live shooting range at the tunnels is a surprising add on activity where you can shoot a rifle from the war period. We skipped this as we are 100% anti guns and the kids didn’t like the live fire.
Mekong Delta Day Trip
Again, the traffic was crazy leaving Saigon on the way to the Mekong Delta, however a visit here provides a real insight into genuine Vietnamese river lifestyle
The river markets are the livelihood for the local traders and there are even boats that sail down from Cambodia to trade on the river.
Our guide took us to a riverside village where we learned how to make rice paper, coconut caramel and rice popcorn. There was also Snake wine for those more adventurous than I. #nothanks
We took our boat to Mr Kiets Historic House for a lunch of authentic Vietnamese food. Fish, rice paper rolls, shrimp, chicken, rice and ever present fruit to finish. In the gardens of a beautifully restored 300 year old home it was a lovely way to finish our trip on the Mekong. For those who would like to stay and see more of this area, this house can be used for homestay as well. I would highly recommend it as the lady of the house was one of the nicest people we met in our travels there and the house itself is lovingly restored.
Dam Sen Water Park
On our last day, as a treat for our kids and to cool off before the long flight home, we ventured to the Dam Sen Water Park.
Its very popular with the locals and school groups however there were not many people there on a weekday. This suited us as the kids really had the run of the place.
It was a lot of fun! I will say its pretty tired and is in need. of a facelift but the water was clean, the staff were lovely and when theres waterslides and ice cream, the kids are always happy. A fun place to finish up.
