Day 1 - 26 Dec 2017
Reached Ho Chi Minh at 845am, took an uber to our hotel, Roseland Centa Hotel & Spa. Our room wasn't ready so we left our luggage at the reception and went to explore the area first. The hotel is about a 10min walk from the main attractions - we went to the cathedral, post office, independence hall.
Then on a recommendation, we had lunch at this really ulu place called Loft cafe, which had really nice ambience and food!
We went back to hotel but the room still wasn't ready (we got drinks in apology), so we continued exploring the area.
Then went out to the War Remnants Museum that was suuuuper interesting. but extremely tiring to get through cos it's a major history lesson about the Vietnam War. As medical students, of course we were particularly interested by Agent Orange and its teratogenic effects.
Then headed to Ben Thanh market and had dinner at the food street.
After a good dinner, we just continued walking around the city. There's this street with the Ho Chi Minh statue in the center which was really nice at night with lots of people, kids playing, mascots and stuff.
On the way back to our hotel, we headed to Vincom Center to try to shop but there wasn't anything to buy.
Day 2 - 27 Dec 2017
Buffet breakfast in the hotel!
Today was a day trip to Cu Chit Tunnels. It was a 3h drive there and 2h drive back, so we actually only spent around 2-2.5h there.
Our guide was pretty funny and told us loads of stories (he claims to have been a veteran of the war..but he was a translator for the Americans lol).
Crazy booby traps used in the war.
We bought bullets for AK47 to try shooting it.
And then the highlight was the tunnels itself where I was fairly comfortable since I'm a shortie but my friends were really struggling and crawling. Also got to try their war food which is tapioca with nuts.
After getting back to the city, I got coffee bean cos it was bloody hottttt, then went for a good lunch at 5pm.
Took an uber to the airport but then the madness started because the person at the counter told us that the credit card isn't verified. But we already checked in online! Then we got redirected to some ticket counter where the person told us we missed our flight already. THE HECK. She asked for a pic of the credit card, and then the passport of the person whom the credit card belonged to. Urgh, finally got our boarding passes and went to the customs area which had a very long queue.
Finally reached Hanoi, took an uber and it was a long 45min ride to our hotel, Silk Path Hotel Hanoi.
Day 3 - 28 Dec 2018
Full day exploring Ho Chi Minh. We had a lot to cover, so we started the day early with breakfast at 730 at Cong Caphe. Very nice, quaint ambience.
First stop was to Ho Chi Minh mausoleum to see the body. I personally find it strange that a body will be preserved like this but okk. Managed to catch the guard changing ceremony and went to the grounds to walk around as well.
Decided to take a taxi to Hoa Lo prison and ended up getting scammed cos the taxi driver pointed to the Singapore embassy and upped the meter while everyone was distracted, but I noticed it jumped from 40k to 90k in a few seconds.
The prison was pretty interesting though! Built by the French when they colonised Vietnam, then later used to house American pilots during the Vietnam war.
Walked to the french quarter and tried their ice cream that tasted like it was made with coconut milk.
Lots of pretty buildings.
Then tried to find lunch. And we met our classmate haha! Ended up eating crab meat rice noodle, which was pretty good. Vietnamese cuisine just has a lot of noodles.
Went to the Hoan Kiem lake (which was very unimpressive in the day) and visited the temple. These stuff all have entrance fees but they're suuuper cheap, like $1-2.
Took an uber to the Museum of Ethnology half an hour away. I accidentally opened the car door while the previous passengers were still inside and scared the daylights out of them (and myself). 2 koreans girls, so I apologised in korean lol.
Anyway, the museum was pretty interesting! There are 54 ethnic groups in vietnam - majority (84%) are viets and 53 minorities, which also includes the hoa people aka huaren lol.
The cool houses of the different ethnicities.
Took an uber again back to our hotel to grab our water puppet tickets cos we forgot to bring them heh. Then headed for dinner at the Hanoi Social Club which had great ambience. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich which wasn't too good though - tasted like Indian food lol. But the hibiscus tea and flourless choc cake was gooood.
Then we brisk walked to the Thang Long theatre cos it starts at 8pm, was a 13min walk away and it was already 747pm. Oh, the traffic in vietnam is MADNESS (traffic lights exist sometimes but no one cares), so you just gotta walk and just pray the vehicles avoid you haha. We reached justttt on time and the show was surprisingly entertaining.
The show ended at around 9pm, then we headed to some jazz club because my friend wanted to go listen to jazz. I was quite amused cos my brother is a huge jazz fan so it's a thing in my family to hate on it. And finally headed back to our hotel around 10.
Day 4 - 29 Dec 2018
Day trip to Halong Bay!
Started the day with breakfast at this nice 24h cafe called Xofa cafe just 2-3min away from our hotel. Got a bit of a shock when we saw people sleeping there lol. I ordered scrambled eggs with toast and affogatto which was really good.
A pity we rushed our meal cos we had to make it back to the hotel by 8 cos the pickup was supposed to be 8-820, but they reached at 845 ._. Went to pick more people up, then it was a longgg 4h drive to Halong Bay my gosh. Stopped along the way at some huge tourist trap souvenir store but I did buy something.
Finally reached the harbour and got on the boat to see the rocks. Unfortunately, it's winter and everything is grey and grey. In summer it would be blue skies and emerald water. Lunch was served on the boat and it was pretty good. There were prawns so I had a lot of fun peeling prawns for the guys with my super prawn-peeling skills using a fork and knife hehe.
We stopped somewhere and tourists could choose to either kayak or ride the bamboo boat. I originally wanted to do the bamboo boat cos I was scared would capsize in the kayak lol. But seeing the speed, I decided to kayak so I went with one of the guys while my other friend did with another tourist. It was one of the highlights of the trip imo. Fun and physically tiring yet relaxing. Oh and when we reached the place it was very weird cos it was like only 3 of us brought clothes to change and everyone else went kayaking in their jeans and thick jackets?! We did get wet so luckily we had a change of clothes.
Then headed to a pretty nice cave with stalactites and stalagmites.
Finally headed back to the boat to go back to the harbour for a longgg 4h ride back. So we spent about 4h in total there but 8h travelling. The ride back felt like FOREVER lol.
Got dropped off at our hotel, put our stuff down, then headed to the festivities around the lake. I think this was my favourite part of the trip cos it was so happening! There were people performing instruments, singing, dancing, playing chapteh or skipping rope. And alot of people singing were actually just random passersby doing like a public karaoke, not pro performers lol. I was about to donate to this girl, and then she finished the song and walked off with her friends lmao. There was also food, souvenirs and other stuff to buy. So much fun!
Hoan Kiem lake which looks MUCH better at night.
![[000199]](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/868/40073641840_b31b324832.jpg)
(Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my pics after this part so no more pics D:)
As we reached there around 930 and the stores closed at 11pm, we walked around first and only had dinner after that. But all the places we wanted to go were already closed. We walked back to the hotel intending to head for the other 24h cafe near our hotel, but passed by a place that was still open and i finally had pho ga, which tasted better than the Singapore one.
Reached the hotel around 12, and the guys ordered cake via room service for me as a surprise, except the guy came in and said 'is it someone's birthday today?' HAHAHA.
Day 5 - 30 Dec 2018
Had breakfast at another 24h cafe called Puku cafe, then took uber to the Noi Bai airport which reminded me alot of Changi. Wanted to spend the Dong so I bought some food and souvenirs haha.