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On the road in Vietnam, family travel blog Cologne format

On the Road in Vietnam

my room in Saigon

After a 2-day trip to the Beach Resort Ho Tram and a dinner at one of the best restaurants in Saigon, the Mandarine, we are back in Saigon. At the moment I am sitting at the working desk in my room at the park Hyatt Saigon right in the center of the city. When I open the shades I am overlooking the pool.

I am looking for write this post in english to let my travel colleagues know what I am talking about. Switching back to german next week.

So Emirates Airline invited to visit their inaugural flight from Dubai to Hoh Chi Minh City on Monday 4th June. When I’m home I’ll give you all the details about the flight itself, the Emirates press conference and the huge Gala Dinner afterwards!

So this is our group. Thanks to our guide Ving who took the photo while we were having a snack in the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Jim from the UK based Express & Star, Scott from Emirates, me, Clare from Ultratravel Middle East, Nguyen from Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Michael from e-voyageur.com and Jumana from Gulf News

Hoh Chi Minh City said: 4 hours sun per day ‘. I wondered. But it is a fact, in this season you will not see the sun very often. The sky is gray in the mornings, in the afternoon it starts to rain. It is dark at around 18:30 pm. In the middle of the hot & wet season. Which is not that bad, just freaking hot and humid. In the morning the temperature is about 30 degrees and 80% humidity, the rain cools it down a bit and a slight breeze clears the air. Woman in the morning looks like she is standing in front of a turbine. In Saigon we move around in an ac bus – which is great – guided by Ving.

In the last few days I experienced so much I am very grateful for! To be honest, sometimes I feel like being in a movie. Stumbling into a scene and jumping out again. I must have never imagined that Saigon really is like this. So huge, so poor. There is so much to see, so much to ask about.

Ving and his driver on the road in Saigon and the outskirts on absolutely crowded streets for hours. 125 miles up north and back to a very special beach resort. Makes a 3-4 hours drive one way by bus.

I love being on the road, driving through the streets of Saigon and watching life go by. I snapped photos permanently. It took just an hour to leave the city. A city of 9 million people at least. The traffic is chaotic. There are millions of motorcycles on the road. Sometimes with just the driver, sometimes with a whole family. Sometimes they have a baby on the bike, sometimes a whole bed. The way both directions on one lane. Sometimes there are women on the road selling stuff. And you can always hear some horns. I noticed our driver did not blow the horn once. I am working on a photo story.

Reaching the outskirts of Saigon the small houses turned into garages then barracks. Most people spend their time sitting outside trying to make their living. They sell fruits, bread or coconut drinks. Everything. I saw some clothes shops in the middle of nowhere.

Driving on the highway that was built on the road. Small kids were playing just a few meters away from the roaring traffic. Most people wear themselves out of the pollution. And I would say 90% really wear helmets. Well, the adults wear helmets. Kids younger than 6 just do not have to and do not get one.

Our first stop on the trip to Vung Tau Beach was the Cu Chi Tunnels. A huge tunnel system was built in 1948. Then the Vietnamese did hide in the war. It is 250km long – all built under the ground!

The first one was 3-4 meters under the ground. Up to 10,000 people could hide in there! Bombers threw bombs on it. B 52 bombers threw bombs on it. It did not work. So today Cu Chi is a huge tourist attraction. An entertainment park tourists shall experience. It was very interesting to visit. Because you’re living in those times and feel like exhausting their work and hiding under the earth.

You can learn how they made their weapons, see the traps they set up in the jungle, you can even shoot at AK 47 on a shooting range to get a feeling for the weight of that weapon the Vietnamese people carried. And the tourists shoot a lot at that driving range. We did not. So walking through the park you can hear the sound of gunfighting.

But you can climb down one of those tunnels which was prepared for tourist. But it’s still very small. Our group went in. Except me. I just did not feel like crawling through a tiny tunnel.

Jumana, a very nice journalist working at the newspaper ‘Gulf News’ in Dubai, climbed out of the tunnel and what high on emotion afterwards.

She tried to drag me into several tunnels and tried to persuade American in as well. And kept telling me I would miss a lifetime espercience because “You will never come back here”. And she was right. I’m already kicking myself that I did not dare to go down one of those narrow narrow tunnels. Jumala by the way is a lot of fun to add to our group. She is always so positive you want to hug her.

After visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels we had lunch at Ben Nay Restaurant in a perfectly Vietnamese setting, on a small island between two rivers.

Vietnam and especially Saigon is as exciting as I had hoped it would be. I am a lot of amazing people so far. Crossing the streets in Saigon IS able to keep a safe eye out and about. You could not walk the streets for a while and you would not find it great.

I am looking forward to seeing you from the United States. But we want to be accompanied by a nice girl from the vietnamese PR agency instead. On Saturday we can explore Saigon on our own. Emirates is booking a flight to Saigon for the full hot day and take a shower before boarding the plane back to Dubai.

Disclaimer: A huge thanks to Emirates and Wild PR for inviting me on this trip! Opinions are still my own.

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Christina Cherry
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