A Brief Stint in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City

As a young girl, travel was never something that much interested me. Of course I looked forward to our annual family holidays to Europe but past that I never really had much of a “desire” to see the world. When secondary school and university came around I started to get the travel bug a bit more but that was also at a point in my life where any travellers I knew were that poncey “mummy’s-paying-for-my-gap-yah” type that adopt a wannabe hippie chic and run off to Asia to discover themselves.

That being said, by the time I got a real desire to explore the world and so many interesting and exciting cultures, I had kind of shoved South East Asia to the bottom of my list. But things changed after moving to Australia in 2018. Not only was I much closer to Asia but many of the friends I made had plans to visit themselves and suddenly, it crept up the list.

First was a trip to Bali and then, in a sudden an unexpected series of events, I found myself on a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to visit a recent friend who was in the process of travelling from the South to the North.

I landed in Saigon late one night and had the usual hoo-hah of taxi drivers offering me “good rates” but chose to jump on a 30 minute bus to my hostel. I stayed in Prei Nokor Hostel smack bang in the middle of the city. If we’re being totally honest, my decision to stay there was largely based on how aesthetically pleasing it looked. But in addition, the great location, powerful air conditioned rooms, positive reviews and low price of the hostel made it a fantastic stay - even if only for one night. My connecting flight to catch up with everyone in Nha Trang wasn’t until 9pm that evening so I used that as an opportunity to explore the city.

I’d done my research in advance and found The Vintage Emporium, a low key, yet very Instagram-friendly (and delicious) spot for brunch. From there I decided to walk to the Botanical Gardens and read my book for a couple hours. I’d originally wanted to visit the zoo as I love to see animals at every opportunity, but I’d read online that the Ho Chi Minh zoo wasn’t known for being the most ethical or conservation-led place so decided against it. Although, I hadn’t realised the Botanical Garden and zoo were adjoined so upon paying for a ticket into the gardens (which I thought was odd) I realised I was also in the zoo. As such, I decided to take a look around and see what it was like for myself. Having been in, I can confirm it’s not a nice place. The enclosures are all really small and not especially well kept; I saw an elephant that looked so malnourished, weak and dehydrated and a baby hippo floating about in water that looked like a thousand dirty, domestic fish tanks had been emptied out. It was all a bit upsetting and I didn’t stay very long. I also got bitten to s**t by insects.

I headed back to the hostel to grab my things and hop in a cab to the airport but pit stopped in a shopping mall along the way. I know that’s not what you’re meant to do while travelling but the shopping is so limited in Sydney that I thought I’d pounce on the chance to buy clothes from Western stores. I bought nothing but ice cream in the end.