Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City

Well what a city! I really loved Ho Chi Minh, perhaps it was the baking sun getting my spirits high or maybe it was because this was our final stop so I really made the most of every second. Either way, I was impressed.

We stayed at Vietnam Backpackers Hostel and with a rooftop bar and a great location, I'd definitely recommend it. Travellers were now dropping off like flies (and by that I mean they were all going home due to Corona) but there were still a few of us left and VBH was where we all stayed. We had also fallen victim and were to be flying home in two days time, but for now we were going to finish our travels with a bang.

On our first night we had food at a vegan place called Bookworm and it was lush (I highly recommend the caramelised vegetable and tofu hotpot)! We then strolled around the city which was lit up and buzzing with life. We did find a night market but the one in Hoi An was far better as this was on a road with cars and motorbikes almost knocking you over every few minutes! Once back we changed, got a couple of cocktails at the rooftop bar in the hostel and then headed to another place called Flip Side. Everyone was there and it had a good vibe but usually Backpackers Street is the place to go for nightlife.

The following day we groggily made it to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This had been high on my list of priorities and it is one of the main attractions of Ho Chi Minh so I was over the moon that it was still open. However, it was well over an hours drive away (not great when you're seriously hungover)! We had booked a private transfer and on getting in the taxi another random local was trying to muscle in. Not today pal, we were all thinking as there just weren't enough seats for us all! We tried to reason with the driver who was having none of it (the language barrier really wasn't helping)! We went back to where we'd booked and to cut a long story short the 'random local' was actually our tour guide. Mortified! To be fair no one had explained this and as a consequence we all had to squeeze in.

Our poor tour guide turned out to be fantastic. I relished hearing about the intelligence of the Vietcong (VC) during the Vietnam War. Their tactics really were pure genius! They had little air holes funnelled into the tunnels so they could breathe underground but apparently the Americans had used dogs to try sniff them out. The VC has responded by putting chillies inside the air holes which masked the smell of them and led to the dogs coughing instead. This was fine for a couple of goes, but eventually the Americans clocked on that something odd was occurring when the dogs coughed; the cover had been blown. As a response, the VC started gathering clothes from American fighters and put them inside the holes as the dogs were used to the smell of the American army! Now how clever is that!

They also used to cook in the early hours of the morning as they had a hole to let the steam out and at 3AM it was dark and misty so the Americans couldn’t see it. It was so fascinating and the whole tunnel system was so sophisticated but also extremely small. How they all fit is beyond me (we got to go through 100 meters of tunnel and it was ridiculous, if you had claustrophobia you'd be in hell!

The next day we went to the War Remnants Museum which was extremely eye opening but a very tough morning. It was mostly done through photographs which for me, having studied Photography at University, was fascinating. I've always thought that having to choose to snap a picture and let someone die in order to expose what is happening to the world was a horrific position to be in. And yet, in this museum you could see images from photographers who had done exactly that. It was one of the best museums I think I've ever been too. Oh, and in the torture and capture methods section, which was outside, we stumbled into a building which was home to bats. They were strewn all over the wall and once we disturbed them they flew around our heads, what a sight!

We had a final stroll through the city and a last wander around a day market which was much the same as the one we'd been to in Hanoi. Then, before we knew it we were getting a taxi to the airport. Once there it was very surreal with everyone in masks and some people even in hazmat suits. For the first time I was seeing lengths people were going to to avoid Corona. All flights were cancelled bar three and ours was one of the lucky three (phew). 20 hours later and we touched down in Heathrow ready to embrace the UK in this strange time. What a way to finish an incredible three months!