Vietnam Part 1: Ho Chi Minh City

Quan An Ngon

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Restaurant | "Vietnamese for Delicious"

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On our very first night in Vietnam, our tour guide took us on an orientation walk of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) to finish up at a nice restaurant. We ate quite early – the Vietnamese do – which was good as we were all a bit jet-lagged. The restaurant was on Pasteur Street in District 1, just a short walk from the Reunification Palace. I am told that Ngon is Vietnamese for ‘delicious’. The restaurant seemed quite busy but our guide had booked a table for us upstairs. The downstairs seemed quite open and there were lots of tables and chairs outside, which I recall thinking was a bit ambitious if you had experienced a HCMC afternoon rain shower. The restaurant had a co...Read More

On our very first night in Vietnam, our tour guide took us on an orientation walk of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) to finish up at a nice restaurant. We ate quite early – the Vietnamese do – which was good as we were all a bit jet-lagged. The restaurant was on Pasteur Street in District 1, just a short walk from the Reunification Palace. I am told that Ngon is Vietnamese for ‘delicious’.

The restaurant seemed quite busy but our guide had booked a table for us upstairs. The downstairs seemed quite open and there were lots of tables and chairs outside, which I recall thinking was a bit ambitious if you had experienced a HCMC afternoon rain shower. The restaurant had a colonial style to the décor but was modern with it. We walked up the large, wide wooden staircase to the top floor and were seated at out large wooden rectangular table. As I looked around there was a mix of Vietnamese and Western people dining, and it seemed popular with families. The windows opened out onto the street and above us were attractive lighting fixtures - rectangular, like the table, draped in fabric, with lights hanging from them and in keeping with the contemporary colonial look the restaurant seemed to be going for. There were also fans, so coupled with the large, open windows we were comfortable for evening dining as it can get very humid. The light fixtures provided adequate lighting without glare and contributed to the atmosphere.

Apparently downstairs were a host of ‘street stalls’ that prepared the food in an authentic (and hygienic) way in front of the diner if you wish, however I was not aware of this until afterwards so I didn’t look out for them. We were all given menus to order from and found them to be extremely extensive – a bit too extensive if I was going to be picky, offering a huge range of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes from different parts of Vietnam. There are some unusual dishes to try if you are feeling brave. Traditionally in Vietnam you order a selection of dishes and everyone digs in and had a small piece of each dish – a bit like a Tapas, except the portions are larger. We tried to do this but in our jet-lagged state and the vast size of the menu it started to get complicated, but the meat eaters did get to try some other dishes. As a vegetarian I kept my order separate however. In the end I went for a vegetarian curry with steamed rice. My other half ordered prawn skewers, also with rice and a portion of stir fried vegetables.

The whole restaurant was big, bustley and noisy. Not so noisy that you couldn’t hear you neighbour speak, more of an atmospheric lively background noise, but you were aware of it. There were plenty of waiting staff and all were smiley and helpful and most spoke excellent English. One chap took the orders and we all got our own individual bills which made paying much easier at the end. Obviously with one person ordering it took a while, but with fourteen people with jet-lag in culture shock this was never going to be a quick process. The waiter also made recommendations, so unless you have any specific dietary requirements I think you will be in safe hands letting the staff decide what you want! As soon as you had finished deciding he took your order and one of his colleagues whizzed off to get your food. Most of us didn’t have starters and it did mean that food was arriving at different times; however this is typical of the region and something you get used to.

When my vegetarian curry arrived it was in a huge bowl, most people would consider it almost serving bowl sized, with a lovely greeny-yellow sauce, of a similar thickness and consistency to Thai curries I have had in the past in the UK. I could see quite a few vegetables in it and what appeared to be a chicken drumstick. However, the drumstick wasn’t quite right and I could tell that the bone wasn’t real and on closer inspection was actually a stick of lemongrass. I was a bit baffled about what the ‘chicken’ bit was and asked a waiter, after teasing me that it was real chicken, he informed us that it was actually made for mushroom. Of course Quorn is made from a member of the fungus family, so this isn’t a completely daft concept, although it didn’t taste particularly mushroomy or like Quorn. I was satisfied it wasn’t chicken. In my boyfriend’s stir fried veggies there were shi-take mushrooms and he found the taste and texture of those to be the same as my ‘drumstick’ so we are guessing that those were what they used. After I had got over my slight trauma of finding something reminiscent of a dead animal in my curry I really enjoyed it. There was a good selection of different vegetables in there (at home sometimes they bulk them out with potatoes and onion) and plenty of sauce. I certainly wasn’t going hungry this evening, as my portion of rice was enough for two also. The steamed rice is the sticky type rice you often get Asian restaurants at home. My boyfriend’s prawns were of a large (king prawns) and were on the skewer with their heads and tails, so he did have to remove them to de-shell them and whatever. He thought them tasty and well cooked and there were a dozen skewers in all and also enjoyed the variety and taste of his stir fried vegetables.

Drinks on offer included the usual assortment of fizzy drinks, beers (Tiger and two local beers, I believe there was at least one European beer also) as well as smoothie type drinks and alcoholic spirits and cocktails. I order a diet coke which came in its can (this is usual - they never serve glasses or bottles of fizzy drinks) and a glass filled with ice. Erring on the side of caution I ignored the ice as I wasn’t sure how it was prepared and it was too early in the trip for a dickey tummy. I managed to procure a chilled glass brought over for the beer drinkers (all beer is served in bottles). As it was quite late by the time we had finished (almost 8 o’ clock – but 2am by our body clocks) we didn’t have any desserts.

At the end, when it was time to pay, we each had an individual bill. My bill for the vegetarian curry, rice, Diet Coke and restaurant tax came to VND 66,000 which is actually about £2.20 or US$3.50. I thought this an absolute bargain for such tasty and generous food in lovely surroundings. Others having meat or fish dishes obviously paid slightly more, but meals averaged about the £3 mark per head. If you are in HCMC at any time then I strongly recommend a visit here. The food was gorgeous, generous and good value a long with helpful service and a pleasant décor. If there are a large number of you, it may be best to book, but it seems to be a large restaurant that operates efficiently, so you could get lucky if you just turned up. Apparently there are several restaurants with this name in the city and they seem to be a small chain. I ate in the one on Pasteur Street. If getting a taxi, look out for the metered cabs such as Mai Linh and write the name on a piece of paper to show them. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 9, 2010

Quan An Ngon
138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St., Dist. 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
08 829-9449

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Hong Vy 3 Hotel

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Hotel | "Good 2 Star Hotel"

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Ho Chi Minh City (formerly, and still often known as, Saigon) was my first destination on my recent trip to Vietnam. I spent two nights staying at the Hong Vy 3 Hotel, which was selected by my tour operator. Location wise it is fairly central, walking distance to the War Remnants museum and Reunification Palace as well as Ben Thanh Market and numerous restaurants. The street it is on is popular with other hotels, and is very busy so it is easy to pick up metered taxis outside (I recommend Mai Linh). It is in a tall, narrow building and is well maintained. You enter via a number of polished stone steps and there are always porters around to help with your bags or get you a cab (they d...Read More

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly, and still often known as, Saigon) was my first destination on my recent trip to Vietnam. I spent two nights staying at the Hong Vy 3 Hotel, which was selected by my tour operator. Location wise it is fairly central, walking distance to the War Remnants museum and Reunification Palace as well as Ben Thanh Market and numerous restaurants. The street it is on is popular with other hotels, and is very busy so it is easy to pick up metered taxis outside (I recommend Mai Linh). It is in a tall, narrow building and is well maintained.

You enter via a number of polished stone steps and there are always porters around to help with your bags or get you a cab (they don’t speak much English, so if ordering a cab tell the reception staff where you want to go and they can translate), the reception area with its table and chairs and reception desk is lovely and cool when you walk in from the hot, humid busy street. I found the reception staff helpful and they can store valuables in safety deposit boxes behind the front desk. There is one lift, but I didn’t find I had to wait for it too long as the hotel didn’t seem to be that busy. There is free internet in the corner of the lobby – two stations – which seemed to be fairly popular, but we didn’t use it so I cannot comment on the speed.

First impressions of the room was positive, we had a triple for the two of us – a double and single bed of good sizes, well made up beds with cushions and plenty of pillows, and a runner along the bottom (which isn’t really of any use other than decorative). There was also a small contemporary styled sofa but there was no real room to sit on it with the extra bed, it was handy to dump ‘stuff’ on though. The room also had a dressing table and mirror, wardrobe, suitcase/bag rest and a fridge plus a TV. The porter thoughtfully turned the TV on for us, loudly, to a Vietnamese cartoon programme. That got turned off swiftly, but I didn’t check what other channels were available. The air con worked efficiently and was not too loud. Although you stick the key fob in the slot by the door, when we took it out the air con and lights will stay on, so we had a lovely cool room when we returned. Saying that, other members of the party couldn’t get their one to work, but I am not sure if they asked reception for help so cannot comment if it is a faulty air conditioner or if they were just pressing the wrong buttons (it seemed fairly straight forward to me). The hotel also offers free wi-fi, but we had no cause to use it so cannot comment.

The bathroom was spacious, with a corner bath with shower, sink and toilet and lots of complimentary items such as shower caps and toothbrushes. It was also clean. Hot water was plentiful except on our last morning, when it was just lukewarm. Generally the room and bathroom were light, airy rooms with large windows (we had a corner room) and lighting, although the bedside lamp didn’t work. We were almost opposite the lift but this didn’t disturb us. The disadvantage of the central location was that the street was quite noisy, and as we were only on the second floor, we were disturbed at night sometimes (there are a million motorbikes in Saigon).

Breakfast was plentiful and served in the small restaurant downstairs. There was someone cooking eggs for you, as well as a variety of hot Vietnamese style dishes, fresh fruit, bread with Laughing Cow cheese (cheese isn’t really ‘native’ to Vietnam) and a toaster for your use. There were teas, coffee and fruit juice to drink. The selection was very good for the size of the hotel, although I imagine the restaurant could get full if you were there at a busier time as it is laid out with about three long tables, and naturally people don’t tend to sit directly next to strangers and always leave a gap. They do serve meals at other times, but I didn’t have any cause to eat here as I usually ate out in the city. They have fridge with cold drinks to purchase which are reasonably priced, but not all restaurant staff speak English, so you may need to be patient.

Overall, if I was to return to Saigon, with the appropriate budget, then I would consider coming back here. Our room was a Premium Deluxe, but by downgrading you may get a quieter room in another part of the hotel. The hotel was included in our package but prices seem to be about the US$40-60 mark for the Premium Deluxe room with breakfast It is only a two star hotel, but I think it is a very good hotel for this class/budget. It is well maintained with clean rooms and attention to detail and a good breakfast, my only reservation would be about the noise. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 25, 2010

Hong Vy 3 Hotel
20 Bui Thi Xuan Street, Ben Thanh District
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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War Remnants Museum

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Attraction | "Casualties of War"

War Remnants Museum Photo - War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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The War Remnants Museum used to be called The American War Crimes Museum, but the name was changed for obvious reasons! It depicts war crimes by American and French troops but the emphasis is on the former. The museum is based a short walk from the Reunification Palace in District 3, in central Ho Chi Minh City and cost 15,000 VND (50p) to enter. A word of warning it is not for the faint-hearted, a lot of the museum is made up of graphic photographs depicting scenes of brutality. Outside there is an assortment of planes and tanks etc to view and pose in front of if so inclined. Inside the large, modern, air-conditioned museum you view photographic images of massacres of civilians pe...Read More

The War Remnants Museum used to be called The American War Crimes Museum, but the name was changed for obvious reasons! It depicts war crimes by American and French troops but the emphasis is on the former. The museum is based a short walk from the Reunification Palace in District 3, in central Ho Chi Minh City and cost 15,000 VND (50p) to enter. A word of warning it is not for the faint-hearted, a lot of the museum is made up of graphic photographs depicting scenes of brutality.

Outside there is an assortment of planes and tanks etc to view and pose in front of if so inclined. Inside the large, modern, air-conditioned museum you view photographic images of massacres of civilians perpetrated by US troops during the Vietnam-American War, some of the older photos are quite grainy, but there are English language explanations for each one. Images are taken either by the Viet-Cong or by International journalists. Some larger massacres list the names, status and ages of the victims, many victims were elderly, children, babies or pregnant women. There is a display of the massacre that former US Senator Bob Kerrey allegedly participated in, by slitting the throats of civilians and disembowelling some children. It is pretty grim stuff, and here you have only just started.

There are walls and walls of photos of disfigured babies and children, harmed through chemical weapons such as Agent Orange. Even some deformed foetuses for those inclined to look at them. I have to confess I skipped a lot of this part, I got the point. You also view some weapons used by the different forces. The downstairs part of the museum, as described in the above two paragraphs is strongly anti-American. The balance is redressed slightly on the upper floors in so much as information is more balanced, but you do not see any evidence of atrocities that the Viet Cong may have performed on captured US soldiers, and I don’t think this is because that never happened. I am sure it did, but the emphasis is on crimes committed against the Vietnamese, in particular, civilians.

On the upper floors the images are more toned down, and you get more of a museum rather than a selection of horror pictures. There is information on the number of deaths per nationality (estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1 million soldiers, approx 55,000 US troops plus soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and other countries in the region), key battles and figures. There is also photographic collections by key photo-journalists of the time, including many who went missing or died during the war, showing the life and realities of war, but often less brutal than the ones downstairs, but often still moving. For examples you see mothers fleeing the bombings with their children. There are a few more Agent Orange deformities type photos but this time they also featured US troops and their families, affected by the soldiers' contact with AO, and living on in the birth defects of their children. Australian veterans were also affected.

One positive feature was the before and after photos of certain rural areas. During the war a lot of natural vegetation and buildings were lost through bombings and chemicals, and here we see the damage as well as the re-building and recovery. There are smaller exhibitions, one depicting international support in the form of propaganda posters from the Soviet Union, East Germany and other countries in the region. The other shows a collection of children's paintings depicting 'War and Peace'. I didn't really find this latter exhibition particularly interesting, but that is just my personal opinion.

Outside amongst the tanks and planes are also various cages and torture implements used on Vietnamese prisoners. I missed these, but I am not too disappointed as the museum was quite draining. There is also a gift shop inside the museum selling traditionally dressed dolls and gifts, postcards and books. Overall, I would say this is a 'must see' museum for visitors to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Saigon), and will give you a good understanding of the Vietnamese viewpoint of the 'American War'. Whilst it is grim and hard-going in places, you can skip parts of that, but generally the museum layout was well thought out (although it was undergoing some renovation work when I visited so maybe the layout would change). It started with the bad and the shocking, moved on to the facts and information, and then ended on a more positive note with the emphasis on successful re-building.

Museum is open daily from 7.30am to 12.00 noon and again from 1.30pm to 5pm.

War Remnants Museum
28 Vo Van Tan, District 3,
Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (848) 39302112 Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 29, 2010

War Remnants Museum
28 Vo Van Tan St, District 3
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(08) 829 5587

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The Tunnels of Cu Chi

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Attraction | "Tunnels of War"

Cu Chi Tunnels Photo - The Tunnels of Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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The Cu Chi Tunnels are about an hour and a half drive from central Ho Chi Minh City and I accessed them through a tour organised by my travel company. Prices vary, but US$22 seems typical for a half day (5 hour) tour including hotel pick up and drop off. The Cu Chi Tunnels were built during the American-Vietnam War by the Viet Cong (liberation army), there was apparently 120km of tunnels at different levels, which the Viet Cong used to traverse the area, they slept there, ate there and prepared for war there. When you arrive there are toilets (satisfactory) and a shop, before you walk to the main part of the tunnel museum. You walk through an underpass; the pass would be suitable for...Read More

The Cu Chi Tunnels are about an hour and a half drive from central Ho Chi Minh City and I accessed them through a tour organised by my travel company. Prices vary, but US$22 seems typical for a half day (5 hour) tour including hotel pick up and drop off. The Cu Chi Tunnels were built during the American-Vietnam War by the Viet Cong (liberation army), there was apparently 120km of tunnels at different levels, which the Viet Cong used to traverse the area, they slept there, ate there and prepared for war there.

When you arrive there are toilets (satisfactory) and a shop, before you walk to the main part of the tunnel museum. You walk through an underpass; the pass would be suitable for wheelchairs and for those with a limited mobility. This isn’t always the case here, as you given an introduction in a small hut with three or four very steep steps down. Your guide will show you a map of a cross section of the tunnels and you are shown a propaganda movie made by the Viet Cong. Our guide was keen to emphasise that the movie was made some years ago and that the outlook of the Vietnamese has changed somewhat, as the movie is quite anti-American (as was the feeling of the Viet Cong). The movie is not long, and we then leave to explore the area further. We had an English speaking guide with our party but you will also be accompanied by a local Cu Chi guide, but I am not sure how well these guides speak English. The Cu Chi guide will demonstrate how things worked for you – you will see lots of traps that were laid down by the Viet Cong for any unsuspecting US soldier, and learn how they protected the entrances from any passing troops. As the Vietnamese are a lot slimmer than many Europeans, our guide demonstrated how they slid into an actual hole and disappeared in a matter of seconds. You can have a go if you like, some of our party did, but I was too concerned that my bottom might have gotten stuck!

The tunnels led to a network of rooms where the Viet-Cong spent their days (a hospital, weapons store, kitchens etc), coming up at night (if it was safe), through different traps to either fetch food or to create further booby traps for the US troops. There was also a tunnel exit apparently within a US army compound that the VC used to steal plans and secret information. You do get the chance to go down a tunnel. It has been specially widened to fit Westerners and most should be able to traverse it bent over, or could crawl if they preferred. The tunnel was lit (which our guide didn’t tell us) and quite short, our guide’s estimate of 4-5 minutes was far too long, it took longer to get down the steep, narrow steps into the tunnel. Personally this was too hard for me as I had a foot injury, so I could only poke my head in (where I saw more steps). The whole area of the tunnel exhibits is in forest so there are uneven steps and ground as you are walking on forest paths, so would not be suitable for wheelchair users, and those with limited mobility or foot/leg injuries would find it slow-going.

As well as going in a tunnel and seeing the harsh traps awaiting the unsuspecting soldiers, there were a few huts demonstrating how life would have been for tunnel dwellers and what jobs they did down there. You will struggle to spot tunnel entrances or ventilation shafts but they will be pointed out to you and your guide will inform you as to how they worked and how they thwarted US attempts to find them. You also see craters where bombs had been dropped as part of the US policy to get them out. You do get a chance for a short break to have a cold drink or ice cream or snack and visit a larger gift shop. Drinks seem fairly priced. If you wish to fire an AK-47 or similar you can purchase bullets at the rather pricey rate of $1 a pop. Having visited the War Remnants museum that morning (see separate review), it seemed a bit inappropriate to fire weapons, although you can here them going off as you walk around the area. At the end we got to sit down and try some tapioca (cassava) that they ate regularly in the tunnels, in fact was part of their daily diet. I don’t think I could eat that every day!

If you have your own transport it would no doubt be cheaper to come here directly, but as most visitors will be staying in Ho Chi Minh City, an organised tour seems the best way to get here. I do recommend a visit here, to help add a greater understanding to the life of the Vietnamese during the American-Vietnam War, and a respect for the lengths these resistance fighters would go to thwart their enemy.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 1, 2010

The Tunnels of Cu Chi
Củ Chi District
Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon

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Mekong Delta Tour

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Attraction | "Mekong Delta Day Tour"

Mekong Delta Photo - Mekong Delta Tour, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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We booked a full day trip to the Mekong Delta through our tour guide, it cost approx $28 and picked us up and returned us to our hotel. We had an informative guide for the day who told us a LOT of information about the region, it all became a bit much to take in after a while. The journey down to the river was about two hours in an air conditioned coach and it is nice to see the city disappear and see some of rural Vietnam, where a lot of the country’s rice is grown. The place where we picked up our boat at My Tho had toilets and a few tourist stalls, I didn’t check the prices, but nothing is that expensive in Vietnam. We boarded a simple motor boat that would seat about 25-30 people when full, wh...Read More

We booked a full day trip to the Mekong Delta through our tour guide, it cost approx $28 and picked us up and returned us to our hotel. We had an informative guide for the day who told us a LOT of information about the region, it all became a bit much to take in after a while. The journey down to the river was about two hours in an air conditioned coach and it is nice to see the city disappear and see some of rural Vietnam, where a lot of the country’s rice is grown. The place where we picked up our boat at My Tho had toilets and a few tourist stalls, I didn’t check the prices, but nothing is that expensive in Vietnam. We boarded a simple motor boat that would seat about 25-30 people when full, which took us across the wide, brown river where we visited a local style farm house, where the owner (who lived in a more modern house) had traditional farm tools on display. There was also a gift stall, but nothing special, that you wouldn’t find elsewhere I don’t think. It was also a bee farm so here we had the opportunity to try honey tea (also had oranges in it), I really liked this and recommend trying it if you get the chance. Plus, we were also given some honey and peanut type sweets to try. Of course you could purchase if you wish. We moved onto another place nearby and we got to try some local fruits. Some were familiar: watermelon, and pineapple. Some less so: Jackfruit and a type of lychee that you had to peel with your teeth and then when you ate it, you found it that it had a massive stone in the middle anyway, so you had very little fruit for all your efforts. Here there is also a local band you play local instruments and some ladies who will sing traditional folk songs. It is a very touristy trip. Call me a philistine, but Vietnamese folk music leaves me cold, the ladies sing in such high voices that it can sound a bit screechy. However they use some unusual instruments which make an interesting and effective sound, so it is not all bad.

On return to our boat we moved onto another stop for lunch where the meat/fish eaters got to try a local fish (Elephant Ear fish). With its eyes and skin on it was very ugly and scaly, and looked like it had maggots on it! Fortunately the staff here cut the fish as it looked quite boney. As a vegetarian I was spared the fish and got several other dishes such as some gorgeous spring rolls, salad, rice and stir fried veggies. The fish eaters also got a few other dishes to try. Portions were very generous and no one went hungry, the foot was tasty and well cooked. We could purchase soft drinks and beer for reasonable prices here. The grazing water buffalo nearby seemed the only other authentic thing about the trip. After lunch we boarded a small punt – four people per boat – and a local woman punted us up a narrow tributary. I really liked this part of the trip; we saw the mangroves, some wildlife and local people going about their business on the river. At the end we were greeted with a donkey and cart and four of us again got pulled down the road of a small village until we were able to join our boat again, they even provided traditional conical hats to wear in case you didn’t feel enough of a tourist.

After this we stopped only at little touristy spots such as a coconut candy factory where they made coconut sweets before returning on our boat to greet our coach. It has to be said that we felt no pressure to buy in these places and it is interesting in part to see the local industries. On the way back, in the boat, they cut off the top off some coconuts and stuck straws in so we could have one each, which was a nice touch.

I did enjoy the day overall, I know I moaned a bit above. It was a full day and I thought it quite touristy in places, especially when they sang to us and gave us the hats in the donkey cart, but apart from that we had a lovely traditional lunch, and saw some ‘real life’ activity on the Mekong. I would advise a day trip out here if you have the opportunity but do check the itinerary to make sure that you get some flavour of genuine Vietnamese Mekong life amongst all the activities they put on.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 1, 2010

Mekong Delta Tour
Mekong Delta
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 0710
84 985 144 144

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