Description

Getting the Visa

The best strategy to get the Vietnamese visa is to start early and get it in Bangkok. Due to the magic powers of the traveling agents in Khaosan Road, this visa is one of those which is less expensive to arrange through them than in the relevant embassy; thus, leave them the passport and go for a couple of days to the beaches in Pattaya while it gets ready. Other option is to issue the visa in Phnom Penh. There the situation is different: getting it through the travel agencies is more expensive than directly at the embassy; both are more expensive than the Khaosan agents.

Getting There

The best place to begin the trip to Vietnam is Phnom Penh; however, it is possible to reach Highway 1 from Kampot and then advance to the border independently. From Phnom Penh there are two options: one is through the road that connects the city with Saigon, and the second is through the Mekong River to the town of Chau Doc; both options are offered by the Capitol Agency.

The land way is faster, but the river trip is fabulous and has the bonus of visiting Chau Doc. A word of warning: the packages through the Mekong vary in price; that happens because they are different despite the sellers’ claims. The more expensive the trip, the longer the way along the river; the cheap packages travel by land most of the way, until a pier close to the border is reached. The immigration process through the river is more complicated; however, a reward waits at the Vietnamese side. There, next to the immigration, stalls sell the extraordinary Vietnamese coffee and announce: Good Morning, Vietnam!

Chau Doc

Like many off-side locations, Chau Doc offers some incredibly good accommodations. Hang Chau II Hotel, near the market area, charges eight dollars per night for a homey, comfortable room with excellent furniture, a private bathroom with the best hot water I found in Vietnam and a television set which introduced me to the sounds of the local language. The hotel changes money at a fair rate and gives a courtesy pack of local "555" cigarettes (accordingly, the main beer in the country is called “333” or “ba-ba-ba” in Vietnamese). I do not smoke, but it helped me later to soften moto-taxi drivers while searching for hotels in other towns.

All the Mekong Delta area excels in its fruits; the locals gather in the evening to drink extraordinary shakes. The Night Market justified the trip to Vietnam after the first shake; the first of the four drank in the span of a few minutes. Jack fruit, durian, rose apple, coconut, papaya, guavas, mangos and many other fruits waiting to be named were available there, fresh and sweet.

Another point of interest in the town are the very old-fashioned “cyclos” – tricycle taxis - maybe the last of their type in the country. The biggest attraction nearby, is the Sam Mountain, five kilometers to the southwest, which rises spectacularly from a sea of paddy-fields; the place is a worshipping site.

Reaching Saigon

The next stop is Ho Chi Minh City (its first and central quarter is still called Saigon). Minivans leave from Chau Doc’s main road; the trip costs 50000 Dong.

Ho Chi Minh City

The minivans final stop is at Cholon, the local Chinatown, a bit far away from the main backpackers’ area in the city. From there it is possible to reach the backpackers’ center in Pham Ngu Lao with a moto or by walking some fifty minutes. The backpackers’ enclave is conveniently placed less than one kilometer west from Saigon’s center and it includes also the Bui Vien and De Tham streets. In those three streets, travel agencies, restaurants, bars, hotels, guesthouses and internet cafés compete intensely for the tourists’ hearts.

Traveling

Saigon is the place to take the first important decision regarding the visit in Vietnam: how to travel northward. The tourists’ open-ticket bus-packages are the best option. However, it is possible to take a train out of Saigon and buy a city-to-city bus ticket from the same companies later, albeit the tickets will then be a bit more expensive on a comparative basis. Sinh Café and Kim are reliable operators; the TM Brothers are to be avoided.

Exploring the Surroundings

The travel agencies can offer more than the bus tickets to the north; Saigon has exciting surroundings that are well worth a visit.
The Cu Chi Tunnels, one of the bases of the Viet Cong in the Southern Vietnam, are a must; they are located forty kilometers from the city. The best conserved part is at Ben Dinh; some of the tunnels have been adapted to what Vietnamese call “Tourists Sized Tunnels.” An intriguing field-kitchen can be seen there; it was built in such a way that its fire is hidden and its fumes diverted.
South of Saigon, the Mekong Delta can be reached through several kinds of tours, from a short tour to My Tho and its surroundings to tours lasting several days and making all the way to Rach Gia on the Gulf of Thailand. This area is the food basket of Vietnam and the views are all related to the riverside life, orchards and paddy-fields, as well as small industries of food-related products.

Exploring Saigon

However, the star of Southern Vietnam is Saigon; the city has enough views to keep the visitor busy for the whole thirty days of the visa. A suitable place to begin the tour is the War Remnants Museum (28 Vo Van Tan, daily 7:30–11:45am & 1.30–5.15pm; 10,000d), which tells the story of the American War - as it is called here. A block away is the old Government Palace, (nowadays is called the Reunification Palace; at 135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia; daily 7:30–11am & 1–4pm; $1). Beyond its central structure, it displays a few old tanks and commemorates the fall of the southern government. "You cannot give something that you don't have", was the answer of the northern general who met inside the last governing general of the south, when the last offered to handle over the power. It is possible to combine these visits with a tour to the amazing GPO – built in the best French Colonial architecture style and the old cathedral nearby.
In a happier mood, ten minutes' walk northwest from the Botanical Gardens through Nguyen Binh Khiem is the Jade Emperor Pagoda on Mai Thi Luu; it was built by the Cantonese community.

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum (Gia Long Palace at 65 Ly Tu Trong, daily 8am–4pm; 10,000d) was built in 1886 for the governor of Cochinchina and nowadays explains the history of the city and describes its ethnic groups with clear English signs.

The five kilometers long Tran Hung Dao links downtown with Cholon – it can be reached by foot or with the Saigon Star Co bus to Huynh Thoai Yen, on Cholon's western border. The Hoa – as ethnic Chinese are called here – run there the biggest Chinese Market in South East Asia and the place is worth a special day. However, most of Saigon neighborhoods have markets that are a feast to the eye and an excellent place to taste the local delicacies. Vietnam is one of the biggest producers of coffee in the world (almost all of it Robusta type from the highlands); it is usually served in a charming