Here in the United States, there are only a few things that can make me excited to get out of bed before the sun rises: hunting and fishing. Let’s be honest.
Every morning in Vietnam, I woke before the sun was fully up, ready to explore something new. We didn’t waste any time getting down to breakfast for beef pho, a pan au chocolat, and some dragonfruit, either as juice or a fruit (usually both). We would watch people doing tai chi and badminton in the park before setting out to walk the streets of Saigon.
We wandered a little further than the first day, enjoying the cooler temperatures in the morning before the sun started beating down on the city. We found a bookstore where I managed to snag a Harry Potter book in Vietnamese for my collection. From there, we found other little shops to wander through full of souvenirs, knock off designer stuff, and some very unusual foods available for purchase. All part of the experience!
We spent some time in what we had come to call “our park”, the one that we watched through the window across the street from the hotel. Kids from one of the schools ran and played down the sidewalks, doing their P.E. credits outside in the fresh air. Even now, as I’m writing this, I remember that third morning in that park, and I can almost take myself back there in those moments, underneath the sprawling trees with a soft breeze tickling my cheek. For some reason, it’s these quiet moments that seem to linger with me now that we’re back home.
After dropping off our haul from the market, we ran over to the neighboring Cantonese restaurant for a quick lunch that was delicious. Ridiculously delicious.
Day 3: Saigon Jeep Tour
This time when we prepared to start our tour, American military jeeps waited for us! Talk about riding in style; they were suprisingly comfortable, too!
Our first stop was the official post office; with its sweeping French architecture that reminded us more of a train station, it was quite the experience getting to send a postcard from Ho Chi Minh City!
As we made our way back to our jeeps, our guide casually pointed out to us an oddly familiar apartment building roof that turned out to be the exact rooftop of the famous huey helicopter photo from the fall of Saigon!
After the post office, we took a quick ride over to the War Remnants Museum. Though we’d already been there once, it was interesting to revisit some of the images and delve a little deeper into some exhibits that maybe we hadn’t taken as much time to peruse before.
From the museum, we went to one of the more famous pagodas in Saigon, a Buddhist place of worship. It was hard to believe we were still in the city with so many colorful flowers and such stillness. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to appreciate the sense of peace there. I was really taken by these buildings that we saw throughout the city because they’re so different than anything we see in the States. They were beautiful!
we made a little stop at the Independence Palace, where the government of South Vietnam was run during the war. Maybe not surprisngly, it has a little bit of a White House look, and it was interesting to hear about the multiple presidents and their ever shortening terms in office from our tour guide.
As one of our last stops, we got to see the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House, a beautiful building that also looked like it could’ve been copied and pasted out of France. We also happened to drive up as someone clearly famous or fabulous (probably both) was taking photos for a campaign. I’m still not sure who this person is, but if any of you know, I’d love to find out! I wasn’t brave enough to ask for a photo with them, and it’s probably the only thing I regret about our time in Vietnam.
Around the corner, we came to City Hall, also decked out in a French manner with beautiful architecture. The square wouldn’t be complete without a statue of Mr. Ho Chi Minh gazing across the way into a beautiful Tet installment that we would enjoy the next morning.
Overall, our little venture in the jeeps was a really cool and surprisingly comfortable way to get around Saigon and learn a little bit more about the city and its history! It was also the inspiration for our exploration plans the next morning before our food tour!
Day 4: Saigon Food Tour
To start our next day, we backtracked a little bit through some of the areas from jeep tour and took our time exploring some of the area around City Hall. We explored the Tet art installment, took a stroll back around the infamous apartment building and the various hotels where U.S. intelligence, military personnel, and journalists were stationed during the war. Here are a bunch of pictures from our little exploration, enjoy!
Later in the afternoon, we officially started our food tour! And like any good food tour, a lot of the places we encountered were little back-alley hidden gems that you really had to know about if you were going to find them. Our first stop was for some chicken pho, naturally, though this pho was a little less Western than our other pho experiences… The chicken pho I’d had at the hotel was made with chicken breast and thigh meat, usually with the skin on. As if that weren’t a little unusual for me, at this particular restaurant, they included other cuts of meat that are less popular in the West, like liver, gizzard, heart… and some other cuts that we couldn’t really figure out what they were! Nothing wrong with a little adventure!
Next up, we headed out to a little coffee shop for an authentic taste of Vietnamese coffee. We were given the option of either an egg coffee or a customized coffee blend. Having already experienced some coffee that was a little aggressive for me, I went with a custom blend. This was the place where I learned about being “coffee drunk”, which basically means you’ve drank too much coffee and it can actually make you feel funny! The more you know, I guess! I got to taste an egg coffee and my coffee world was shaken. I am still trying many failed recipes to try to make my own egg coffee, so maybe someday!
Interesting fact about the coffee I drank; it had the equivalent of 5 shots of espresso worth of caffeine. As a 1 shot kind of girl, I was a little hesitant, and even more so when our guide told us about one of his guests that drank too much in one sitting and started hallucinating! So if you go to Vietnam, handle that coffee with care; they do NOT mess around with caffeine! This is why I drank mine extremely slowly…
After some coffee to put some pep in our step, we headed out to what was considered “Chinatown” of Saigon. This area had a higher concentration of Chinese people and many of the shops and restaurants in that area had a stronger Chinese influence.
After walking down some unusual side streets, we rounded a corner to a little sandwich stand for ban mai. This is a Vietnamese sandwich made from some kind of pate, pickled vegetables, and a sauce placed in a crispy French baguette. I was a little unsure about eating some with “mystery sausage” and “mystery pate” listed as ingredients, but when in Vietnam, right? This little sandwich turned out to be one of my FAVORITE things we ate on our entire trip!
This particular little ban mai stand was really famous in Saigon and had been a staple for people since 1968. If you know much about the Vietnam War (even before the U.S. got involved), then you’ll know that this stand opened during the war and was still thriving! Like selling 7,000 ban mai per day thriving. Our guide told us that this particular stand was also special because of their baguettes; they were so good that other stands would buy bread from them for their ban mai, too, though it would never be as good as getting from the source.
There was one more stop before dessert for shrimp cakes! This was another restaurant that was extremely well known in the area for their food; if I remember correctly, it was Michelin Selected (not the same as getting a star, but certified and recommended by the same organization). The shrimp cakes were a kind of crepe (in this case, made with turmeric for flavoring and an attractive color) with shrimp and pork cooked in. We wrapped them up with lettuce, a touch of mint, and a wasabi leaf for flavor before dipping in some sweet fish sauce. The combination of flavors and textures is hard to describe beyond diverse and delicious! We also ate some amazing little egg rolls for an appetizer that’s making my mouth water as I’m typing up this blog post. This might have been my favorite tour of all in Saigon!
Finally, we headed down another unusual little side street with little shops and stands for dessert; coconut icecream. As someone who loves both coconut and icecream, I was super excited. I didn’t expect it to be served with sticky rice, corn (like the stuff you eat with dinner, not even a particularly sweet corn!), and some crunchy toasted coconut on top. Oh, in a coconut shell with a warm herbal tea. These ingredients should NOT go together, but somehow, when they you get a little hint of each thing, they come together for a surprisingly refreshing and sweet dessert! It brought to mind a saying we coined during our time in India: “just accept”. Well, I accepted pretty quickly that somehow, coconut icecream goes great with sticky rice and corn.
With full bellies and a full week of exploring complete, we headed back to the hotel for a little bit of rest. The next day, we would attend an incredible grand opening ceremony complete with lion dancers, fan dancers, and singers, joyful celebration, and even some amazing karaoke to cap off the day.
It was hard to believe that four days had already passed in Vietnam. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we first started our voyage literally halfway around the world. What would they think about a bunch of Americans being there after the war? Having never been to a Communist country before, would it be scary? Would the people be friendly? Would it be safe?
What I found was a place that I was desperate to get back to the moment we started packing to head to the airport. This beautiful city with its pockets of greenery scattered across every street, with colorful flowers and clean sidewalks, had captured my heart. The people with their kindness, friendliness, and curiosity about us had me anxious to meet more of them and hear more about their stories. The food… I don’t need to say anything else about how much I loved the food!
The most beautiful thing about Saigon was the hope and excitement in the eyes of the people we met. Hope that their country would continue growing and becoming a better place to live, as well as excitement that visitors were coming more often and leaving with a beautiful impression of their Vietnam. Despite the horrors of the past, the wounds on the land and a civilization, these people were hopeful that they could move forward into a brighter and better future. And that is the impression I carry with me now, a month later, as I write this post and think about the people we met. I hope that their lives continue to get better and that their country continues to grow into a prosperous place where they can live happily. Hope is a beautiful thing.
My heart lurched a little as the plane took off the tarmac, lifting us away from a city and a people that had completely captured my imagination. What I didn’t know was that the best was yet to come in our final destination before heading back to the States: Hue.
Jess and the Outdoors 