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By Jo Meadows
To enjoy Ho Chi Minh City safely it is only commonsense to take notice of what the locals advise. Although safety for tourists has improved over recent years normal precautions are necessary. The country’s capital is a bustling, dynamic, trendsetting and industrious city teeming with ample opportunity for the numerous thieves.
Beware the “Motorbike Cowboys”
Be especially careful in the Dong Khoi Street and Lam Son Square area and along the Saigon riverfront, where the motorbike cowboys operate. Sunday night is the busiest with young people showing off their latest designer label clothes and cruising ten abreast on motorbikes.
Motorcycle taxi drivers, on the other hand, may have a tough time but they pass it onto the tourists by harassment and overcharging. Be sure to negotiate a per person rate but only pay $5 per half day with a pro rata tip.
Safety in Your Hotel
Always check the locks on your room and ensure any and all valuables are left in the hotel safe including your best watch and jewelry. Only take what cash and debit card you need for you day or evening out. Safety in Saigon has improved but so has the skill of the numerous pickpockets.
Safety in Traffic
The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are busy in the extreme. You may feel you are taking your life in your hands but watch and follow the locals and you will be fine. The trick is to step into the street and walk slowly across so that drivers drive around you!
Beds on trains to cost more from HCM City and Ha Noi
As of June 1, 2009, the fares for berths on trains running between Ha Noi and HCM City to tourism spots like Nha Trang, Da Nang, Dieu Tri, Vinh, Dong Hoi and Hue will increase by 5 per cent on average.
Fares for hard seats will not change while fares for cushioned seats will be five per cent lower.
According to a recent decision by the Viet Nam Railway Corp, during June 1 to July 31, if passengers buy tickets 30-59 days before the date of departure will enjoy a 3 per cent discount; and those who buy them at least 60 days before the departure date will get a 5 per cent discount.
Son My War Vestiges Memorial welcomes 30,000 visitors
The Son My War Vestiges Memorial in the Central province of Quang Ngai’s Son Tinh District, site of a brutal massacre by the US army on 16 March 1968, has attracted nearly 30,000 visitors so far this year, a year-on-year increase of 300 per cent.
To commemorate the 41th anniversary of what is known the world over as the My Lai Massacre, Quang Ngai authorities are building a bell-tower in front of the Son My Memorial. It will have a bronze bell that will be rang 504 times at 6 am every morning in memory of the murdered victims.
Cambodia includes Phu Quoc island in new tour
The Cambodian Ministry of Tourism has decided to open a new tour that links its four coastal provinces with Phu Quoc island in Kien Giang Province of Viet Nam.
Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said the new tour connecting the island with the provinces of Koh Kong, Kongpong Som, Kampot and Posat, would help increase the number of foreign travellers, including those from Laos and Viet Nam to Cambodia.
Four-star hotel opens in Ha Long Bay
The four-star Novotel Ha Long Bay hotel was officially put into operation last week in the coastal city of Ha Long in Quang Ninh Province.
Under management of the world’s leading hotel management company, Accor, the Novotel Ha Long Bay is the first-ever international-standard hotel in the coastal city. The 12-floor hotel has 214 rooms that have been equipped with modern facilities. It also contains a 150-seat restaurant, a 300-seat ballroom, a 80-seat bar and an open-air swimming pool.
Novotel Ha Long Bay is the ninth hotel in Viet Nam to be managed by Accor.
Source – Vietnam News
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Sea festival gets green light
The Khanh Hoa Province People’s Committee has greenlighted the 2009 Sea Festival to be held in Nha Trang from June 6 to 12.
The programme will feature 70 cultural, art, sport, economic, and scientific events, including a Cau Ngu (Fish Worship) festival. There will also be coracle racing, exhibitions of human chess and calligraphy, and a sand sculpture contest.
Several national records are set to be broken at the festival, including for largest folk orchestra, the largest coastal wifi cafe, the longest piece of embroidered work, and the largest pho bowl.
Other events will include a beach football tournament, an international book fair, and a joint Viet Nam-South Korea concert.
Tourism festival puts HCM City in the spotlight
The HCM City Tourism Festival 2009 will be held at the Dam Sen Park in District 11 between April 3 and 5.
The annual event, organised by the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with the city’s Tourism Association, will include a tourism fair with 120 counters, a culinary fair featuring southern cuisine, the HCM City Tourism Golden Voice Contest, a game show called “HCM City spotlight of Asia” and a tourism photo exhibition.
Garuda Indonesia plans direct service to HCM City
Garuda Indonesia has disclosed a plan to launch direct services to HCM City after more than five years of operating daily flights between Jakarta and HCM City via Singapore.
The Indonesian carrier would commence the direct Jakarta-HCM City service after the airline takes delivery of new aircraft including the Boeing B737-800 that it has already ordered from US plane manufacturer.
Currently there are around 70 weekly flights between HCM City and Singapore.
Source – Vietnam News
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Thirty leading hotels in HCM City agreed early this week to cut by 30 per cent their room rates in a move to lure visitors to the city. Truong Vinh Tho, head of the HCM City Tourism Department’s travel division, said the lower room rates launched by three- to five-star hotels would help make it possible for tour operators to launch attractive packages for visitors. Tho said the rates would eventually be even lower because hotels would offer discounts on other special rates for their preferred tour operators.
To promote the country’s tourism, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism also announced that Vietnam Airlines would discount fares by 30 per cent for guests from key markets to create a strong promotion programme from next January to September.
Source: Vietnam News (English)
1950 – Tran Van On, a student shot by the French in Saigon, was buried. The funeral turned into huge protests against foreign aggression with in Vietnam
1975 – Code Named 275, the first major campaign of the Spring General Offensive is launched. Campaign 275 involved the taking of Tay Nguyen in the Central Highlands and would continue until the South was liberated.
1986 – To control the flow of water to the 1,900MW Hoa Binh Hydro Power Plant, the Da River was dammed. The Da River is located in the North West of Vietnam.
Image By Adam (click on photo to go to Flickr.com)
Last weekend we headed out to the Saigon Horse Races. A great laugh was had by all and we even lost some Dong.
To read my full review of the Saigon Races head over to Vietnam and Cambodia.
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Many travelers have precious little time to spend in Ho Chi Minh City or even Vietnam as a whole, and wish to see as much as possible within a matter of days. Fortunately, beyond the sights the city itself has to offer there are a number of day trips from Saigon that will give a short term visitor the opportunity to sample a bit more of what Vietnam has to offer, and more often than not to tempt them back.
Vung tau can be visited with ease in the space of a day – it only takes one hour on the hydrofoil from downtown Saigon, and is small enough to get a feel for the town and the coast within a day. Although the beach may not be the prettiest in Vietnam as its location at the mouth of several major rivers affects the clarity of the water, the hills surrounding Vung Tau are very picturesque, and there are numerous attractions to visit like as the statue of Jesus Christ overlooking the bay, a scene reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro which offers great views of the coast from the top.
One of the most popular day trips from Saigon is to the famous Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong resistance forces tunneled underground to hide from the US forces and to launch surprise attacks, with families spending months or even years living beneath the earth. It a remarkable example of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Vietnamese people.
On the way most tours make a stop at the Cao Dai temple in Tay Ninh, a religion unique to Vietnam that brings together elements of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, Confucianism and Islam. It has had an eventful history in its short existence; during occupations by foreign powers the religion formed its own nationalist struggles against colonialism. The temples are brightly colored and very distinctive, and the monks are very happy to sit with you and explain more about their religion.
Wherever you are in Vietnam you are never far from the coast or a river, and so water forms an integral part of life in Vietnam. The Mekong Delta is known as the rice bowl of Vietnam due to the extremely fertile flood plains, and is responsible for growing massive quantities of fruit as well as being one of the major sources of Vietnam’s rice exports.
A day trip to the Mekong Delta will normally only take you as far as My Tho, the closest city to Saigon that is within the delta, and although a boat trip through the canals may be brief and not explore as deeply as other trips further into the delta, it certainly offers you the chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery as you gently row between the palms and bamboo.
Although amongst the hustle and bustle of central Saigon it can feel like the concrete goes on forever there are two places that allow a complete escape from noise, concrete and chaos of the inner city, and they are surprisingly close to the center.
Thu Thiem is literally just across the water from downtown Saigon and can be accessed by ferry. As soon as you land on the other side it is like being in a small village rather than a bustling metropolis, and it’s a great place to explore on a bicycle, stopping off at small coffee shops and stretching out in hammocks. Be quick though – the area is changing fast and within a few years this place will be redeveloped beyond recognition into the new central business district of Saigon.
Can Gio is a province thick with dense mangrove forests that is best explored by boat. Full of wildlife and known as the lungs of the city, a trip to Can Gio can convince you that Ho Chi Minh City could be a million miles away. The few villages here are small and quiet, and the forest that was near destroyed during the war is making a considerable comeback, teeming with bird life.
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Jonny Platt runs Vietnam Travel, a blog and travel guide to Vietnam. He currently lives in Saigon and his next trip out of the city will be back to Mui Ne, a very attractive beach he wishes only took an hour or two to get to!
Last weekend, my wife and I left our son with his Grandmother and jump on our 110cc Honda Wave and hit the highway!! The plan was to spend a a night alone and to explore another part of Vietnam.
We had intended to visit Vung Tau, south of Ho Chi Minh, to chill out on the beach. but before leaving we had heard about a small remote beach called Ho Coc. Around 150km from HCMC, so we decided to skip Vung Tau altogether and
Ho Coc Beach
go on an adventure. Here are the juicy details about Ho Coc.
Ho Coc Beach is located in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and is around 150km from HCMC, 60 km from Vung Tau and 15km from Ho Tram. It can be easily accessed by road – from HCMC you simply head to Ba Ria and then follow the signs. From Phan Thiet you follow the new highway along the coast until Binh Chau. From there, continue another 20km until you reach Ho Coc.
The is no public transport to Ho Coc. All the roads we traveled on were almost in perfect condition, making it a perfect spot for those into long distance cycling.
In a word – Nothing!
The only entertainment at Ho Coc is the beach, a few basic seafood stalls and yourself! But that said, that is what make Ho Coc such a great place. We had the beach basically to ourselves (except for around 8 people), there was one other room occupied at the hotel and the only customers at the seafood stalls eating fresh crab and prawns was us!
If you want to explore, there is the Binh Chau Hot Springs around 20km away and also around 6km from the beach is a National Park covering some 11,000ha. We didn’t visit these sights.
Ho Coc is a great destination for those that want to escape the craziness of HCMC. It really felts as though we were in a different time zone! The beach was clean, weather good and best of all, the place was empty!
If your into 12 hour drinking sessions at the pub and chasing guys/girls, don’t stop here! Head to Mui Ne or Nha Trang. This is really a total chill out spot.
For lunch we hit the seafood stall on the beach and what find! One kg of crab cost 150,000vnd ($9.80USD) and a kg of prawns went for 180,000vnd ($11USD). Everything for sale was fresh and moving when we ordered. The finished product was served in a plastic wash container with a wooden stick to crack the crab shell, see images below
Cracking crab shells!
We also ate the Hotel Ven Ven where we stayed. The chicken with lemon grass and chili was superb, while we also ordered some Mustard Leaves stir fried with garlic, vege soup and steamed rice. Everything was tasty, fresh and really hit the spot.
We stayed at the Hotel Ven Ven located on the Highway around 200m from the beach. Check out my full review of the hotel at my Vietnam & Cambodia blog. Other basic options are available right on the beach, most of which are cheaper, but they didn’t have hot water and didn’t seem as nice as the Hotel Ven Ven!
Ho Coc was a great find and perfect place to unwind and relax. The beach was clean and even had a few waves for body surfing. With nothing here, it would make a perfect for 2 nights of nothing! Bring a good book!
Many a resort is being planned for the area. Ho Tram Beach already has large villa’s being built which are currently selling from $560,000USD. Closer to Ho Coc, parts of the beach have been cleared and fenced in preparations for construction work.
If you want peace and quiet get to Ho Coc sooner than later. It will not last!
For more information contact Adam via Email. To read my review on the Hotel Ven Ven - Click Here
Xmas Trees on Nguyen Hue Street, HCMC
Santa - Christmas display at the Saigon Trade Centre, Le Loi Street, HCMC
Christmas display at the Saigon Trade Centre, Le Loi Street, HCMC
Nguyen Hue Street in District 1, HCMC
All Images taken by Adam Hurley. Learn more about Vietnam and Cambodia at www.vietnamandcambodia.com
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