I spent mid-July to mid-August in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam…and after just barely surviving the heat and humidity, I was surprised to learn that this isn’t even the hottest time of year here. April! April! Lovely, lovely April – the month the May flower-bringing showers…the month of daffodils and tulips and just-warm breezes! But here in the southern part of Vietnam, April is the hottest, with average temps in the mid-90s and highs over 100! So, I might suggest not visiting in April…or August. The temperatures might not be as high on average, but it’s still been in the low 90s most days and positively steamy. Imagine doing a Zumba class in a steam room. I do not recommend.

It looks like December-January-February are the months to visit. Noted.

And for me, a delicate flower who literally wilts in the heat, the heat was just too much. I arrived with lists of things to do and see and eat…but unfortunately, few things seemed good enough to warrant putting myself out in that heat.

So while I didn’t do much, I did do and see a few things.

Note: due to internet gremlins, a lot of these pictures are out of order. Grr. 

I always look for someplace with an American breakfast. That’s my favorite “eating out” meal AND the most important meal of the day, so even if that’s all I get…it’s okay. I’ve sort of been living on one main meal and one smaller snacky type meal a day. This place was called Eddie’s Diner, modeled after an American 50s diner…and the day I went was National Cookie Day and the first 50 guests got a free freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie. I saved mine for later in the evening and man was it good.

Pulling into Ho Chi Minh City was like WHOA.

I was excited to live easy walking distance from a fresh fruit/fruit juice stand. Until I had the juice. It was just…not quite right. I bought a bottle of apple and a bottle of pineapple. I drank half the apple and was like that’s enough. The pineapple sat in the fridge for two days. When I took the bottle out ot drink t, I shook the bottle cuz sediment had settled at the bottom. And when I started to loosen the cap it FIZZY EXPLODED all over everything. My nightgown, my hair, the floor, the kitchen backslpash. It was fermented pineapple liquor. UGH. I had that smell in my nose for DAYS and never went back to the fruit stand.

The building acrossfrom me in my alleyway. This is the norm, a metal gate protecting the inner first floor area.

Motorbikes are king in Vietnam. I haven’t seen an actual statistic, but visually, I would say there are more motorbikes on the road than cars. And the sidewalks belong to them. Much of the sidewalk area turns into motorbike parking lots. There’s usually one guy, resting on his bike near the “parking lot,” and he takes cash as payment to watch over the bikes.

They’re big on “set” meals, which just means one price for multiple different courses. This was 1) Baguette + eggs, 2) crepe with bananas + honey, 3) fruit (watermelon, mango, dragonfruit, and 4) a drink – I had iced tea. This was yummy, but I cannot be in the same room as honey without getting it EVERYWHERE. 

I went to Book Street, which is a short lane lined with book and gift shops and cafes.

Cat paw door handle 🙂

I love lanterns in every country I visit, but I think the Vietnames lanterns are the most beautiful. I can’t wait to get to Hoi An cuz they seem to be on a whole other level there!

After I took this selfie – I was trying to get the lanterns in the background and inadvertantly got the two girls – I went to apologize to them, saying I didn’t mean to take their picture, and the kindly offered to take my picture!

She took like 30 pictures of me, ha ha, but this was the ebst (I guess).

At the end of the street was a Highlands Coffee shop, a popular chain in Vietnam. I’m always looking for a place to sit with air conditioning and a cool drink. So I sat here for a bit and read my book til I was ready to face the heat again.

Bought a bunch of post cards…now let’s see if I actually mail them!

This is someplace that I forget the name of…but I used it as my pickup location for Grab (Vietnamese Uber). 

Oops, backtracking from Eddie’s Diner. It’s just not letting me reposition images.

Meeting place for a walking tour I did…

Ice delivery. Places can’t make their own ice (unless they have a filtration system, which most do not) because the water is undrinkable, so they have to get ice delivered. In the heat.

Hey! I know him! That’s Jungkook from BTS.

Cafe Apartments. This used to be an apartment building but it was converted to cafes and shops – each apartment is a different business. You can pay to take the elevator to the top then work your way back down. Otherwise you would die from stair climbing in the heat. I actually left the tour at this point as I was just TOO HOT to keep walking at other people’s pace. I thought I was gonna pass out – a common feeling in this country.

I ended up cooling off at a Starbucks in their air conditioning. Most Vietnamese coffee shops are open air and are just SO HOT. Too hot for me. I need a little respite in my day from the heat if I want to go on.

Waving Lucky Cat travels the world with me. My great-niece gave me this last year at my Japanese-themed birthday party…and now I photograph it in each country and send her the video.

My AirBnB. It was…a 3.5/5. The room itself was fine. I liked having the balcony to peek down at the alleyway below, though I couldn’t stay out there for any length of time cuz of the heat. The bed was alright – the typical SouthEast Asian thin mattress on a wooden frame. The wifi was a b-a-a-a-d. Frequently out, always slow. Had to repeatedly reach out to the host to ask him to PLEASE DO SOMETHING. The ac died one day and the next day technicians came in and drained and cleaned it and got it going again. The water pressure in the shower was nonexistent. Dribbles. Very un-refreshing. The shower drain kept clogging so you’d stand in a pool of soapy water on a slick tile floor. I feared for my life. The cooktop wouldn’t turn off, so I finally just unplugged it and only used the microwave. There were no cleaning products of any kind and I had to buy my own. And if you haven’t seen my TikTok, the entrance/exit to the building was RIDICULOUS. The area was WAY too local for me. I think a blend of local+foreignors is better. Now I don’t know how to review it on airbnb.

I went to the War Remnants Museum. This was mostly brutal, especially the parts of the exhibit with photographs and actual remnants of prison cells, torture devces, cages, etc. I didn’t take many pictures but it really madean impact on me. I’ve been slowly watching the Ken Burns Vietnam War documentary. I have feelings.

I’m a big fan of faded, peely, chippy paint, and that is totally the vibe here. This is the spot where I waited for my Grab waiting to go home from the coworking space.

Back to the War Remnants Museum

Charming take-out spot There was a little window ordering spot in this “cave.”

There are vining flowers growing everywhere and on everything

Lots of “peace” posters around the perimeter of the war museum.

I liked that rooster sign

You’re welcome. Get it?

I had to wash out my “sweat rag” multiple times a day.

From my balcony

My alleyway

In the ad for the airbnb a “slight incline” at the entrance was mentioned. I envisioned THIS.

In reality it was this.

My BRAND NEW,LONG-AWAITED new laptop developed an ever-growing blue paint splotch as soon as I got to Vietnam. WHAT A HASSLE TO GET IT RETURNED TO THE US. Shipping computers in/out of Vietnam is very complicated.

More views in my alleyway. This is the place directly across from me.

More balcony views. So many balcony views cuz many days it was just too hot and steamy for me to go out.

Pretty restaurant

Cars couldn’t fit in my alleyway, only scooters/motorbikes. Food deliveries could come right to my door but I had to walk down to the main street to get a taxi (Grab)

War Museum

Typical street scene.

Cool architecture.

Loving alleyways. Have always loved allyeways.

I walked past this place on the way to the coworking space. I’m only just now realizing that design is a map of the location.

Old records. Hello, Neil. Hello, Barbara. Hello, Gordon.

It’s easy to forget that Vietnam is a communist country.

The coworking spaceI ended up using (cuz the wifi and desk/chair situation in my airbnb was awful) was very nice. Comfy, cheap, had a little cafe.

TERRIBLE water pressure. LACK of water pressure. Water DRIBBLES. It made showering SO unpleasant when coming back home overheated and drenched with sweat. It was not refreshing. Ugh. I’m a water pressure girl. My niece’s downstairs shower is SPECTACULAR. It’s like showering with a pressure washer.

Where I’d wait for my Grab to go anywhere. HCMC is overall pretty dirty.

That is, in a pictorial nutshell, my month in Ho Chi Minh City. It just wasn’t really my vibe…at least not right where I was staying in District 3. It was Very LOCAL, very, uhm, low income. There were other areas where I went to cafes or to work that were a little more comfortable for me – with a little more foreign influence, visitors, English.

I’m adventurous enough to travel to the other side of the world…but not always adventurous enough to leave the building.

When you see me next, I’ll be in Hanoi, which I have higher hopes for!

Post Views: 14