August 1 - 5, 2015 

Known officially as Ho Chi Minh City, but informally to everyone still as Saigon, the main city of Vietnam is a fantastically chaotic place. An hour and 15-minute VietJet Air plane ride from Da Nang to Saigon (HCMC) for $60 – and the prices are half that these days. I didn’t spend much money there, my hostel, Beauty Guesthouse, being $10 a person when sharing with Rosh and Daniel.

We spent time walking the downtown area, eating phở at Phở Quỳnh, drinking endless beers with Keith and Ly at Happy Life 185, co-working at Work Saigon, and seeing what people had labeled as “must sees” like the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Vietnam’s history is raw and painful, often delivered in a one-sided narrative. It may sound trite, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn and re-learn more about Vietnamese history.

To get out of the city, go to the Mekong Delta. The easiest and cheapest way is by taking a tour with a travel agency in Saigon. I recommend asking for James at Panda Travel Company. The Mekong Delta is a fun water world where rice paddies, boats, houses, restaurants, and markets float upon numerous rivers, canals, and streams.

I passed on paying for a tour of a Củ Chi underground tunnel. Paying to suffer from claustrophobia doesn’t appeal to me, regardless of all the fun jokes you can make from the name of the tunnels.

From here, my friends took a bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and I flew to the island of Phu Quoc.