HO CHI MINH CITY – GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!

After my time on the Thai islands I was now heading to Vietnam and flying from Krabi to Ho Chi Minh city.

Before jetting off though, I needed to apply for my travel visa!

GETTING THE VISA

I’d heard so many amazing things about Vietnam from other travellers that I’d met on my journey. I knew that I’d want to stay longer than 4 weeks, so I applied for the extended visa, entitling me to visit for up to 3 months.

Getting the visa was fairly simple. I could have gone to a Vietnamese embassy to get this sorted, but during my time on the Thai islands there was no option to do this, so I decided to go through the online process.

I visited www.vietnamvisa.govt.vn and applied for the 90 day single entry visa.

The process was easy. Just fill in a few details about yourself and pay $50USD.

A couple of days later I received my visa acceptance letter via email, along with a more detailed form that I needed to fill in, to present at the airport.

All I needed to do now was arrive in Ho Chi Minh along with:

• a printed copy of the approval letter
• a printed copy of the filled in form
• a passport photo
• $25 USD

When I arrived and before proceeding through passport control, I queued up at the visa on arrival desk and handed over my passport, forms and photo and sat down and waited for my name to be called.

They called me over and I paid my $25 in exchange for my passport, complete with 90 day visa.

I was set.

I proceeded through passport control with a smile on my face, knowing that I could explore this country to my heart’s content over the next 90 days!

ARRIVAL IN HO CHI MINH

I’d been in some crazy cities before, but this was mental.

I’m glad I’d been to other areas in Asia before this as it had acted as a good warm up for what was to come.

I checked into my hotel and went for a walk around town, trying to find something to eat.

I was staying very central, at a hotel called Dragon Palace 3. As soon as I walked out onto the street I was inundated with; strong smells from street food, heat, loud dance music from all angles, the sound of roaring traffic, beeping, people barging through crowds, lights, street sellers. I had arrived.

Within 5 minutes I was offered Marijuana, Cocaine and ‘boom boom’.

I grabbed something to eat and a couple of drinks and then turned in for the night.

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!

The next full day in Ho Chi Minh I went for a lengthy walk around town, to get a real feel for the place, by day.

The one thing that sticks out in my memory is the chaos of the traffic.

There seems to be no system. But. In the madness of no system, there is a kind of organised chaos.

Streams of traffic melt into each other, but flow seamlessly. No accidents. No road rage.

If there’s a queue, scooters would just ride on the pavements to get by.

It’s like watching a colony of ants. I’d never seen so many scooters rammed into such a small space.

Crossing the roads here was something that you had to get used to quickly. There are zebra crossings marked on the streets, but they count for nothing. The traffic doesn’t stop for you. The only way to deal with it is to just walk at a steady pace and the traffic will go around you. A leap of faith is required!

Even the dogs here seemed to be able to ride scooters:

This dog had skills

I spent four days in Ho Chi Minh overall. It was a sight to behold, but the key memory was the buzz of the town and the crazy traffic.

My girlfriend, Holly arrived from the UK to join me for the next few months of travelling and she was initiated to Asia with this crazy town. She settled in pretty well, but crossing the roads did prove an ordeal for her!

Here’s a little video of my first morning in Vietnam:

NEXT STOP – VUNG TAU

After four days in Ho Chi Minh it was time to move on. We decided to head to the beach side resort of Vung Tau.

Read on to see what this had in store.