Vietnam Holiday – Ho Chi Minh City: The Journey

I had one late ‘excitement’ to my Vietnam trip…the day before I was flying out to Vietnam, I decided to check on the Visa requirements for going to Vietnam.  Luckily I did, because although I knew there was an option for ‘a Visa on arrival’ – there was still a requirement to apply a Visa before arrival, you are not simply able to arrive and obtain one.  So I went on the www.myvietnamvisa.com website and ordered one for completion by midday on Friday, the day of my departure.  It was actually a straightforward process, and the letter of approval came through by about 1pm – phew!

After work on Friday (11th November), I managed to get to the airport pretty promptly for the 19:30 departure flight. Another cheap flight on JetStar (it only cost me S$140 for the return flight (that’s equiv to £70!)).

The flight was pretty smooth, and I touched-down at Ho Chi Minh Airport around 20:30 – the best bit about going to Vietnam from Singapore is that you gain an hour, as they are 1 hour ahead of Singapore 🙂  Bonus!

With the Visa letter in hand, I went to the ‘Visa on Arrival’ immigration desk, there was quite a queue, but luckily it was pretty efficient.  With a photo, the completed form and the application letter in hand, they took my passport and started to prepare my Visa.  It was USD$25 for the Visa stamp – on top of the Visa application fee.  So it’s a bit of a business to get one 🙁  BUT the visit to Vietnam will be sure worth it 🙂  It took about 30 minutes end-to-end, which wasn’t too bad.  I was told that it took over 2 hours for some, when the computer system went down earlier on, so I think I would accept 30 minutes without any complaint 🙂 There was a funny moment when a family came up to me and said “you are Aaron aren’t you”? I said yes with a cautious acceptance, the father then said that the son recognised me for the Melaka Coconut Street Show (where I was the guest participant of), and I acknowledged this with a laugh. He said the son called me the “Coconut Man”! Haha – now that really shows it is a small world – lol! I’ve previously been known in the Amex Brighton office as the “Pigeon Capture” (it’s a long story!) and now in SE Asia as the “Coconut Man” – brilliant 🙂

I then went through immigration and customs and looked for a Taxi booth – the way it operates is that you pay for a Taxi up-front (which only cost USD$8), take a voucher and then go to the Taxi rank with the voucher to go to your destination.  I found it pretty safe, and I told the rep my hotel location, which she duly communicated to the taxi driver.  The driver spoke a little bit of English, but knew the road where my hostel was located.

It took about 25 minutes, there was a fair amount of traffic on the road at this time of night – with a fair number of bikes as we entered the main City Centre (District 1) – the start of things to come – haha!  I arrived along Phan Ngu Lam Street, and exited the taxi.  I then went on and eventually found the hostel located at 373/10 – which just off a side-alley to the west-end of the street. The hostel is located next to Thai Binh Market, just opposite the Circus along Phan Ngu Lam Street.  I walked past the alley-way a couple of times, but eventually found it.  Outside was an area where a street market was located, so it would (hopefully) help me get my bearings to find the hostel 🙂

I arrived at the Long Guesthouse Hostel and Mrs Long (the owner) welcomed me in.  She was kind enough to give me a Welcoming Juice and also gave me a street map focused on the Tourist bits around District 1, which I decided I would visit on my first Day.  I also looked on the various ‘tours’ available, two took my interest – the Củ Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta, but I would make the decision tomorrow.

I entered the Dorm and most of guests were already sleeping, so I sorted myself out and decided on an early night – I was absolutely shattered, and needed to prepare myself for the fun and games ahead of me 🙂

Long Guesthouse
373/10 Pham Ngu Lao Street
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam