First Impression: Vietnam

We’ve officially spent more than 24 hours here in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and feel prepared to share our first impressions with you. This city is thriving and really comes alive at night! This is a nice change for us personally, coming from Bali where it was a much slower pace and not much of a nightlife. We definitely feel invoragted and excited to explore this gorgeous country! SKIP TO THE BOTTOM IF YOU WANT THE SHORT VERSION.

We made the same mistake we always make when coming to a new country- We went out looking for food when we were already starving. For some reason we think we can just walk outside and find a place that’s going to have food for both of us. I, Evan, am pescatarian but Lemon will eat just about anything. So we ended up walking around for almost an hour and then we got scammed by a local. The whole morning just left a salty taste in my mouth. Like- WHY do people feel the need to try and take advantage of people visiting their country? It literally infuriates me- especially with all of the hoops we have to jump through to even get here. Rant over lol.

Once we got some Pho in our stomachs the rest of the day was a little easier. One thing I have been dreaming of for the last 3 years is having an Egg Coffee and we finally made that dream come true! Let me tell you- it was SOOOO delicious and I’m not sure why coffee shops in the US aren’t selling this delicious masterpiece. The egg coffee originated in northern Vietnam and was actually invented by a bartender. During the French war, there was a milk shortage. So this bartender, Nguyen Van Giang, found that whisking together egg yolks and sugar created a fluffy sweet substitute for coffee. It really tastes more like marshmallow fluff than eggs but ether way it is DELICIOUS!!! They were so good, we had 2 each! Little Hanoi Egg Coffee provided the best experience I could have hoped for.

Next we stopped at a brewery for happy hour and got 2 flights, buy 1 get 1 free! Beer, as well as everything else, is incredibly inexpensive here. Even craft beer is decently priced- which is a huge change for us. Both Thailand and Bali, beer was not cheap. Especially craft or import beer- We saw a pint of Guiness was $12USD at a local pub in Bangkok. Ayways- we are very much looking forward eating and drinking everything we can get our hands on.

Finally we got to have dinner with some friends we met on facebook about 6 months ago. We were both quitting our jobs to travel the world- starting in SE Asia but Lemon and I were about a month behind them. We always hoped we would be able to meet up at some point and the starts finally aligned here in Ho Chi Minh City. We met our friends for dinner and then headed to the party street for beers and people watching. It was so nice to just kick back, relax and talk about things only other travelers could relate to. Things like what we packed, best meals we’ve had, grossest hotel we stayed in and how people back home sometimes become interested in our new exciting lives. It was also nice to exchange travel stories that related to covid entry requirements. I’ve said it before but this is a strange time to travel with every changing entry requirements and paying for covid tests etc. If one wrong thing happen it can cause a VERY expensive chain reaction. I could go on and on but you get the point lol.

Overall, even with us getting ripped off by the coconut man, we think Vietnam is a fun and safe place to travel. As always, we are staying on our toes and always aware of our surroundings. But the people are friendly, most speak English and if they don’t- they will be the first to pull out google translate. The food is DELICIOUS and the coffee is the best we’ve had so far. Below is a summary of our first impressions on Ho Chi Minh City.

• Everyone drives a motorbike, not many people walk.

• Honks here are loud and long and repetitive with an impatient undertone

• Food and beer is CHEAP compared to Thailand and Bali

• Ho Chi Minh City has KILLER nightlife

• Great walkable city

• This city doesn't rely solely on tourism

• There is public transportation (we’ve missed this)

• The money here is beautiful and fancy looking

• The locals want to practice their english with you

• The locals call us “madam” and “monsieur”

• The coffee is strong but delicious

• Traffic is nuts but somehow it works, although they are not has patient here

• The city comes ALIVE at night