Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Crossing Land Border at Bavet–Moc Bai border

I had used Giant Ibis bus company for all my Cambodia intercity travels and had loved their service way too much – so I booked my Phnom Penh – Saigon travel with them.

Ticket cost – 35$

Bus timings – 8am and 945am daily

Travel time – 7hours. It took about half an hour at immigration office and 2.5hours in Vietnam to cover just 70 kms owing to heavy traffic right after entry into Vietnam and all the way till Saigon. Travel on Cambodian side was much faster where we travelled 170kms in 3.5 hours (Sihanoukville to PP took just 2.5hours for 210kms 🙂)

Exiting from Bavet Border Checkpoint, Cambodia –

Duty free shop – There is a duty free shop in the no mans land which has a good stock of liquor and other items. I was surprised to see such a fancy duty free shop at land border crossing akin to the ones at international airports. The shop had an adjoint restaurant priced affordably where you can pay in dollars – our bus gave us 30mins for lunch here.

Entering into Moc Bai Border International Gate, Vietnam –

Visa issues – None. I had Vietnamese e-Visa with me and the Giant Ibis hostess (purposefully calling her hostess due to impeccable service akin to flights) took care of all the paperwork at both the immigration offices.

Bonus point to Giant Ibis – The staff even scolded the Cambodian Immigration officials when unnecessary delay happened at exit stamping booth. All in all, the bus hostess was in complete control of the process and had the necessary knowledge. She got all our passports duly stamped for Vietnam entry. All we had to do was walk with our luggage for X-ray screening at Vietnam entry which appeared to be more of a formality. Post which, the bus staff gave us back our stamped passports. 10 on 10 to the bus company for making our transit hassle free.

Their office is conveniently located in dictrict 1, walkable from Bui Vien street.

Sim card purchase

Vietnamobile 120k VND for 21days – Although cheap but ended up being a big mistake – Saw 4G only for a couple of times in 2 weeks, inclusive of my stay in metros like Saigon and Hanoi, let alone 5G. Zero network in Cat Ba.

District 1

Very loud and watered down experience compared to when I travelled to the city back in 2019. Everyone was trying to rip you off unless you are careful and do your research well.

Stay options – Mobylette

It has amazing reviews on booking.com and hostelworld. However, I found the dorm quite cramped up and the location is slightly away from Bui Vien. Additionally, I didn’t like the locality. I didn’t stay here so cant comment on hospitality. I did find a lot of stairs though, I was shown the dorm on the 4th floor with a spiral stairway.

The hideout

This is a happening hostel with several events like Pub Crawl etc. They have a free beer in the evening for all inmates. I had a great time staying here back in 2019 when they were at a different location with a rooftop bar. I found the staff quite helpful. Sadly it was fully booked on both occurrences when I checked, so I couldn’t stay here. I did visit though for a free beer which they had provided to the guests at my hostel Base Backpackers on Saturday, the day I arrived in Saigon. It is a great place for meeting new people and the ground floor bar area is always quite lively and buzzing. They have a pool table as well.

Base Backpackers

Good spacious dorms at 150k VND for a bed in 14-bed dorm. One can find cheaper dorms in District 1 however, I feel Base is worth the money spent. Washrooms were outside the dorm which is how I prefer, sadly only person can use the washroom at a time which has toilet and shower together. This led to me climbing up stairs in the middle of night in search of the next vacant washroom. Cool seating area on the ground floor with bar at the back side.

Note – Buying bus tickets or airport transfer from Base comes at a premium which can be expected, however, they were charging 380k VND for Da Lat bus which can be purchased for 199k VND at Sinh Tourist Company. For intra-city travel one would be best advised to use Grab. Grab to airport is less than 150k VND whereas the hostel asks for 300k.

Bui Vien Walking Street

I felt it to be similar to Patong walking street in Phuket except Bui Vien neither has quality night clubs like Illuzion nor the risque adult scenes of Patong. Most of the clubs offer free entry with the allure of scantily clad dancers, however the music quality was sub-par almost everywhere with no authentic DJs. Additionally, I felt the staff and security would be on your heels until you buy at least one drink which I found quite annoying. Expecting patrons to spend is normal, however the manner in which they pursued everyone towards it, was really frustrating. In one club, I found out that they had one menu which the staff on the road will show to lure you in and a different menu once you are inside for the second drink onwards. I would say Bui Vien is just good enough for walking around with your friends and getting the vibe that it offers, however if you crave a good nightclub experience, Bui Vien would disappoint you utterly, which was my case.

Hair of the dog – Miss

This is located at the end of Bui Vien street. I was offered a free beer in exchange for a 5star google review program (yes they used the word program), which I proudly declined. Entry was free that Sunday evening, however the security staff and bartender were right on my heels until I bought my drink which anyways I was going to buy. However, the way they behaved spoiled my experience but gave me insights into their way of working. Almost all nightclubs on Bui Vien operate the same way.

None of the staff speak any English and one would be best advised to keep google translate handy. This is probably true for 90% of verbal interactions in Vietnam.

Google review scam – Google reviews of both Atmos and Hair of the Dog show something peculiar – almost all their reviews are either a 5 or a 1 which kind of suggests that 5 would be a bogus review. I understood this by my experience of Hair of the Dog. Please beware.

Evening stroll on walking street near Central Post Office

One fine evening, I stepped out to explore the city and reached the walking street area. Yes, there is a walking street other than Bui Vien and a much more calm and beautiful one. It is located near Central Post Office. I spent some time on these roads soaking in the vibe of Saigon.

Riverside park walkable at the end of walking street

After walking street, I strolled towards the riverside park. This park is a great place to spend some time at sunset with your friends and family. I sat down there for a bit enjoying my “me time” before heading back to District 1.

Saigon Nightlife beyond Bui Vien

I felt Saigon nightlife can be best experienced if you know a good nightclub by the word of mouth. I tried finding out good clubs based on google reviews and Insta followers but couldn’t succeed.

The observatory

In retrospect, I did find that this place has some great events on Fri and Sat. You can check their insta for more updates. I came to know of this venue only on Sunday and sadly, the place remains shut on all other days except Fri & Sat.

Khu 13

This is a nightclub located very close to Bui Vien and gets upscale Vietnamese crowd on Saturdays. Definitely a place to check out on weekends if you have Vietnamese friends to tag alongwith, else entry would be very costly or incredibly difficult.

Discrimination – One is supposed to reserve a table for a minimum spend of 5mil VND to get entry. Reservation can be made via Instagram message or their hotline number mentioned on Insta. However, I did observe this rule not being implemented on the locals. I visited alone on a Saturday and luckily I met a staff member who was a welcome respite – he messaged me a confirmation text on Insta to serve as my entry pass. However, because of the heavy crowd inside, I was still supposed to order a combo which would cost me 1300k VND for a tower of beer which I declined – as I can manage just a couple of drinks and a beer tower was not in my capacity to finish alone 🥸 I did not see any non local entering the club in the 15 mins I was at the property gate. In the same time, numerous locals entered the place.

Sub par music – I did go again the next day which was a Sunday. The security was atrocious and he duly quoted me 5mil minimum spend rule. However, the receptionist let me in free. The DJ was playing mixed numbers. What I didn’t like was – some good EDM numbers were followed with mainstream pop songs and there were several pop songs played in the one hour I was there. If you like pop, you may consider it.

Crowd experience – On a Sunday the place was 30% filled and I was probably the single non-local. The people weren’t mixing with each other and everyone kept to their own groups. Overall, I found the ambience not at all lively where I was unable to exchange a single hello or smile in my one hour long stay over there. As a non local, I would not go back, however, if you are from Vietnam, you may very well have a great time here on Fri/Sat, so it is worth checking out.

Prices – The beers were priced 170k VND and almost all drinks started from 150~200k. I would say this to be exorbitant, however, nightclubs are known to be costly and one doesn’t mind if the music is amazing and the ambience is lit.

Rip off while buying my bus ticket to Da Lat

I purchased my ticket from Lac Hong Tours. Considering their wonderful reviews on google and review graffiti on their office walls by several travellers, I thought them to be reliable, however, I ended up paying 330k VND for Da Lat which can be purchased at Sinh Tourist for 199k. They are mere travel agents so they will take their cut but taking ~50% cut is not done. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. The prices quoted are all for sleeper bus.

Update – One good thing happened when I arrived in Da Lat – free drop to my hostel by Futa Buslines, the company whose ticket I was sold. Grab for the same would have costed 70k – so the higher price charged by Futa (290k + 40k commission taken by Lac Hong) was partially justified. The bus was of the same quality sleeper bus that I had used in 2019. I believe most Vietnamese intercity sleeper buses are of similar layout inside – three rows of two storied sleeping berths.

Note on nightly bus sleep quality – It takes only 6 hours to reach Da Lat from Saigon, something to factor in while planning your travel. However, everyone tells the duration to be 8hours which is why I booked the night bus at 11pm so that I would sleep off nicely and wake up by 7am when the bus reached Da Lat. To my discomfort, I was dropped down at bus stand at 5am (I am not a morning person so I was frustrated with the lack of sleep and ended up sleeping almost whole day following it). If you are a light sleeper like me, night buses may not suit you as the berths weren’t very comfortable – no bedsheets either – a very ordinary blanket which I am very sure the company doesn’t wash after every trip – it was getting very cold inside at times even after closing the AC vents and wearing a jacket – no gate between the driver’s area and the passenger berths which meant all the engine revving was loudly audible till my berth which was located at the very end of the bus.

Buses ply every hour between Saigon and Da Lat. Next time, I would take a day bus so that I can enjoy the views without compromising on the night’s sleep and tackling the hassles of early checkin at the destination.

The 1 restaurant

Cute interiors, conveniently located, 2 mins from Bui Vien and great hospitality. I had four back to back meals here. A milk shake costs 40k VND and stir fried veggies with a portion of rice 60k. English breakfast was 90k, however it didn’t have baked beans which can be ordered as an extra.

Baba’s Indian restaurant

Located at the end of Bui Vien Street, it offers tasty Indian food with free papad, mint chutney and pickles. Overall, as a single person, it felt a bit costly to me, however if multiple people are sharing, then it could be affordable.

Service and taste – top quality.

Bhindi masala for 120k, tandoori roti 50k and orange juice for 60k.

Central Market in District 1

Central market is a good place to do some shopping while your stay in Saigon. All types of apparels and accessories are available here. Do drop by if you have some spare time. There is a cafeteria too with several eateries inside.