Mission Vietnam From South To North

Vietnam is a hotchpotch of old and new, with everything from cultural and historical attractions to dynamic, modern cities. Join Jacqueli and Joubert Tulleken as they traverse the country from south to north.

- Jacqueli and Joubert Tulleken

When you look at a world map, Vietnam is an S-shaped land mass next to the South China Sea, bordered by China to the north and Cambodia and Laos to the west.

We flew from Denpasar in Bali (see go! #172) to Ho Chi Minh City. The humidity smacked us in the face when we stepped out of the air-conditioned Tan Son Nhat International Airport – it felt like walking into a sauna. It was late September, the wettest month in Ho Chi Minh.

We took a bus from the airport to the city centre and the first thing we noticed was how many motorbikes and scooters there were – apparently, upward of eight million on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City alone. You can imagine the chaos! Motorbikes are the most common mode of transport. It’s funny and impressive to see what people manage to transport on two wheels: dogs, chickens, vegetables, fruit, children – up to five at a time!

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is the biggest city in Vietnam and situated in the south of the country. (Smaller Hanoi in the north is the capital city.) In 1975, after the Vietnam war had ended, Saigon was renamed after the Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Now the city is a busy metropole and the economic heartbeat of the country, where modern skyscrapers stand side by side with historical French colonial buildings like the pink Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral and the Museum of Fine Arts.

We dropped our backpacks off at our Airbnb apartment, had a quick shower and hit the streets. Many of the tourist attractions are close together and we explored a big part of the city on foot.