When we booked this trip, the original plan is to go the Ho Chi Minh - Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - Ho Chi Minh route. I made several mock itineraries, considering bus and plane options for the transfer. A couple of weeks before leaving for the trip, I tried looking for flights from Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh or Siem Reap and it was crazy expensive (for me, anyway). If we get on a plane, I have to pay about PHP25,000 (~USD600) for roundtrip tickets for two adults. We decided to just take a bus at about PHP2,000 (USD44) instead.
I made several mock itineraries (I think I made five) trying to divide our days between the three sites. In the end we decided to drop Phnom Penh and just stay at HCM and Siem Reap instead. We will be spending a total of eight full days on this trip and this is how we decided to divide it:
- Days 1 - 2: HCM
- Day 3: Travel to Siem Reap
- Days 4 - 7: Siem Reap
- Day 8: HCM
I pre-booked hotels throughout our stay through Agoda.
Important things to remember:
- Vietnam local time is GMT+7 (Manila time is GMT+8)
- You can use US Dollars for your daily spending in HCM
- 1 USD = 18,000-20,000 Vietnamese dong (most higher end places charge the lower exchange rate)
- There are a lot of cheap (yet clean!) hotels in HCM
We got to Vietnam from Manila at around 2am local time. We booked airport transfers from the hotel since we are coming in late and I don't want the hassle of haggling with a taxi driver.
We arrived at Blue Diamond Hotel after around twenty minutes by car. Check-in was painless and quick, they gave us a map of the surrounding area with marked areas of interest. The lobby of the hotel looked extravagant, with gilded furniture and decorations scattered throughout. The hotel is across the street from Reunification Palace, which means that it is very near most of the tourist attractions. Breakfast buffet was included in our package, and I'd say that the choices are pretty extensive -- both Western and Asian cuisines are well-represented. They also change the menu per day, so bonus points for that.
The room they gave us was on the second floor (which is really the third floor). It was a little bit small, with two twin beds squashed together and a very small window with a view of the plastic plant in the corridor outside. The bathroom is decently sized, with a bathtub and a rain shower. The water might take a while to get hot though, especially in the morning when a lot of people are taking a shower at the same time.
The staff is very helpful and respectful. They can help you book tours, buses, tell the cab drivers where to go, point you to places you might want to visit, etc. They speak very good English, too.
Day 1
Day 1 was spent walking around the city. We had a late start due to our late arrival the night before, and it was very humid when we did our walking tour. Here's where we went (and the corresponding fees, when applicable):
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| The courtyard of the Fine Arts Museum |
- Tran Nguyen Hai statue - set in the middle of the roundabout in front of Ben Thanh market. Lots of motorcycles zipping through here, we decided not to cross to the statue itself.
- Fine Arts Museum (10,000 d) - a museum housed in the home and office of a Chinese immigrant and was designed by a French architect in 1929. The house itself is very pretty, with large, airy rooms and lost of porticoes and balconies. There are a couple of coffee shops behind and beside the building. There's also a row of galleries selling sculptures and paintings at the the back.
- Ton That Dam street market - all manner of things for sale!
- X Cafe - stopped for ice cream and cold beverages. Spent about USD8 for two one-scoop glasses of ice cream, plus two cans of soda. Ice cream is served with a slice of pineapple and chocolate drizzle. Lots of flavors to choose from!
- Opera House - we didn't get a chance to go in as there is a ceremony ongoing. I liked the park in front of the opera house, though.
- Rex Hotel - viewed from outside, hehe. So intimidating!
- Hotel de Ville - also known as the People's Committe Building. Tours are not allowed inside, so we just took pictures from the park out front. Spacious park with lots of benches. If it wasn't so hot I would have loved to stay there for a while.
- Museum of Ho Chi Minh City (15,000d) - covers the city's 300-year history. Interesting cyclos out front, war machines at the back. There's a cafe there, too.
- Quan An Ngon - had lunch here before continuing with the tour. A little upscale, based on the service and the decor, but still reasonably priced. I paid 192,000d for lunch for two plus appetizers and drinks.
- Independence Palace (30,000d) - the presidential palace of the South Vietnamese government up to the 1970's. A guide book is for sale at the ticket counter for 10,000d.
- War Remnants Museum (15,000d) - a very depressing place indeed. The water puppet theater was closed the day we went there.
- Notre Dame Cathedral - visiting hours are from 8am to 10:30am and 3pm to 5pm.
- Central Post Office - postcards, trinkets, and other souvenirs available inside. There are retro-style phone booths, too.
- Pho 24 - wrapped up the day with pho! While we were eating, I figured out that their Manila branch is right across my office! The serving was huge, I got the beef pho and Ninoy got the special (pho with everything in it). A steal at 195,000d (with drinks).
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| The inside of the Central Post Office |
Day 2
There's more walking around to be had!
- History Museum (15,000d) - they have a very extensive collection, including artefacts from Cambodian temples. Picture-taking not allowed!
- Pho 2000 - their catchphrase: "Where presidents dine." Naks. On the wall hangs a framed photograph of Bill Clinton with the staff. Good, hearty pho with hefty servings of condiments. Spent 154,000d for a full meal for two.
- Ben Thanh Market - where everyone seems to think you need a whole new closet-full of clothes. The hawkers also seemed to recognize us as Filipino and started selling their wares to us in Tagalog. Nye. Dried fruits, candy, and snacks are also available. The market is divided into sections -- food, clothes, bags, trinkets.
- Augustin - dinner at this French restaurant proved a pleasant experience. Ninoy and I ordered a serving of soup each and I wasn't able to finish mine. The owner and the wait staff are so concerned that I didn't like it, they asked me about it twice. The roast chicken is good and the servings are huge. USD36 for dinner for two.
- Foot massage - there's a newly-opened massage center in Blue Diamond and we tried it out. The masseurs chatted the whole time and frankly I felt like battered meat after. USD8 per person.
Day 3
This day was spent travelling from HCM to Siem Reap. We had breakfast really early then left for the bus station. The bus picked us up from Pham Ngu Lao (the backpacker area with lots of cheap hostels).
We had Blue Diamond book the bus trip for us, and they issued us tickets from HCM to Phnom Penh and another one from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. About fifteen minutes after the bus got going, the bus monitor collected our passports. About two hours after departing, we hit the Vietnam border. We all had to get down from the bus to have our passports stamped. After everyone got their passports back, we boarded the bus again, rode for a few meters, then alighted again this time to enter Cambodia. We stopped for (an expensive) lunch at a roadside eatery a few kilometers into Cambodia.
It took us about six hours to get to Phnom Penh (our bus rode a barge too!) and by the time we got there I was getting tired of all the sitting around. We got off at the Phnom Penh station of Phnom Penh Sorya and transferred to the bus taking us to Siem Reap.
Our ETA at Siem Reap was supposed to be 9pm, but our bus took A LOT of stopovers and some parts of the National Highway are under repair. We got to Siem Reap at around 10:30pm and by this time I was utterly and thoroughly pooped. I hadn't eaten anything substantial since lunch, it was raining so hard when we reached Siem Reap, and my butt hurts. I thereby declared that we will not do that road trip again. Ugh.
A free bottle of water is included in the fare for the HCM to Phnom Penh leg. The bus from HCM to Phnom Penh is clean, but the one from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is a little old. We paid Blue Diamond for our bus fare and they gave us a provisional receipt with our seat numbers. The bus fare from HCM to Siem Reap is USD22 per person.
For our three-night stay at Blue Diamond, I paid a little over PHP5,500 (USD 126).
