Our first time in VIETNAM! 🇻🇳 Exploring Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) + Cu Chi Tunnels!

I am loving it here. If you missed our last video, we are in Asia for the first time ever and are spending the next six weeks in Vietnam. After a 17-hour flight from Seattle to Singapore, plus a fun layover in the gorgeous Singapore airport, we landed in Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam, and up until 1975, the city was called Saigon, but after the Vietnam War ended, the name changed to Ho Chi Minh City, after one of the leaders of the North Vietnamese, Ho Chi Minh. Both names are still used here, and you'll likely hear us use a mix of both as we refer to the city. There are currently over 9 million people living here in Ho Chi Minh City, and the city itself is split up into 24 different districts. We are staying in District 2 with our friend Chris and her fiancé Sarah, who are currently living here. And this morning, we're taking a water taxi over to District 1, which is where the majority of the tourist sites are. This building right here, Landmark 81, it is the tallest building in Vietnam. This is such an amazing way to get around, and I think for all four of us, it was only 3 USD. Made it to District 1, it is so cool to be here. And if you can't tell, the traffic here is absolutely crazy, there are thousands of motorbikes on the street, a bunch of cars, they all kind of weave in and out with each other, it is absolute chaos, but it somehow just works, it's very organized chaos. There are many things we are excited to try while here in Vietnam, but one of the top ones is Vietnamese coffee, so we're going to grab a Grab, which is basically the equivalent of Uber here, to head to our first coffee shop in Vietnam. Coffee was first introduced to Vietnam by the French in the 1850s, and Vietnam is now the world's second largest coffee producer after Brazil. And for our first Vietnamese coffee, at least in Vietnam, we came to a spot called Cheo Leo Cafe, which is actually the oldest coffee shop in the city, established in the 1930s. Vietnam is the largest producer of Robusta beans, which has almost twice the amount of caffeine as Arabica beans, and a more strong and bitter taste. And one of the most popular Vietnamese coffee drinks is cafe sua da, which is iced coffee with condensed milk. We actually got to just go in the back and watch them make coffee, which was so cool. From what we read, they use a nearly extinct, old-fashioned method of brewing Vietnamese coffee using a clay pot and a cloth strainer. I am so excited to try this. It is very warm here in Ho Chi Minh City, the highs are in the mid to upper 90s, so an iced drink just sounds heavenly right now. Let's taste that. Oh my gosh. I could easily chug like four of these, and since they have double the caffeine, I would just be like, the rest of the day, be running around Ho Chi Minh City. Oh yeah, man. That almost, that almost tastes like chocolate milk almost, but with a little, with a coffee flavor to it. Wow. It's not overly sweet either. It's definitely sweet, but it's not as sweet as I thought it would be, which I'm happy about because you really do get that strong coffee flavor. All right, and now it's time for some breakfast. That's right, we're having bánh mì for breakfast. The word bánh mì just means bread in Vietnamese, but it's actually a sandwich, and it's one of the most iconic foods to eat in Vietnam, especially for breakfast, originating in Saigon in the 1950s. Back in the 1850s, the French invaded Vietnam, plus Laos, Cambodia, and part of China, creating a group of colonies called French Indochina, and didn't leave until the 1950s. And over those 100 years, they had a heavy influence on the area, and one of those major influences was the baguette, which has become the vessel for the bánh mì. And to try a legit Vietnamese bánh mì, we came to a spot called Bánh Mì Hong Hoa. From what we read, a typical bánh mì consists of pork, cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro, pâté, daikon, and a buttery mayonnaise. I'm pretty sure that's what I have here, but I think we ordered the wrong thing at first, and so we have two extra here. Whoops. I'm not mad about it. Just first impressions, look at this bread. That looks so fresh and so good. That bread is crazy good. Wow. As soon as you bite into the baguette, it has a nice, crispy, crunchy layer on the outside, and then kind of soft on the inside. And then, I think I bit right into this pepper right here, so it's pretty hot. But then, this one has a few extra meats on there, and there's one meat on there called It says hot dog, and that's kind of the flavor I got there, but you have the creaminess of that mayonnaise, and then these vegetables in here just add a little freshness. I was kind of nervous about the pâté. Not something I would normally eat, but I don't dislike it at all. It has a little bit of a creaminess to it. This is delicious. My first bite was mostly just bread, pâté, and pepper, but now I'm getting to try more of the bulk of it, and there's such a good ratio of meat to veggies. You just get the perfect combination of everything into every single bite. You get this nice heartiness from the meat, the creaminess from the pâté, the freshness of the veggies. It is so good. And also, the one that we accidentally ordered is delicious too. So I'm very glad we made a mistake, because now we have banh mi's for days! Also this sandwich was only 38,000 VND, which is about $1.50 US. That's crazy. Hi! You're such a cutie! Aw, thank you! Bye! Oh, this is the best! As we mentioned earlier, District 1 is known for having some of the city's most famous and iconic buildings, and we're currently walking through Tao Dan Park, which is a beautiful park in the city that leads to the Reunification Palace. The Reunification Palace, also known as Independence Palace, was originally built in 1871, but this version of the palace was built in 1962 to replace the old palace. This building is the former South Vietnamese government building, and was the scene of a very dramatic event when the North Vietnamese tanks rolled through the front gate in 1975, signifying the fall of Saigon. You can go inside for 65,000 VND per person, so we're gonna go check it out. So there's multiple levels you can explore, and right now we're in the basement, and there's not very many people down here, and it feels like you're not supposed to be down here, but it is allowed, but everything is just... seems like it's original. We read that when the North Vietnamese came, they haven't changed much since then, so it's almost like it's just frozen in time. Yeah, it's very blast from the past in here. You can totally tell this has been here since the 70s. What does everybody want? What do you want? I have pho here, there's banh mi's right here. Anything. Mac and cheese? There are so many areas to explore in this building. You can almost go anywhere. You can go all the way down to the basement, all through all the levels, then even on the roof. Besides the banh mi sandwich, the French also heavily influenced the architecture here in Ho Chi Minh City, and one of the best examples of this is the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, which was built between 1863 and 1880 with the original materials being imported from France. It is just stunning. It is an absolute masterpiece. You guys ready to see it? As you can see, it's under construction and it is completely covered in scaffolding, but if you go on the side, you can see some of the facade. But there is another building close by that has strong French influence and isn't under construction, the post office. Normally, the post office isn't a place you go to for fun, but you'll see why we're excited to go here in a second. But first, we need something to mail, so we're going to try to go track down a postcard. We came to the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, and the purpose of this street is to spread the love and habit of reading, and I think this may be one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I love going to libraries and bookstores, so to have a whole street dedicated to it, I think is just super unique. I think we found some winners. These are really neat. They're kind of like cloth postcards. They're just very thin and bendable, unlike any postcard I've seen, and that's where we just were. This is the post office, and just look at how gorgeous it is. It is one of the oldest and most iconic buildings here, and it kind of just looks like a European train station. Yeah, this is much nicer than the post office we go to. Hopefully, you get this, Mom and Dad. When researching the post office, I read a story about a man named Mr. Duong Van Ngo, who is considered to be the last public letter writer in Vietnam. He apparently started working for the postal service at 16 and worked here at the post office for over three decades, handwriting letters for those who either couldn't write for themselves or needed something translated into English, Vietnamese, or French. He's retired now, but it would have been really neat to see him at work. All right, we've been in Vietnam for about 24 hours now. We wanted to share some of our first impressions and just how we're feeling about it, and I just got to say, I am loving it here. I knew we'd really enjoy it here, but I'm loving it way more than I thought. Just the city has such a great energy and vibe. It's more modern than I thought it would be. It's just beautiful. One maybe struggle point that we were a little afraid of, but it hasn't been too bad, is the language barrier. English is spoken, but they say, you know, with a Vietnamese accent, and so sometimes you can't pick up on what they're saying, but you can still get the point across. But yeah, I'm loving it too. It's just a beautiful city, and the people are so friendly. It's just so busy in a good way and just so lively. Yeah, and it's been so great to have two friends with us who live here to kind of help us navigate Vietnam for the first time and Ho Chi Minh City. They've helped us kind of with some translations and just figuring out. Just ease in and get comfortable with kind of the culture and the different nuances. We're just absolutely loving it so far. I was worried I would feel very anxious here, like it would be too overwhelming, but I don't feel that way at all. I'm actually really loving it. We just crossed the street like all by ourselves basically. We're thriving. For lunch, we came to a street food spot to try Bun Thit Nuong, and this is a true street food spot. They're just cooking on the side of the sidewalk right down there, and we're sitting at this tiny little plastic table and these adorable little chairs. This is exactly what I think of when I think of having street food in Vietnam. These chairs take me back to my childhood. I think they're the right size for a five-year-old. Bun Thit Nuong is a southern Vietnamese dish with cold rice vermicelli topped with grilled pork, fresh herbs like basil and mint, veggies, and fried spring rolls. And then it has fish sauce to add on top. We also got this lemon tea, and it is so refreshing. We're just chugging as many cold drinks as we can. We buy a water bottle and it's gone in two seconds. It's a little sweet, a little tart, a little crunch of sugar crystals in there. Yeah. Mmm. The egg roll is nice and crispy on the outside. This meat is perfectly grilled. It has kind of like a sweet flavor. It's really hard to describe. It's just delicious. There's so many textures going on. You have kind of the crispier veggies. You have peanuts in here, softer noodles. It's just fresh, sweet. I love it. This is so good. We've only had two Vietnamese foods so far, but this one was by far my favorite. These motorbikes are crazy. They get so close. I could reach out and tap him on the face if I wanted to. Smack him on the butt. Yeah, smack him on the butt. Tickle him. Yeah. For sunset, we're heading up to the Saigon Sky Deck in the Bitexco Financial Tower, which is the second tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City and the fourth tallest in Vietnam. And for 200,000 VND per person, you can head up to the top and see the city from above. This is an amazing view up here, and it's really cool to be able to look around and see all the spots that we went to earlier today. Being up here just also puts into perspective how massive the city is. There are so many buildings. We just had dinner at one of Sarah and Chris's favorite restaurants in town, Bandito, which is a taco spot. And y'all know we love tacos, and these tacos were insanely good. We did not expect to find delicious tacos here in Vietnam. And we're now ending our night on the Nguyen Hue Walking Street. They close this street down for pedestrians on Fridays and Saturday nights. We came here earlier today. It was nice and peaceful and quiet. And now look at it. It is bumping. There are just so many things happening. There are people skateboarding. There are people singing. There are people dancing. There's a guy with a snake around his neck. We also happen to be here during this festival for Ao Dai, which is the traditional Vietnamese dress. They're doing some sort of event right now, and they're all wearing them, and they are gorgeous. It's so cool when we unexpectedly time our visits with really neat cultural events like this. Yesterday, Sarah and Chris showed us some of their favorite spots around Ho Chi Minh City, including a dim sum spot. That's the definition of a pillow right there. That's pillowy. You want to lay out your head on this. Three beautiful temples, drinking more coffee, and ending with a picnic from a delicious spot called Cashew at a park below Landmark 81, which had stunning views and lots of kites. It was an amazing day and so fun to go to so many places that we may have not gone to otherwise. Today, we are going on a day trip. There are two very popular day trips from Ho Chi Minh City, including the Mekong River Delta, which unfortunately we don't have time for on this trip, and the Cu Chi Tunnels, which is where we're heading to today. The Cu Chi Tunnels are located about one and a half hours northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, and we're about to go on a private half-day tour that we booked through Saigon Adventure, and it costs $37 USD per person for the four of us. Except, unfortunately, Catherine isn't feeling too hot today, so she's going to sit this one out. We just made it to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is our guide, Sonny. He's going to show us around. The Vietnam War, called the American War by many Vietnamese, took place between 1955 and 1975 and was officially fought between North and South Vietnam, with the United States intervening heavily in the 60s. And the Cu Chi Tunnels are a huge network of tunnels that were used as a base of operations for the North Vietnamese forces during the war. There are three levels of this. This is the first level, second level, and the last level. So the first level is around two to three meters. That is for meeting bunkers, kitchen bunkers, resting bunkers, storage bunkers, and fighting bunkers. And in here they have three basic rules. That is cook no smoke, speak no sound, and walk no track. So this is how they cook no smoke. So you can see this is what we call the smokeless kitchen. So when they cook, the smoke is supposed to be released in here, but no. Because if you release it in here, the enemies can come and destroy that. So that's the reason why we use the small room next to that. And then the smoke that we keep inside the small room, we release around three to four meters further than the original one. So even if they drop a bomb in here, there was no people in here, so everybody would be safe. So here we will see the secret entrance, the way to enter the tunnel system. So this size, they make it a little bit bigger than the original one. So later I will show you the original one, very small. So this one is the way how we enter the tunnel system. So in here we use speak no sound. So we will knock to the door with the secret code. So if it's the right code, we will let the soldiers in. So if it's the wrong code, we will set the grenade underground. And whenever the enemy tries to open it, the grenade will explode and destroy the team. So everything will be camouflaged by leaves and trees like this, you know. And then when the soldiers come, they will open it and they knock the door with the secret code. So if it's the right code, they let them in. So this is the size that they use to go inside by that way. So inside it has a little hole that the people can come inside. Okay, so the last soldiers will come inside like this. And then they will camouflage by leaves and trees. And then they gather the leaves around them. Okay, so we will hold this one like this. And then come inside. Start falling under the ground by that way. You said this one was widened. Right, widened. So it's usually smaller. Smaller, yeah. Even like me, I cannot fit the original one. Oh my gosh. It's small in there. This is a very typical sandal that they make it from the leftover tire. Like they collect the leftover tire and then they cut it into small parts like this. If I wear it like this, do you see a difference? Watch this. If I wear it like this. This is my foot. Oh, it looks the other way. Like it's going the opposite way. Correct. Let's go backward. Yeah. So if we go this way, the footprint will go this way. So that's the way how we deal with the footprint in here. So it goes backward like that. So we go this way, this way. Yeah, so walk no track. It's not really no track. We distract the enemies at that. So along with the tour, as you can imagine, with all these tunnels, you get to crawl through one. That's what we're about to do. Don't know how I feel about this. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah, very warm down here. It is dark in here and it is small. I'm good right here. So you have the option of doing 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 meters. And the further you go, the smaller and tighter it gets. I'm going to tap out at 20. More tunnels. We never see Sony again. Alright, next up, we're going to be trying some tapioca. Very common food during the war for people in the tunnels. We have tapioca. This is sugar, peanuts and salt. See here? So you can pick one and then you dip it in here. The tapioca had a starchy baked potato-like texture. And dipping it in the crushed peanut and sugar mixture gave it a sweet crunch. Bye, thank you. Thank you, Sony. We just made it back from the tour. And the tour was really fun, interesting and informative. It was really cool to see how the soldiers operated in that tunnel system. Our tour guide, Sony, was amazing. If you get him as your tour guide, consider yourself lucky. We'll link the tour that we booked below so that you can check it out or see their other tours that they offer. Today is our last day here in Saigon. We have a few more spots that we want to check out. First, we're going to try another iconic Vietnamese dish which, similar to the bánh mì, is very popular for breakfast, pho. Many believe pho originated in North Vietnam during the French colonial period. And when the French colonial times ended in 1954, many North Vietnamese migrated south and pho began to take on new variations and adapted to different tastes, culture and produce of different regions. Since we're in Saigon, we're going to try Southern-style pho. The difference between Northern and Southern pho is that Southern pho has thinner noodles, primarily uses beef and the broth is said to be sweeter, fattier and richer. And for toppings, pho in the South is served with a plate of cilantro, lime, bean sprouts, basil and jalapeno. And in the North, the toppings are a bit more simple with just green onions and cilantro. So we ordered the number one on the menu, which is raw beef. And at first glance, it looks pretty similar to the style of pho that we've had in the United States. But I have a feeling it's going to be way, way, way better. I'm going to just try the broth first. Oh, that is so good. It is packed with flavor. It looks so simple at first glance because it's kind of a clear-looking broth, but it has so much depth of flavor. And you can kind of taste that sweetness and that richness that I mentioned that the broth has here. Oh, that is so good. This meat is shaved so thinly and it's nice and tender. And then when you get all of the herbs in there, the basil, it's just so fresh tasting. It just tastes so fresh. That is super good. I can't wait to devour this bowl of pho. As Adam mentioned, I wasn't feeling too well yesterday, but I'm on the mend, and this is my first true meal in over 24 hours. Maybe even closer to like 36 hours, and I cannot think of a better first meal to have. It is just so comforting, so delicious. It is heaven in a bowl. Next up, we're at the War Remnants Museum, and we've shared a bit about the Vietnam War throughout this video, but this museum shares a ton more information about it. We're going to enjoy it off-camera, though, and share some thoughts when we're done. That was very, very, very intense. The museum has a lot of images and then text to go with it, so there's a lot of reading involved, and some of the images are extremely graphic. They had several exhibits on some of the even more atrocious parts of the war, like Agent Orange and some of the massacres that happened, so it was really heavy. We definitely recommend coming to this museum if you're in Ho Chi Minh City. It's super important to visit, and whether you can come to Vietnam or not, and you just want to learn more about the Vietnam War, we recommend this Ken Burns documentary on PBS. It's about 10 episodes, and I think around 18 hours or so, so it's a bit of a commitment, but it just has taught us so much about the war. We were really glad we were able to watch most of it before coming here, and I think it just made me really appreciate this museum even more. For our final spot in Ho Chi Minh City, we're going to check out the Ben Thanh Market, which is the oldest surviving market in the city. It has been in this spot in some form since the early 17th century. First impressions of this market, it has just about anything you can imagine. There are clothes, there are shoes, there are trinkets, there's food, there's fruit, there's nuts, there's coffee. There's a lot in here. While there is a lot going on here, I thought the vendors were going to be really grabbing on you and pulling you in, but they're not so bad. They're just really friendly. My favorite part of this market experience so far, though, is watching Chris haggle with the vendors. Adam and I are not good at haggling. We've never negotiated to buy anything. We usually just say, okay, we'll pay it, but Chris is a haggling boss. She's getting stuff done over here. We're making a quick pit stop in the market to get some drinks. We have a mango passion fruit smoothie, which is delicious, and then we also got sugar cane juice, which is something that we've never tried before. Oh, wow. It's like almost a little citrusy. I don't know if that's the right way to describe it. It's really sweet, kind of citrusy. I think I just expected it to taste like sweet water, but it has a lot more flavor than I thought it would. That's really good. Oh, that is kind of like a creamy taste. Yeah, I imagined it would just be like sugar and water, but this kind of has a little creaminess to it. Yeah, it's way better than I thought it was going to be. All right, Adam. We survived the market. We survived. We have had an amazing time here in Ho Chi Minh City. As we mentioned earlier, we've enjoyed our time here even more than we thought we would. It's just an incredible city, and we have loved every second. A huge thank you to Sarah and Chris for hosting us and showing us around. It was the perfect introduction to Vietnam, and we are so excited to continue exploring this country. Tonight, we're going to be heading to our next destination in Vietnam, and to get there, we're going to be taking our first ever overnight train.