Our First Time in VIETNAM - Exploring Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

We're in the amazing city of Saigon in Vietnam. We're gonna check out the shopping. Such a cool market. Relax at one of Saigon's many coffee shops. Explore the peaceful temples. They're all beautifully decorated. Take in all the smells at the markets in Chinatown. I'm basically done for lunch now. Okay, things have just got interesting. And immerse ourselves in Saigon's vibrant nightlife. We did not expect this. Very interesting place here to be at night, that's for sure. So come join us. Good morning. We are in Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. We're a little bit confused as foreigners to what we call the city because the name was Saigon for many centuries and many people still prefer to call it Saigon. However, the official name now is Ho Chi Minh City. So we're probably going to be using both names interchangeably throughout the video. So I hope you don't mind. We've just left our hotel and we've just stumbled across this really cute street. It's actually called the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street and it's full of cute bookshops and gorgeous cafes. It's just a really nice spot to sit and have a coffee and it's filled with beautiful trees. So it's actually quite cool in this part of the city. There's local artists here and people just selling all types of things as well, not just books. It's a really, really nice street. I love it. It has so much atmosphere and it's actually quite busy as well. In the background, you can see the Saigon Central Post Office which is a famous landmark here in Ho Chi Minh. It's located just across from the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon. The post office building is a French colonial building that was built in the end of the 19th century. Some say that it was Gustave Eiffel who built the Eiffel Tower that actually designed the building but not quite sure about that one. But anyway, it's a very nice looking building. So we picked out this really cute card and we're going to send it to my grandparents in Australia from the famous Saigon Central Post Office. So I'm going to write a letter now. Hello, I'm just going to post this. So unfortunately, the famous Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon is closed for renovation so we can't go inside. Also, the outside is covered in scaffolding so not too much to see in this case. So we've just left the cathedral and we're on our way to the Independence Palace and we're just walking through this really cute park in the middle of the city here. Such a nice place just to sit and relax and the trees are really gorgeous. But yeah, just a place that you can sit and get some shade. It's pretty hot today so it was a bit of a welcome relief I have to say walking through this park. The Independence Palace used to be the home and workplace for the president of South Vietnam and it is also considered to be the site of the fall of Saigon that ended the Vietnam War in 1975. We have arrived at the famous Ben Thanh Market and it's an indoor market selling lots of handbags, shoes, sunglasses, lots and lots of different materials as well. We've definitely got to a section where they're selling lots of spices because I can smell it all and they're selling dried fruit and nuts and also souvenirs. There's so much to see here. There's a more spacious section in the middle but then you've got all these little side alleyways going off that middle section. It's a little hard to walk here because it's very busy. Certainly very, very colourful here, that's for sure. We've reached the food court and a food area so let's see what they're selling. Here I think they're selling all traditional Vietnamese food and it all looks really fresh. See lots of spring rolls, our favourite. Also selling juices and smoothies. What is this? I think it's razor clams. Razor clams, okay. I've never seen them before. Oh my god, it's moving. They definitely took the name fresh food market to like a whole nother level. Oh my god, it's like slipping out. That is definitely fresh. It's still alive and moving. Very interesting. Oh my god, it just went back in. So I've noticed that there's a lot of places selling snails and also a lot of people eating snails. Yeah, I guess that's because of the French influence here. That's 100. Did you get a good bargain Ella? I think so. If you want a bargain in here you have to haggle pretty hard. They start quite high with the prices. I think you could probably haggle a little bit harder but anyways, she was pretty nice that lady. There's lots to see, lots to do, lots to buy so you can spend quite a few hours here if you like. There's also a part in the market where they have loads of beautiful materials so you can actually get some custom-made clothes made so they have tailors here. The material is really beautiful, really good quality. I actually really love the Vietnamese ladies' outfits. I think maybe Ella, you should think about getting one. They're so beautiful. Such a cool market. I would definitely recommend coming here. It has such a great atmosphere and I'm sure you could get plenty of really good bargains here. We are at Cafe Cova and the cafe is decorated so nicely. So they've got paintings of Saigon back in the days and they've also got a vintage motorbike. They've got a vintage telephone in the back. So cute and has such a great atmosphere in here. They've also got this really cute balcony outside where you can sit and overlook the different streets. I'm very excited to try this coconut coffee. It almost looks like ice cream on top. Oh my god, yum. It's almost like a milkshake consistency. That's delicious. I think that's actually my favourite one so far. It's like a coconut smoothie with a hint of coffee but it kind of tastes a little bit caramelly and then it's got like that sweet flavour but then it's not too sweet. It's just perfect. Not even sure if you can hear what I'm saying right now because everything is... It is so busy here. There are so many clubs, dancers. It also makes it really hard to walk too through here because you have so many scooters coming through the walking street. There's loads of bars and restaurants in between as well. It's a bit stressful and chaotic. It should be a happy hour everywhere we go here at the moment. I actually didn't expect this because we just came from Hanoi which is so cute and provincial. There's definitely a change going down south and seeing this. Oh, I see someone holding fire. A bunch of Thailand kind of just stand there next to the pole here. They've got a routine down and they're working in a bit more than the ones in Thailand. If you were to have a drink here, this is probably the spot because it's not that noisy. There's very loud music down there and very loud music down there but not so bad here. It's certainly all happening, that's for sure. Very colourful, very busy. Not exactly the place you go for a romantic dinner or a quiet conversation, that's for sure. It's pretty hard to hear anything in there, it's so loud. We just had a little visitor there. Certainly very lively. It's not even nine o'clock now so I can just kind of picture what this is like around midnight or so. So I think it's gonna get really crazy the later it gets. That was a really stressful walk through Boi Vien Street. It's loud, it's just hectic. There are people everywhere. There's these like fake security guards that are trying to get you to go into all their bars and restaurants. So now we're off to find our taxi. We're gonna go head back to the comforts of our hotel. We are walking along Dong Khoi Street which is a really nice street full of brand name shops such as Louis Vuitton, Dior. It's also where you can find the Saigon Opera House which is a beautiful French colonial building and you can also find lots of shopping malls along here with really nice shops too. We just saw this beautiful couple getting out of this gorgeous vintage car. They're getting married today and they just had a quick chat to us. It turns out they're actually Aussies as well. They're from Melbourne. They look so beautiful and they're wearing the traditional Vietnamese clothing. We wish them the best today for their wedding. So we've just been walking down these large boulevards here in the city and we've just come one street over and we found a local market. We're in the fruit and veggie section at the moment but they also sell seafood and meat. There's also cloves and household goods. They have ornaments for the temples. It looks like a very local market so not really a touristy spot at all. It's very interesting actually because you have all these old buildings and then you can see the skyscrapers popping out in between all the old buildings. We are at Vinh Tay Market and you certainly get greeted with a lot of different smells. So the first thing I could smell when we arrived was lots of fish and you could smell spices. Here you can see all different like dried fruit, nuts, some like dried fish and dried meat. Very interesting aromas. So this market is two levels and then they've also got an outdoor area with all the markets outside as well. This is definitely more of a wholesale market not really like a touristy market but it's very interesting to see all the different things that they're selling so I can see lots of fabric right now. All looks so colourful and so beautiful. We are definitely walking through the hat section at the moment. So the Vinh Tay Market seems to be divided into different sections and this is definitely the kitchen section where they are selling pots and pans and all sorts of things for the kitchen. We've just seen a load of rice papers thinking about bringing some back home because we have just fallen in love with the fresh spring rolls here. Seems like there's a bit of a motorbike traffic jam at the moment. Certainly a hive of activity. It's so busy. People are busy packing things in bulk ready to be shipped off I guess to the rest of the world or the rest of Vietnam. Definitely the fish section here. Looks like dried fish with chilli flakes. So not fresh fish but dried fish. Oh there's a dead rat. Dead rat, dead rat, dead rat. It's not what you want to see in a food market. I would definitely say that I don't need lunch today because walking through this market you totally lose your appetite because of all the smells. I'm basically done for lunch now. I can go another three, four hours without food. I feel like we've just eaten this market. We've got dried shrimp over here. This is definitely the dried seafood section for sure. I have smelt some things that I've never ever smelt before. Good smells? Could take some getting used to. Interesting smells, let's just say that. So interesting seeing all the different types of food in this market and we have just come across all these different types of mushrooms. I've never seen so many different types of mushrooms before. Okay that was certainly a really interesting market. Binh Tay market is actually located in Chinatown. So it's about 20 minutes drive from the city centre. Oh it's a really cute street actually. Take a look at this, it's very colourful. Very pretty here with all the flowers and the trees, all the decorations. It's a very colourful area. Wow this is one crazy busy intersection here and a really colourful street. I'm loving all the shops with all the Chinese and Vietnamese decorations. Following a local. That was successful. So always follow a local and stay on the other side of them because they know how to do it. There are a number of really nice temples in Chinatown and they're all beautifully decorated. This one actually has so much incense burning and you can see all the different coils burning on top. When you're walking under it's a little dangerous because when the wind blows all the ash falls down. Nearly got hit quite a few times but absolutely beautiful temple. It's actually people having photo shoots in here in the different courtyards. So we're at the Saigon Square market. It's quite a nice market, a bit more orderly, not as chaotic as the Binh Tan market. It's pretty tight, pretty crowded in here but it's a really cool market. I'm loving it. And the people here are not so pushy which is really nice. They can actually look at some things without feeling stressed. It's a complete and utter maze of small tiny little alleyways and streets. There's some really nice stuff and I would say better quality than at the Binh Tan market. You know you're still obviously getting all your fake brands and things like that but things just seem to be better quality here I would say. Haven't checked out the prices yet so that could also reflect the prices as well so it might also be a bit more expensive. Just checking out some shirts here at this stall and each shirt is 100,000 dong which is about six Australian dollars so not actually too bad at all. So I just bought two t-shirts they're only 100,000 dong each so that was a pretty reasonable starting price so I didn't actually haggle for that price. It's nice this market here that at least they give you some reasonable prices to start with. I would definitely say to visit here if you're coming to Saigon. It's pretty cool. So I've just stumbled across the Saigon Centre here in the middle of the city and it's a really nice shopping centre. It has about four different levels. It has all your usual brand names. Ella and I are just about to go shopping for some skincare. Hopefully they have what we want but yeah just a really nice shopping mall and a nice place to escape the heat and go to the bathroom I have to say. The sun has just set and I have to say the city really comes alive at night. It gets really busy but also the buildings are beautifully lit up. Something that's really interesting at night is that all the small restaurants actually start setting up all over the sidewalk. It can actually be a little bit tricky to walk sometimes because there are so many seats that you have to step around and over. Certainly lots of smells that you can smell when you're walking past these small restaurants. They bring out all the little plastic chairs and the tables and everyone's sitting around. It seems like a really social kind of event. They also have mats that they put down on the ground as well to have little picnics. So it's really cute. Families getting together, friends getting together. It's just a really cute vibe. When we first arrived into Saigon we weren't really sure what we thought about the city. It just seemed like a big modern concrete jungle but the more that we're walking around the more we're starting to see the beautiful sides to Saigon. Some of the really gorgeous little streets and markets and some of the culture as well. There's actually a lot of really beautiful coffee shops around the city. So yeah it's definitely a nice place to come if you want to just sit relax and enjoy some coffee. Something I learned yesterday is that Vietnam is actually the second largest exporter of coffee in the world. I did not know that. Okay so we just stumbled across this place called Turtle Lake. Apparently a very popular place with the locals. It's a lot of concrete walkways crossing over each other. Generally it's a pond with stagnant water. Smells a little like sewage. But it does seem to be a popular place with Vietnamese families and very cute couples. So I'm not really sure what the attraction is to this place. Maybe it has some sort of like historical significance. But if you know let us know in the comments down below. We stumbled across this market called the Box Market and it's so cute. They've also got live music playing and they're mainly selling clothes here. And they've actually got prices on all the clothes. And it's quite reasonably priced which is really good. We've just reached the food section. We walked through all the clothes and then we came to this little spot in the market. Which looks really interesting. Okay so I can see some like fresh fruit juice. Oh kebabs they look really good. There's like some games that you would find at the festival. Some more clothes I can see back here. Whoa it's actually a really long market. So there's different sections. So there's a clothes section and then there's entertainment and food area. And then I can see like another clothes section back there. It certainly gets busy on the roads here in Saigon. And the number of motorbikes is just crazy. Never seen anything like it. We are down in one of the central walking streets in downtown Saigon. And I have to say it's all really happening at the moment. There are people skateboarding. Just people walking around having a good time. People playing some game. I don't know what it is. They're like badminton and soccer mixed together. So it's kind of like a shuttlecock but they kick it. But it's really cool. It's very satisfying to watch actually. Okay things have just got interesting. So we've gone from random dancing to some interesting rapping to a snake on the street. We have a snake now posing with some anime people. It's definitely vibing here on the street. So you know where the entertainment is? Because you get crowds of people just circling around and create this large circle where the entertainment is in the middle. There's just so much random stuff going on. There's anime characters walking around. There's people singing. People dancing. You can have your photo taken with a python. There's people eating in the middle of everything. They're selling food. They're selling toys, balloons. People seem to be having a lot of fun. There's lots of cute little dogs running around. Kids scooting around on little hoverboards. And now we're walking past a store with eggs and fried squid. Yep that's fried squid. Very vibey though. Lots happening. There are people standing like statues that start moving if you put money in their box underneath them. Very interesting place here to be at night that's for sure. We had an amazing time here in Saigon. The people have been just so friendly and beautiful and we've just really enjoyed exploring the city. As you can probably see I'm getting a little emotional because I don't want to leave. It's such an amazing stay. You're gonna make me cry as well. All right well this has been an emotional rollercoaster but we'll see you next time on Living the Jo Life. What do you think about the Vietnamese people? Hot. Do you want to elaborate a little bit more about what you mean by hot? I don't need to elaborate it's hot. So if there are any nice Vietnamese boys watching you can comment if you would like to go on a date with my daughter. You're not putting that in. That's too bad.