Ho Chi Minh - have a cup of coffee and chill

Many small,cheap and good hotels from US$ 30 per night available in HCM city

This is the second last post for my visit to Ho Chi Minh. In a nutshell, it is near to Singapore and Malaysia, flights are plentiful and inexpensive, hotels are plentiful and inexpensive, food is mainly soups, or grilled and if you look beyond the touristy spots, excellent tasting and inexpensive. The city is devoid of beggars, and relatively safe to walk at night. People are friendly and helpful, so if you are tired of the Chatuchak market in Thailand (like many Singaporeans and Malaysians have visited the place many times in the last 5 years), you can consider the Ben Thanh market for their range of excellent coffees, basic clothing wear, local Vietnamese food stalls serving pho (beef noodles), handicrafts and lacquer paintings. Remember to bargain and negotiate as this is essentially a tourist market and to get a good bargain is the name of the game.   

Tourists wearing the 'ao dai' (pronounced 'ao yai') or traditional Vietnamese dress

Booking of the hotels are very easy, one way is to go to the website www.agoda.com and check out the deals and read the past visitor ratings, our hotel, called Lavender Hotel is located just 2 minutes walk from Ben Thanh market (District 1) and is rated at 3 and a half stars. It is priced at about US$ 50 per night per room with free wifi and king size bed. The rooms are a bit small but bathroom and toilet is spotless and dining on the 8th floor offers one a view of the 'downtown'. There are literally hundreds of small hotels springing up all over town in district 1 and 3, so in fact, if you are daring, just drop in on the hotel and see if they have rooms. Its that plentiful of hotels and rooms.  

On the last day, my manager Kannan and myself had a chillout session at the roadside and enjoyed a coffee along the sideroad. Vietnamese coffee is very potent and they have many grades ranging from normal,medium and strong. The aroma from the coffee is enough to drive afficiandos crazy and some of their well known brands are the Weasel,Mika,Mokassa and Culi brands. If you love coffee, do the Vietnamese thing and have a cuppa by the roadside.  

Relaxing and having a nice cuppa by the sidewalk- Vietnamese style

Cheers !!