Why Traveling to Ho Chi Minh City Might Not Be the Best Choice Now

If you’re going for a trip, I suggest choosing other places.

Here are the aspects of Ho Chi Minh City that I found disappointing:
1. The air quality is poor, and you’ll be inhaling motorcycle exhaust fumes endlessly. Crossing the street is also dangerous as vehicles don’t yield to pedestrians, making it easy to get hit.
2. Immigration is very troublesome, usually taking over an hour.

I don’t understand why there are so many people and such strict card checks [Crying Laughing Emoji]. It’s not like everyone wants to stay in Vietnam, could there be other reasons?
3. A taxi overcharged me 100 RMB! Transportation costs are very expensive, friends, really expensive. Taxi fares are about double what they are domestically.

That’s already bad enough, but I arrived at midnight, and the fare was doubled again. For a 7-kilometer journey, they charged me 120 RMB [Crying Laughing Emoji][Disappointed Emoji]. Friends, when you leave the airport, make sure to use Grab. The airport deliberately makes it so that you have to walk an extra 200 meters to catch a Grab.

If you take a taxi, you’ll end up in a similar situation as me.
4. The area around Bui Vien Street is very noisy, don’t stay there. Chinese travelers can stay in Chinatown or more than 1 kilometer away from the CBD. The bars on Bui Vien Street are too loud, and I didn’t sleep well for several nights.

The hotels are also expensive. If you enjoy clubbing and watching bikini-clad beauties dance, then it’s different. They even charge 10 RMB per kg for laundry. I washed six pieces of clothing and was charged over 20 RMB. It really feels like they’re exploiting tourists.
5. There are many people on the streets trying to sell you things, which is very annoying.

Once, a person with a child begging wouldn’t leave. I reluctantly gave them 1000 VND, just a random amount, but they thought it was too little and refused it. In the end, it seems they might be wealthier than you [Laughing Emoji].

Overall, the cost-to-benefit ratio is very low. Fortunately, I have a friend in Ho Chi Minh City who recommended some good food places, and the War Remnants Museum was also quite good, which provided some consolation.