“It can’t be anything less than a celebration”, that’s how I would describe my life in Saigon.As a newbie to any foreign land, my Vietnam stay has been one of the most intriguing yet downright real phase of my life.When it all started back in May, 2015, some people around me were surprised and declared it naive, glad I decided to override their ignorance.Nevertheless, I am certain of the fact that I have helped quite a few people to change their preconceived notion so far.No matter how much you adopt or bend yourself to become part of any culture, it’s always some people and their recommended life hacks which makes your journey smooth.Having lived in Saigon and travelled around for 8 months now, I felt indebted to share some useful information and experiences which can help fellow traveller enjoy this city just like being at home.
The landing day – Yippee..
First and foremost thing which all blogs about travel to Vietnam on Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet must have advised you has to be your “On arrival visa”.I’d leave that topic for the experts.What’s next. With money in your pocket and signal on your phone, you are never LOST.Immediately after exiting the custom checkpoint you will hit currency exchange booth where you can convert your currency to VND (Vietnamese Dong).
It’s also a good idea to get a sim card to stay connected with your family n friends back home.Out of many service providers, I found Viettel and Vinaphone to be most reliable and cost effective.In case you missed it, no worries you can buy a sim card at almost any corner of the city and that too without any documentation.Just be little careful about verifying credit on your sim card since the price of sim card often depends on credit available which could be in range of 100,000 VND to 500,0000 VND.
Exhausted all your credits? pretty much every grocery/departmental store have recharge coupons you can use to get more credit in your sim card.So stay connected !
In Saigon for a few months? Idea of house hunting in a foreign country can get on your nerves-
Best place to start searching for a place for long term stay is Craigslist ( Aw yeah, it’s more than Men seeking Men forum here 🙂 )
Listing are frequently updated and all agents are very active on craigslist.You can also use many other websites to find your dream accommodation but don’t ask for this one 😉
In case you are in Saigon for short term, Airbnb might get you an awesome deal,
Agents are paid by apartment owners so most of them would be happy to pick you from your place and show properties around your preferred district.They are also very well connected so they can also help you find another agent if he/she does not work in that area.Just to help you get started here are some wonderful people who helped me search for an apartment around Binh Thanh, Dist 2 and Dist 1,
Mr. Philip : +84-0909992434
Ms Jenny : +84-0938599131
Ms Thuong : +84-0907933000
In case you are still unsure, here is something to motivate you. I found my fully furnished apartment on my 3rd weekend run after inspecting around 20 places with 4 agents. Happy house hunting..
Now you have found a place but what’s the point of sitting at home on weekends and miss the extravaganza on the streets .
Now this might come across as something scary and especially after you have seen the traffic on road , might think of it as some daredevil stunt but in reality nothing moves around if you don’t have a motorbike in Saigon.In my case realized spending money on taxi wasn’t worth it when I could use that budget for travel around in Vietnam . However, in case you are comfortable driving a motorbike, the key is to just go with the flow of traffic.
There are many agents and bike owners who give bikes on rent which might cost you in the range of 1-3 Million VND/month depending on what kind of motorbike you choose to hit the tarmac.
You can also use Craigslist or Saigon Scooter Rental for renting or buying a motorbike in Saigon.Although It depends on your bike, just to give you a sense of spending on petrol, I had a Yamaha Classico scooter which I use to drive to office and around the city with petrol expense of 100,000 VND for one week.
In case you are struggling to find a bike agency , you can contact , Nga : +84-0907122969
Make sure you get a good helmet, it’s mandatory to drive with an helmet for both driver and pillion.In case you get caught, a friend of mine suggested to start speaking in your native language (wait.. you can’t use english, policemen here are catching up really fast but you still have a chance)
Some handy info in case you are Interested in sports or looking for a Runners group –
Vietnam is another football(soccer) crazy nation and you can find people from all age group playing football in small/big fields in evening on weekdays and also on weekends.
Looking for an amateur club, you can contact http://www.saigonhotshots.com/. In case you have got some serious skills, check with this club , http://saigonsaints.squarespace.com/.
Apart for these there are many small clubs and teams who play regularly and certainly you will stumble across someone in your office team or company.
There are quite a few basketball courts in the city as well. I have been playing with my colleagues at 123 Pasteur Street, District 1.In case you can’t find a team, you will always find bunch of kids playing on weekend and they mean business so you better get your jersey on 🙂
There has been a big jump in people showing interest in the game of Cricket and you can find India, Pakistan and English Cricket Club of Saigon. Most of the club play every weekend at RMIT campus.You can contact them at their address, RMIT University, 702 Nguyen Van Linh Blvd., Tan Phong Ward, Dist. 7, Ho Chi Minh City.
In case you are looking for some relaxing swimming sessions after office or on weekends , this blog has listed a nice selection of some public pools in the city, http://saigoneer.com/saigon-culture/2027-5-of-saigon-s-best-public-swimming-pools
Many hotels and service apartments have opened their beautiful rooftop swimming pools even for expats who are not staying with them, you just need to pay some fees.You can check if there is one near you place.
List won’t be complete without mention of super enthusiastic runners group in Saigon.There are quite a few runner group but you should probably look for one in your district. I participated in few running sessions with VietRunners and some of my friends have been associated with vn-runners. People are really friendly and display amazing energy towards getting sh** done during running events.
There are many more exciting things to do during your Saigon sojourn, don’t miss out on local street food, old colonial buildings and churches, factory outlets/local shopping hotspots and festivity on the walking street to name a few.Hope these information can help you become a true Saigoneer.
Keep Traveling !
Travel With Wanderer 