We decided to make Qui Nhon a destination because we heard of the pristine beaches and almost no foreign tourists. The government it seems has put a lot of money into keeping this area relatively clean compared to other parts of Vietnam. The sand was imported and mostly free of litter, however as the tide went out you could see remnants of garbage buried in the sand which was more like the Vietnam we came to know.
When we arrived the temperature was 100+ F during the day! The locals obviously all knew this and we could tell by the vast vacant beach. A beach literally miles long with no shade, and as far as I could see we were the only ones dumb enough to be out! After a couple of cold beers, we eventually succumbed to the heat and retreated to our air conditioned room. At dusk, families flooded the beaches to play soccer and games, eat street food and drink beer or fresh coconuts. As the night went on the bars filled with men getting rowdy and having a good time (women don’t typically drink in Vietnam). Classically, the floors littered with beer cans and the waiters kept pouring and keeping fresh ice in the cups.
We stayed a few days in Qui Nhon, but spent most of the day time indoors and relaxing. From there we did as the locals did. Eat and drink, although at a much milder rate of drinking. Think spring break Panama City Beach, FL kind of drinking town. Not a lot else to tell about our time here, and there are few pictures to share. We definitely enjoyed our time and its cultural contrast to what we had seen so far in Vietnam, although it is not the beach town one would expect when they think of South East Asia.
From here we took a night bus to Ho Chi Min City, formally known as Saigon. We decided to book ourselves a fancy hotel for a whooping $30 a night and when we arrived there was a drunk tourist sleeping on the door steps! Later we befriended a British man at the pool and even later found this was his partner and they were some pretty hard partiers!
We only had a few of days to spend in Saigon. Robin and I went to a large market, some temples and parks during our first day and in the evening we decided to relax at our rooftop pool. Here we met a British fellow and a few other travelers. After a few beers and what was supposed to be a relaxed night, our new British friend turned the night up a bit and kept making us drinks. The night ended in his room binge eating food from the 7/11 and smoking way too many cigarettes. SMH. The next morning Robin and I were dead to the world. Making it out for breakfast alone and ordering room service for the rest of our meals that day. A sad site to behold. On the third day, we finally arose like Jesus once did and gloriously feasted around town. I will say, Saigon probably had the best food I ate in Vietnam. So again, not a lot of photos taken here… And just like that, we were on to Cambodia.
See photo gallery below, also a fun video of us crossing the street in Ho Chi Min City.
