Saigon, Phu Quoc, and Con Dao, Vietnam – Full hotels, sold out ferries, closed restaurants, and about a million more motorbikes. That’s what Saigon was like when we visited last time – which was also the first night of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. So, since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to stop by and see what the city was normally like.
Our second visit didn’t start out so well: We insisted the cab driver from the airport use the meter so he took the long way to our hotel, and I mean, long way, which ended up costing us over twice what it should have. Then the hotel got our reservation wrong and didn’t have a free room.

Courtyard; “The Pain”, Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
Fortunately in the backpacker section of town, all the hotels are basically the same, so we found a room just down the street, with a nicer owner who suggested a pho place nearby which made everything alright.
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