Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh City

We’re definitely in the home stretch now, as today we pack up for Ho Chi Minh City. In some ways, we feel like it is the end of our vacation since the hustle of the big city will feel too much like our normal, hectic lives. Aside from getting to the airport, our only destination today is My Son, some ruins from the Cham civilization that are about an hour from town.

We take special care checking the room before we leave, as the hotel has made very clear it frowns on items making their way into guests luggage. From the card left in our room:

We are very sorry to stick the notice down, it is due to damages and lost facilities which may occur. To restrict further missing, The Management would like to offer some quoted prices that our Guests will be charged directly to your personal account for any cause of missing.

Below that is a list of items and the prices they charge, including $4 for the door mat. I can’t decide which surprises me more, that a mat in Vietnam costs $4, or that they have a problem with the ugly things going missing in the first place.

With a few hours to kill before out car leaves for the ruins, we head back into the Old Town one last time. Of course, our plan is to have a last lunch at the Friendship Restaurant, but rounding the corner, we are devastated to find it closed for the national holiday. We settle on a different place a few doors down, but its just not the same.

According to our guide book, the best time to visit My Son is early morning or in the late afternoon as that is when the fewest tour groups are there. Given that, we’re a little nervous heading out there just after lunch, but the plan is to leave from there directly to the airport in Da Nang so its the time that works best. The weather is overcast with showers again, so we hope that keeps things at least a little quieter.

What we find when we arrive though, is that the place is almost deserted. There are only a few cars in the parking lot and not a single bus. As we walk through the ruins, there are times when we feel absolutely alone, which makes the experience that much more enjoyable. It rains off and on which is a bit of a pain, but you can buy plastic ponchos everywhere, so we take two for a dollar.

The ruins themselves date back to the 7th century, and regarded as one of the most important Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia. They took a bit of a beating during the Vietnam war (apparently the area around the complex is still has unexploded ordnance), and the jungle claimed back a fair number after the Viet people defeated the Cham, but like the Citadel in Hue, work is slowly under way to restore the site.

Finished with Hoi An, we head to the airport for our final flight. We arrive quite early and fortunately are able to change our tickets for an earlier departure (without a single fee or service charge!). This gets us into Ho Chi Minh City around 7:00, so by the time we get to the hotel and check in, it is still early enough to get out and see a bit of the city.

We’ve been told that Ho Chi Minh City is like Hanoi on steroids, with bigger streets holding even more motorbikes. Around our hotel it seems pretty controlled though, not much different than any other big city like Vancouver or Singapore. Part of that may be the holiday, as many people would have returned to their towns and villages, so we’ll get a better idea tomorrow and Sunday.