November 26-27, 2022. Welcome to Vietnam! Vietnamese food is one of my favorites. I love the mix of flavors and textures. My first restaurant experience (seriously, as a newborn) was a Vietnamese restaurant in Portland, so, of course, I associate Vietnamese food with comfort. Moreover, I’d visited Vietnam before and loved it. Hanoi and Nimh Binh were some of my favorite destinations of my previous round the world trip. This time I’m forcing myself to visit new places. I’ll start in the south and work my way north.

I flew into Ho Chi Minh City. In Southeast Asia, Grab is a popular ride share app. I used it to get a ride from the airport to my hotel for $4. Score! My hotel was across the street from the Saigon Opera House, right in the center. Saigon is still used as the name for the old quarter. Ho Chi Minh city is the whole metropolitan area.

The Park Hyatt Saigon is an amazing luxury hotel. I stayed for 2 nights by booking with Hyatt reward nights. One of the reward nights comes from my Hyatt credit card. The card charges $95/ year and gives you one free hotel night. I earned the other award night from staying in hotels. Therefore, I paid about $95 for two nights. The average nightly cost is around $250 so I saved $405 by participating in the rewards program.

The staff at the Park Hyatt were incredible. Every single person I interacted with greeted me by name and seemed to anticipate my needs. The reception staff were so happy to see someone traveling for more than just work or vacation. They gave me tons of suggestions and applauded my decision to stay with a homestay in the Mekong Delta.

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I arrived to my hotel around 7pm. I hate to admit that I stayed in the room and ordered room service. I’m the worst backpacker ever! One of their restaurants was authentic Italian so I ordered a caprese panini with mozzarella di buffalo, homemade pesto and cherry tomatoes. It came with a side salad with such crisp lettuce. Delicious and absolutely worth the increased fee to get it delivered to the room.

I slept so well in my big fluffy white bed. The next morning I savored eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and lots of fresh fruit from the breakfast buffet. My globalist status, which expires at the end of the year, gives me free breakfast and I enjoyed myself to the fullest.

I didn’t linger too long since the cathedral had mass in English at 930am. The cathedral is closed for renovations right now so the only way to visit is by attending mass. The cathedral was packed. I’m not sure if it was just tourists wanting to see inside or that it was the first Sunday of Advent. Either way, it was an enjoyable service.

I explored the city by foot afterwards. It’s so alive. I passed book sales, street musicians, wedding parties, and tons of young people drinking coffees at road side cafes. My destination was Noir. Noir is part charity, part fancy spa and restaurant. They train visually impaired people to provide massages or to work in the restaurant industry. At the spa, the massage rooms are just very dark, but in the restaurant patrons are blindfolded to experience what it’s like when you can’t see.

I got their signature massage which included hot stones and a mix of massage styles. The therapist was amazing and it was by far the best massage I’ve had this trip. Of course nothing is perfect so when I was relaxing with a cup of tea after the treatment, mosquitoes swarmed me and I got 5 bites. Oh well. If you are in Saigon, go to Noir! (Just wear insect repellent:)

Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich with French influences. The French colonized Vietnam from 1887 to 1954. They left behind lots of colonial buildings, baguettes, coffee and a very interesting mix of flavors. I had a mushroom banh mi for lunch. The crunch of the bread with the soft mushrooms and fresh crisp vegetables was perfection.

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I finished the day with afternoon tea at the Hyatt. A pianist and violinist serenaded us. The French pastry chef and chocolatier created decadent treats. Afternoon tea is one of my favorite splurges and this was worth the money.

The Mekong Delta Homestay tour began at 8am the next day so I would have to leave the hotel early the following morning. Therefore, I decided to visit both the bar and the pool in the evening to fully appreciate the hotel. As a globalist, I enjoyed a free cocktail which was delightful. The bartender recommended “bananas in pajamas” which is based off fried bananas, a common street food. Delicious!

Goodnight! I couldn’t go to sleep without trying out the bathtub with the complementary bath salts and oils. Tomorrow the cultural immersion begins but this night I savored living in luxury.