After major mistake in choosing the wrong hotel in Ho Chi Minh, I decide to share some hindsight for those intending to travel to Ho Chi Minh soon. Let you not repeat the same mistake.
First thing first, you need to be certain what do you want to do in Ho Chi Minh. Most Malaysians visit Ho Chi Minh for shopping; clothes and bags are particularly cheap. If you narrow down your activities to just shopping, your area shall be limited to BEN THANH MARKET at Le Loi Street, District 1. Some hotels will describe their locations to be just within few minutes walk away from Ben Thanh Market. My hotel is 15 minutes away from Ben Thanh Market and it does say few minutes walk.
Ben Thanh Market is best to venture very early in the morning where the sellers will be happy to give you discounts as their first customers to get a “lucky morning”. The reason why I say limit yourself to Ben Thanh Market area is because you will be going to Benh Tanh Market at day and night time. There is a night market happening every night and this is the best place to haggle the price at its maximum. Again, consider the heat and the occasional rain.
For shopping, it’s best to consider staying along these streets:-
- Le Lai;
- Nguyen An Ninh;
- Le Thanh Ton;
- Truong Dinh;
- Le Loi.
If you are so much of a hipster and enjoy backpackers paradise, then head off to Pham Ngu Lao Street and Bui Vien. Numerous night clubs and bars along the streets. The streets are noisy with mixture of honks and loud music.
Halal food? Easy find in Ho Chi Minh, unlike other Vietnam cities. The most famous one I patron is VN Halal, located at 14 Pham Hong Thai, Ben Thanh. This is very near to Ben Thanh Market, just a few shops away from Baskin Robin.
Other halal food restaurants:-
- Restoran D’Nyonya Penang – 68, Dong Du Street, District 1;
- Halal@Saigon 30 Dong Du Street, D1, is opposite to the Indian Jamia Mosque, near Sheraton Hotel
- Pro döner kebab 169 De Tham, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, Distr.1;
- Ali Baba Restaurant: 60 Le Thanh ton, Distr 1;
- Satay House Restaurant 35 Mac Dinh Chi Street, District 1;
- Zamzam (Taj Mahal) 26 Bui Vien Street District 1
- Kedai Shamsudin 445 Le Hong Phong Street, District 10;
- Satay House Malaysia 307/25 Nguyen Van Troi Street, Phu Nhuan Ward
- Akbar Ali, 240 Bui Vien Street, District 1;
- Bombay Restaurant, 59 Dong Du, District 1;
- Sara Halal Food, 67 Dang Van Ngu, Phu Nhuan District;
- D’Anjung Malaysia – 45 Lê Thánh Tôn Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;
- Tandoor Restaurant, 74/6 Hai Ba Trung, District 1
31 Comments
great!!!
ada gak info…
nak g next mth, fuh senang sket ada info kat sini hehe
Ehehehe, thanks for dropping by. Kalau ada nak tanya, tanya je kat sini. Mana tau boleh membantu.
Terima kasih Farah atas perkongsian kedai2 makan berstatus Halal di HCM tu ( :
No problemo. Banyak kedai makan berstatus halal. Tak sempat nak pergi semua. Tapi expensive la. 3 orang makan dah RM70 camtu.
Best!! Info on the halal food is gd. Btw izit cheaper to chg USD to
VND..Dekat mana bagus utk tukar wang..
Hi Sal,
Thanks for dropping by. No, it’s not cheap. I would advise you to change to VND here in Malaysia. You get better deal here.
Please check the money changer at Giant Melawati, second floor. Ada yang cakap bagus di Masjid Jamek. Tapi di Giant Melawati tu, kawasan Bukit Bintang, Sg Wang pun x boleh challenge. It’s the best deal for VND in town.
Farah
tq for info…
kalau nak shopping barang suka kat mana. nak pergi next week.
nak beli beg , kasut dan jersi.
tq
Hi Azie,
Thank you for dropping by. Di Benh Tanh Market ada dijual barang-barang sukan juga seperti beg-beg outdoor dan jersi. Kasut juga mungkin ada. Ataupun kalau nak beli borong, beli di Andong Mall, District 5.
Ni list kedai outdoor yang saya jumpa di internet, tidak pasti masih wujud ataupun tidak.
1) Gia Dinh Sports
455 Xo Viet Nghe Tinh
P-26 Q-Binh Thanh
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
511-4252
2)Hong Sports
A 43 Cong Quynh
Q1, Ho Chi Minh City
3)Loan Sport at No. 159, 3 tháng 2 Street, Dist 10
4) Dai Hung Sports 432 Ly Thai To Ward 10 District 10
Di HCM, kedai-kedai sama terletak dalam satu kawasan. So kalau kata barang sukan, ada satu street yng jual barang sukan. Masa saya pergi dulu ada juga mencari kedai sukan, tetapi tak jumpa tempat yg nak cari. Mungkin Azie boleh cuba tengok di kawasan di atas ni.
keep up the good work sis, very infomative blog. saya suka sangat2. I memang suka backpack mcm you n iwud love to be able to stay with the locals. Have u experienced staying with them? by the way info lahif u nak go places, cos i nak tag along…hahaha. On a serious note, if u DONT MIND cos i memang suka cara you travel. Syabas. r on facebook dear?
Salam Kak Nomi,
Normally, if I were to stay with locals, I’d probably need to go for a long holiday just to spend time with the locals. Unfair for them, kalau touch and go je. Nak tag along, boleh. Nanti kalau ada trip yang best, boleh lah roger.
Facebook email: farah_nadiahz@yahoo.com. Drop me FB msg first, kalau tak nanti tak perasan.
Tq sooooo much for d info beb..keep up d gud work : )
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
– Saint Augustine
Welcome: Harap-harap berguna lah information tu.
hi, baru balik vietnam 19th hari tu..mmg best. Food was exceptionally good n yummy. baju kurung n textiles murah giler. hahaha…u know what, dah ada orang booked i to be their tour leader…going again with a 8 member team next march…i will add u fb…zainormiza zakaria..
Salam Kak Nomi,
Wah bagusnya siap dah ada booking nak ke sana jadi tour leader. Kalau nak maklumat lain drp blog ni boleh like page http://www.facebook.com/thatsofarah. Nanti boleh terus tgk updates di wall.
hi 🙂 suke dgn info2 yg menarik dr farah… Sy akan ke sana 29hb nie… Agak blurrr sikit dgn tmpt2 yg nak dilawati n shoping 🙂 & masalah pencarian makanan halal tp kini da selesai 🙂
No worries… Ho Chi Minh senang nak jalan-jalan dan shopping. Lagipun ada juga yang boleh bercakap Melayu.
Safe trip and enjoy. 🙂
salam..farah bleh bg alamat hotel yg dekat dgn tempat2 shoping tak TQ
Salam Muhammad Zaki,
Alamak saya dulu duduk jauh dari tempat2 shopping tapi kalau nak cari hotel, cari yang sepanjang jalan yang saya list kat atas. tu mmg dekat sgt dgn tempat shopping.
Maaflah jawapan tak membantu sgt.
Farah
Great info sis!!! planning to visit vietnam this September 🙂
All the best for your trip. Safe trip, Marina.
Thanks sis… insyaAllah… nak gi shopping sana n balik berniaga heheheh
sis, nak tanya hotel kena tempah dulu atau walk in? 1 bilik boleh tinggal ramai ke.
tq
Tak tahu kenapa comment awak tak appear dekat site, Rosli. Btw, hotel dulu saya tempah guna Agoda. Dan dia agak strict utk room for 2 only for 2 persons.
In Vietnam there is no such thing as halal nasi campur stalls by the roadside. Food is cheap on the roadside, and consumed on short-legged chairs and tables on the pavement. In proper restaurants they cook the food properly and takes at least 15 minutes for the food to arrive. A dish would cost 800,000 dongs (RM 12) but it is a large amount. So for a group of 3, it is adequate to order 3 bowls of rice and 3 separate dishes of food, and that will cost a person about RM 15 each. So, not that cheap if you want halal restaurant food. There are many halal restaurants from Ben Thanh area to the Indian Muslim mosque area.
The only Malay the salesgirls know are words relating to selling, like bang, kak, murah, makan, harga, banyak etc which they picked up from Malaysian visitors over the years. You can gauge the number of Malaysian visitors by the many boutique signage in Malay – telekong, baju kurung, selamat datang, kedai pakaian etc. I went into one and went upstairs to something and there was a group of Malay ladies, seated on the floor and packing tonnes of these items into boxes to be shipped home!! They said they are half the price in Vietnam.
Apart from shopping visit Vietnam for its heritage and cultural contributions. It has many UNESCO-sponsored sites. Hanoi and especially central Vietnam have many things to see, like the first capital of Vietnam (Hue) and the ancient city of Hoian and the 1500-year Champa influence. The Champa were Melayo-Polynesian sea pirates who had an influence until the 19th century. They were originally Hindus, then a dynasty converted to Buddhism and towards the end they embraced Islam. These are the Vietnamese people who man the halal restaurants and mosques there, even though some halal restaurant owners are Malaysians.
Visit south Vietnam for shopping or if you want to see the remnants of the American-Vietnam war and visit north Vietnam for historical and cultural interests. Happy visiting and touring.
thanx 4 the info sis, akan gi end of nov. x sabar rsnye. Usually sis backpackers sorang2 ke?
Assalam sis farah…ade pergi lagi ke ho chi minh bulan disember ni? Nak ikut….x de kawan la…
Tak pasti lah siapa yang akan pergi. Cuba ping dekatgroup2 traveller di Facebook. Mungkin boleh dapat kawan travel.
makanan kat Nha.Hang.. Mahal dn x berbaloi.. lebih baik makan kat singapore chili crap kat kawasan situ… lebih berbaloi… makan sedap..harga murah..
Singapore Chilli Crap dekat area mana pula?
hi ,
i kan pi buln 5 ni .. hotel mana lebih better n murah ye ? .. jnji dkt dgn BEN THANH MARKET .. sbb bawa owng tua sekali .. heheh .. this first time ni .. hahaha tq
Message*salam.. Tqvm atas info yg sgt membantu.