Happy New Year from Ho Chi Minh City… Chuc Mung Nam Moi
Christmas and New Years in Ho Chi Minh City was awesome here. Our Cruise with Artisan Cruises on Xmas Eve was definitely a highlight of the year. The food was delicious (especially dessert!!), the boat was stunning and the service top notch. It’s a smaller vessel and could get to parts of the river the larger vessels can’t so we had some different views to those on Bonsai, the week before. The low-key entertainment, created an intimate atmosphere and the three decks made it easy to slip away for some alone time after dinner. It confirmed my opinion that when you visit Ho Chi Minh City, you should get out on the water. It’s a great way to escape the craziness, enjoy great food and take in the city lights.
A peek inside the wonderfully restored Chinese junk – Artisan Cruises
Artisan has a number of new cruises planned this year, including and Oyster and Champagne sunset cruise on Saturday 24th January, boarding at 5 pm and departing at 5.30pm. Might be a good way to celebrate Australia Day! Book online here or send Ines an email at ines@artisancruise.com
Editors Note: Unfortunately Artisan Cruises is currently out of action for maintenance. I’ll update this post when they are back out on the river.
For New Years, the city stepped up and turned on the fireworks. It’s not quite Sydney yet but give them a few years and who knows. The only drawback was the INSANE traffic trying to move around District 1. Ho Chi Minh City traffic on steroids! .
Definitely more street food this year…
This year promises to be an eventful one. I’ve spent the last few weeks of December planning out the many sights, activities, dining and cultural experiences I still want to explore. I’m still on the trail of a good value shopping tour, traditional music performances with a twist and the best trip available to Cu Chi tunnels. As well as the highlights, I’ll also start posting some not so successful outings as well. Like every place in the world, Ho Chi Minh City has its challenges. Each and every day I learn something new about how to survive and thrive in this crazy place, and I’ll be passing on all those insider tips to you guys.
My big news is my second book is on its way. I’m chuffed at the positive response to this website and my first book, Get Away Worry Free: Pre-Trip Tips for Long-Term Travel
The new eBook will be an alternative guide to Ho Chi Minh City. By “alternative”, I mean I’m not trying to replace the Lonely Planet or plethora of other guides. It’s more about helping others to navigate the pitfalls, filter through the reams of information and hone in on the basics that will make your trip a happy, healthy and safe visit. I’ve been asking people from all walks of life, “what are the top 5 things they want to know (OR wish they’d known!) before they arrive.” Some of the questions I expected, but others really opened my eyes to how difficult it can be to find straight answers to worrying issues, especially for first-time visitors. I’m still in the process of teasing out the content so if you have any suggestions or questions you want answered then PLEASE DO LEAVE THEM in the comments field below. You can bank on it being full of no-nonsense, common sense advice.
Looking forward to celebrations at TET
The next big celebration, to look forward to, is TET (otherwise known as Lunar New Year). I’ll be aiming to find out as much as I can about enjoying the city over this period. Many people say to stay away during this time, but as it’s the number one celebration for the year, I’m betting there’s some very cool stuff to get involved in. So thanks for visiting the site.
So if you’re looking to visit Ho Chi Minh City in 2015 please get in touch if you want to know anything at all, or would like me to check something out before you get here. Just leave a comment below or send me an email at Sharyn@hochiminhcityhighlights.com. Internet permitting, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I hope you’ll keep coming back. If you don’t want to miss out on the updates then hit the “follow” button in the bottom right corner or pop your email in the pop-up when it appears.
May 2015 be your happiest, healthiest and most prosperous yet!
Sharyn
Note: I do not receive any payment for this post (or any others on the site for that matter!). I do receive a small amount of money by allowing advertisements on the site and any purchases made through those links.
