Top Ho Chi Minh City Walking Tours - page 5

As this was my first time in Vietnam, I was hoping for an Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown-like experience to really understand the country. Born and raised in America, I tried to approach my visit with a clear mind and no expectations. While I made my booking 2 days in advance and received a confirmation from Viator, I did not hear anything from my host until 5 minutes after my scheduled tour via WhatsApp.(I checked email and my Viator account an hour before our scheduled time with no messages.) So I hesitated a bit at the check-out desk looking around wondering if my guide would arrive until I received the message on my mobile. A confirmation message from the team between 2 to 24 hours before our start time would be my only suggested improvement which would give me the confidence to check-out of my hotel room early. Now the good stuff. My guide Allie was waiting outside the door of my hotel at the scheduled 10:30am start time and promptly gave me a short but comprehensive safety briefing on how to ride a scooter which I had never done before. She completely answered a couple of my follow-up questions. Within a couple minutes we were on our way for an exhilarating ride through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City. As I mentioned to Allie, there were some parts particularly on the roundabouts facing two massive oncoming city buses that I thought I would die if I were the one driving. Allie handled them expertly weaving in and out. I went with the 7 food tastings tour which was more than enough to fill my stomach and fit comfortably within my 4 hour time window before I had to catch my flight. I insisted Allie partake in some of the food which she graciously agreed because 1) again, I was looking for that Parts Unknown experience and 2) there was no way I could finish all the food anyway. It was wonderful to learn about her experience living in Vietnam, the education system, and her professional history. Moreover, I was happy with the food offered in the series - the steamed rice cake topped with scallions and dried shrimp, banh mi, cracker, dry noodles where I also splurged on my favorite Vietnamese noodle soup which I paid the extra cost on the spot, sugar cane juice and more. It was wonderful to see a bit of the city and how people run their daily errands which I brought back similar sights in China. While most of the stops were outdoors in the summer humidity which honestly was a significant improvement from my preceding days in Shanghai and Beijing oddly enough... the last stop was in a nicely air conditioned restaurant. Whoever did the schedule planning, I commend you for that ending touch. I wish I had more time but this tour itinerary was perfect. There's no way to eat your way through Ho Chi Minh City in such a short time, so why not walk and engage in conversation during the breaks to learn more about this wonderful world we live in. Thank you Allie for a great tour! Thanks to the organizers for the itinerary and flexible tour scheduling every 30 minutes which allowed me to maximize my relaxation time in the hotel, fit this delightful tour in and make my flight. I highly recommend this tour and found it to be a good value for the price. PS - Google Translate was completely useless with the printed menu at the dessert place so you really need to read Vietnamese.