I had some expiring air miles and instead of letting them expire like I usually did, I decided to take a trip. In the end, I decided to redeem my points for a return flight to Saigon and a one-way flight to another destination. My morning flight was then rescheduled to depart in the afternoon though.
Tuesday, 2 December 2025
I arrived at the airport and made my way through the border pass and first security check then waited for the aerotrain. I managed to browse a bit before making my way to the prayer room and then to the gate, We departed on time and after 100 minutes or so, landed in Saigon. I was last in the city in November 2015 although I was last in the airport when I had a stopover back from Busan. The queues to clear passport control were long but the process took about 15 minutes only. I refilled my water bottle before exiting the terminal and headed for he bus stop The ticket is VND5k and another VND5k for one bag. The bus left within minutes.
Saigon looked more or less the same although its streets didn’t look as clean as before. I got down after Ben Thanh Market and walked to my Airbnb at Co Giang. It was close to evening prayers so I ventured out again to find dinner after performing prayers. There are a few vegetarian restaurants at nearby De Tham.
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
I woke up early for prayers then had breakfast in my room. Today, I was joining a trip purchased via Trip.com to Cần Giờ, a coastal suburban district 50 km away from Saigon. It is home to Cần Giờ Mangrove Forest, a biosphere reserve listed by UNESCO. Rừng Sác, where the Viet Cong established base areas during the Vietnam War, is also located here.
We left Saigon at 08:00 (I was the last passenger) and drove to Phà Bình Khánh (Bình Khánh Ferry Pier) and then rode a ferry across. We continued on and reached Cần Giờ at 10:00. Our guide paid for the tickets and then we walked in. There are two types of monkeys, the brown and the golden (yellowish) kinds. The former is mischievous and devious. You need to be extra careful of your belongings here as the brown monkeys are bold enough to climb up and steal your glasses and caps. One member in our group had his water bottle taken from his shorts pocket. Our guide distributed some peanuts for us to feed the monkeys.
After that, we went to see some salt-water crocodiles nearby. There are 16 crocodiles in the area and we saw four of them. On weekends, there are stalls selling fish to be fed to the crocodiles but there was no one selling fish when we went today.
Next, we walked beneath the canopy of trees along the path and crossed some bridges to get to Rừng Sác War Zone area. The guide shared some historical background then we were free to explore the hints before taking a motorboat back to the entrance.
We had lunch at a restaurant and were served seafood hotpot. The restaurant prepared vegetarian noodles for three o members of our group who were vegetarian. After lunch, we rested and I took the opportunity to explore the nearby seafood market.
We left at 14:00 and headed back to Saigon. It was a comfortable trip and I enjoyed myself. It rained along the way back to Saigon. I didn’t fancy venturing out again to find dinner so I decided to return to the restaurant where I had dinner the evening before to buy a banh mi chay.
Thursday, 4 December 2025
After breakfast today, I went out to find the bus stop for bus number 152 to the airport. There is one just five minutes away from the Airbnb (Google Maps directed me to walk in a narrow alley, cross the road and continued along another wider alley and out through at Trần Humg Dao Road. The bus stop services a few bus routes and the expected time for the buses are displayed on an electronic panel. Neat! Then I walked to Takashimaya at Saigon Centre, then on to the statue of an Uncle Ho and the City Hall, and then to the Opera House before turning back.
And finally I stopped at Ben Thanh Market. I bought a couple of horn necklaces and some dried ginger, mango and guava. Then I walked to Phạm Ngu Lao before heading to the vegetarian restaurant for a late lunch. I spent the rest of the day indoors reading my book.
Friday, 5 December 2025
I left just after 08:00 and walked to the bus stop. Bus 152 arrived within ten minutes and we reached the airport after 40 minutes or so. I asked if I could change seats from the one assigned to me when I checked in online and the lady at the counter said yes, if I didn’t mind a middle seat. So I moved up from row 16 to row 7, which is great because I could hurry off the plane.
We landed at 13:45 and I performed prayers first before catching the 14:22 train.
So that was my Saigon trip after ten years.
