I spent some really nice days with Karine in Darwin visiting the Litchfield National Park, walking through the city, going to a sunset market and relaxing at the lagoon. The day she took her plane back to Sydney I took mine to Ho Chi Minh City. After 10 great months I was leaving Australia! It felt really weird and sad to leave this beautiful country behind and all the people I met there. But on the other side I was very excited to go to Vietnam a totally different country with new people, new food and new experiences!

My first impression of Ho Chi Minh was dirty, chaotic and loud. I was actually pretty shocked as it was so different to Australia! Especially the traffic was crazy! It seemed like no one cared about any rules and everybody just tried to find their own way through the traffic. This first shock made me miss Australia and my friends there even more…

Crossing Vietnams streets is an adventure itself…

But quickly I met nice people, got used to this way of living and even started to like this easy and relaxed ‘don’t-care-too-much-about-rules-and-organisation’ attitude. Sometimes when I watched the traffic I almost started laughing out loud as it is so funny how the Vietnamese drive. All the time you hear honking, which no one seems to take too seriously and lanes don’t really exist as all the motorbikes and scooters just drive anywhere even on the walkways to avoid traffic lights.

My first days in Vietnam I spend exploring Ho Chi Minh City while trying not to get lost in the many streets with all the shops, people, streetfood stalls and motorbikes. Besides, I floated on the calm and peaceful Mekong river, learned a lot about the Vietnam War, tasted delicious Vietnamese food and had some cocktails above Ho Chi Minhs busy streets.

Enjoying some drinks in this nice rooftop-bar

Ben Thanh Market

Even if I really enjoyed my stay and I usually love big cities I felt like this city was a bit too big and too full for me, so after few days I headed north to Mui Ne a smaller town just next to the ocean.