'Ka ni Kim

Our recent trip to Ho Chi Minh was a thrifty traveler’s dream. It’s inexpensive to get around and eat well, and even the touristy activities are fairly priced. Here’s an idea of what you might spend on a long weekend in Ho Chi Minh.

Transportation and Accommodation

I booked my flight and hotel stay as a bundled deal from Agoda. My flights to Ho Chi Minh and back, plus four nights at the two-star Felix Hotel (Premium Double Room), cost Php13,094.

GrabCar operates in Ho Chi Minh and is much cheaper than in Manila. The longest trip I took was from the hotel to the airport, about eight kilometers, and it cost less than Php200. Most trips around the city were under Php100.

Activities

We took three guided tours, one for each full day we were there. The first was a guided walking tour where we sampled 13 different kinds of local food, from street food to soup to dessert. Read more about everything we ate here. We booked via Get Your Guide and it cost Php1,550 each. You can also book directly on their website.

Our second tour was at the Cu Chi Tunnels, with a brief stop at Sơn Mài Lâm Phát Handicapped Handicrafts, where survivors of exposure to Agent Orange make a living creating lacquer art.

The actual tour takes you to the tunnels and underground bunkers that the Viet Cong used during the war. The fee ranges from Php700 to Php2,000 per person, depending on whether you join a large group (up to 25 people) or a small group (up to nine people). Check out their website for more details.

The last tour we took was an early morning walking tour off the beaten path. The listing boasted visits to places not even found on Google Maps, and true enough, we had breakfast at someone’s grandma’s house.

This was a casual but highly educational tour that included an adventure through the wet market and a lovely sampling of fruits. We booked via AirBNB and paid about Php1,700 per person. See more photos on their Instagram.

Vietnam is world-renowned for its coffee, so we had to check out a coffee-making workshop. The class we joined covered some background on coffee—and specifically Vietnamese coffee—and how to make egg yolk coffee, coconut coffee, sea salt foam coffee, and the classic condensed milk coffee on ice.

All materials and instructions are provided for Php980 per person. You don’t get to take the tools home, but if you like them, you can buy your own at the venue right after the class.