Ho Chi Minh with baby?

C

canadienne

Registered User
If you've been to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), or even if you've just been to Viet Nam, can you please give a little feedback on whether it's wise, or even doable, to vacation in Ho Chi Minh with a 4-month-old?

And -- if not -- why, and where would you recommend instead?

(A few factors to consider: we don't have other children, we're only going for about 4 days, and we're not rich, at least not in HK)

Thanks!
C
 
I went to Saigon as a backpacker a few moons ago. I`m sure it`s changed a lot in the past 6-7 years bc at the time there was construction everywhere. Personally I LOVED the place, but right now I would not be interested to bring my baby there. Being a big city, there are many budgets you can holiday on, and the higher would make it easier on you, but in my opinion, 4 days sounds a bit hectic for a 4 month old baby. There`s also the whole visa thing to consider, as I would imagine you would all need one (when I went it was about $50usd for a 1 month visa).

If you`re just going for a few days, why not take it easy and go to a beachy place? Thailand is close, can be cheap (cheaper resort packages) and is quite child-friendly. Now is the time to go to Ko Samui side, and from November Phuket side(cheaper).
 
We went when our son was 20 months and found it to be the most unfriendly of cities for children - definitely not a vacation we would redo. It was stressful and dangerous. We could barely cross a street without fearing for our lives and our child's in the stroller. Personally, I would not recommend going there with a child especially such a young one. We were miserable in the end and we were there for just 3 nights at the Park Hyatt.

Like mentioned above, Thailand is much more child-friendly as are Cebu, Singapore, Bali.
 
I went to Hoi An with my 3 months old baby. The reason we went there is that it is a small town where we didn't have to walk far. Also Hoi An is more pedestrian friendly than HCMC or Hanoi. We went Christmas time and the weather was perfect. I really like Vietnam and I enjoyed it with the baby, too, but there were limitations. I am breastfeeding my baby, and I didn't feel comfortable doing it in public there, so we went back to the hotel a lot. Also, I don't think a small town like Hoi An gets lots of caucasian babies, so I got approached and pointed at a lot. It wasn't negative, but it was constant. But if you are going to a big city like HCMC, I don't think you will get that.
 
southside852 said:
It was stressful and dangerous. We could barely cross a street without fearing for our lives and our child's in the stroller.QUOTE]

Oh yeah, I forgot! No, you definitely can't cross the streets there. That's part of the HCMC culture about how you cross the streets. I would never want to try it with a baby, ah!!!!
Click to expand...
 
HCMC = omg

Whew ... those do sound like strong arguments against going, especially the fact that it is not pedestrian-friendly and difficult to cross the street.

(I have now made up my mind that I don't want to go, but I think my more adventurous husband will be difficult to convince; any other evidence I can present to him? Is it, for example, impossible to find a non-smoking restaurant?)

Is Thailand really OK to go right now, with all the unrest?

Maybe since we're going for a short time and don't have a ton of money to spend we should look into somewhere nice in China. I've heard it's nice in Lijiang?

Thanks all for the help!
C
 
Thailand`s fine to go now - it`s been getting back to normal for a while now. But you don`t have to worry since there are direct flights to either Phuket or Samui so you would bypass BKK.
You can always just tell your husband that in order to go to Saigon, you would have to do it on a high budget tour for safety`s sake. That might change his mind;)
 
I went to Krabi with my baby at 3months and loved it. It is quiet and very family friendly. Clean beaches, nice people. We flew to Phuket and rented a car from there and drove to Krabi (2 hours). I liked having a car there as well as it let us do a lot of exploring.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top