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> When I decided to go to Vietnam, everything and everyone told me to go to Ho Chi Minh City. It had better food. More art. More high culture. Less government.
by wdutch 4y ago
> When I decided to go to Vietnam, everything and everyone told me to go to Ho Chi Minh City. It had better food. More art. More high culture. Less government. So I went to Hanoi.
I'm not sure why the author acts like those are the only 2 options. I spent a year living in Ho Chi Minh city and the vast majority of the city of is not aimed at international people but at the 9 million Vietnamese speakers living there (districts 1, 2 and 7 being the exceptions).
That being said, both HCM and Hanoi are subcultures of their own and don't give any impression of a 'typical' Vietnamese person's experience. If I were to look for a completely ordinary city, I'd pick a random city with a population of around 500,000 and nothing notable on Wikipedia.
- notahacker 4y agoNot to mention that most backpackers probably visit both cities, and Hanoi is arguably the more touristy of the two...
- refurb 4y agoIndeed. HCMC and Hanoi are huge metropolis. There is a huge migrant worker population because that's where the jobs are. If you want an "non-touristy" experience, go to mid-sized cities like Can Tho or Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta. They have lots of tourists, but they tend to be local. Everyone else there is just living their life. Or go to some small rural town. Not much to do, but you'll get a glimpse of how a large part of the population lives.