Vietnam Part 1 : Ho Chin Minh (Saigon)
Posted: May 7th, 2009 | Author: faddy | Filed under: Travel | Comments Off
Similar to our last trip together to Pulau Rawa last year, this recent trip the Totots (sans Liyana) had to Vietnam was rather last minute, in the sense that all we did ahead was to book airline tickets, and only got together to do a rough itinerary on the 24th, five days before our departure date.
So when the three of us (Ikah, myself and Peah, from Left to Right) boarded the plane on the afternoon of April 30th, leaving our crying boyfriends behind (hehe), it still did not really settle in my head that I was going to be away from Singapore for 6 days to a country where I have not once ever thought of travelling to, whilst knowing pretty much nothing about it.
Our first day at Vietnam was pretty much uneventful due to a series of mishaps, but do watch out for my following parts as those are the days we had fun-fun-fun! Do continue reading if you want to, but don’t say I didn’t warn you hehe…
We touched down at the main International Airport in Ho Chin Minh, also known as Saigon, after a two hours flight and was greeted by the man above holding up Peah’s full name (thats Nur Shafiah Bte Mohd A*** and not Peah Totot, mind you) on an A4 sheet of paper.
We had booked him through our hostel and it was rather pricey at US$14. A tourist we made friends with told us that she was only charged US$8 by getting out of the airport and flagging a local cab herself.
The problem with this is that Saigon, unlike Singapore, has many different companies running taxi services and if you have not done your research, you might just end up with a shady driver with a tweaked meter. For your information should you be heading there, Saigon’s main taxi companies are Ben Thanh Taxi, Mai Linh Taxi, Red Taxi and Saigon Taxi, just to name a few :)
The taxi driver dropped us right in front of the alley to our accommodation for two nights – Luan Vu Guesthouse, which was recommended by Shaz. I definitely, definitely enjoyed my stay here!
It was located right in the middle of the Pham Ngu Lao district which housed all the backpackers (and therefore near all the travel agencies and cheap accommodation) but tucked in an alley away from the noise generated by the ever honking vehicles.
The room itself (we got the highest 5th floor – a feat to get to without a lift but exercising’s good, right?) is very clean and a steal at the price we were charged. There are two computers with internet to be used at the small lobby, free breakfast, and the staff were always so damn helpful (more on this later)!
Five minutes after dumping our bags, we trudged back out to find a decent place to eat. Around ten minutes of walking coupled with 101 heart attacks later due to our 101 close encounters with the Vietnamese traffic, we finally saw Akbar Ali (240, Bui Vien), a Lonely Planet pick which was Halal.
But for God knows what reason, we decided to enter the other Indian Halal eatery opposite it and treated ourselves to a Naan feast. Apparently the naans here are much bigger then those in Singapore so yeah we kind of over-0rdered hehe. Accompanied by a group of Makcik Tudungs who were talking about us (”Dari Singapore agaknye?“) and a coverage of a cheerleading competition playing on the television, we devoured our first meal in Vietnam.
Throughout the drive to Luan Vu and during our walk to Akbar Ali, I kept seeing a Vietnamese flag fluttering in the wind every 5 metres or so and thought nothing of it, thinking that it was a normal trait in the communist country. It was only when we reached Sinh Cafe, a two minute walk from Luan Vu, and got bitch-slapped by tour prices quoted twice then the ones in the website, that we finally realized what was going on.
What we didn’t realize was that we had landed ourselves in Vietnam during the weekend that the whole of the country was celebrating Independence Day. As such, tour prices escalate like crazy due to a basic case of supply not meeting demand, and every guesthouse, tour, train/bus rides were booked like crazy!
Flummoxed by all these information that rendered our itinerary useless, the afternoon + evening that was supposed to be spent exploring Saigon on our own two feet were spent shuffling from one agency to another, trying to book an overnight train ticket to Nha Thrang. Having given up, we went back to Sinh Cafe and gave a pitiful smile to the tour operator above.
She let out a laugh, gave us a piece of paper to write down where exactly in Vietnam we wanted to go, did her own thing for 5 minutes and presented to us a solid itinerary for the next 5 days. I swear I could have kissed her on the spot because it is because of her that we actually had a great time. Really. So, yes, use Sinh Cafe if you’re heading to Vietnam!
By the time we booked all our tours and busses to get us to the different parts of Vietnam, it was nightfall. The totots and I took out our maps and headed out into the night – the girls to shop and myself to have a look see of this country that I am in.
Walking in Vietnam is a typical “Need to get used to this” situation. The walking pavements aren’t big, there is practically no official traffic lights for pedestrian crossing (nor much for vehicles either) and every street cross has to begin with a Dua Kalimah Syahadah as seriously, you just have to make a brisk walk onto the incoming traffic and brace yourself as the millions of motorcycles swerve around you. Number one rule – Just do not stop walking.
After our Naan feast earlier in the day and a tiring shopping marathon for the girls, we just headed to the first Italian eatery a few steps to the left of Luan Vu’s alley and ordered a couple of vegetarian dishes to quell our hungry tummies.
We then retreated early back to our room so as to wake up bright and early for our Day #2 in Vietnam – Cu Chi :) Stay tuned kids, for the fun begins hohoho!
Related posts:
- Vietnam Part 6 : Back at Saigon!
- Vietnam Part 2 : Caodai Temples and Cu Chi Tunnels!
- Vietnam Part 3 : Mekong Delta!
- Vietnam Part 5 : Mui Ne!
- Vietnam Part 4 : Nha Thrang!
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