Day 1
We were pretty excited for this trip because none of us had ever been and we were adding two more people to our travel group. Two students who were studying in South Korea decided to join us for this leg of the trip.
Once landing in Vietnam, getting the actual visa to get into the country was a little bit of a process. We were good little travelers and had applied for a visa on arrival ahead of time (it costs $20 and takes about 2-3 days for processing). We weren't good about filling out the form ahead of time and making sure we had 2 passport photos (we figured we could get some taken once landing but there were no such facilities). It wasn't too bad though. Despite no one speaking English, we were able to figure out which line to wait in. We first waited in line to get the form, filled it out, and then waited in the same line to submit the form with 1 passport photo (to which they said nothing). After 15 minutes or so, they called our names (which we barely understood and collected our visa-ed passports.
After surviving immigration, we had to figure out how to get to our hotel. We had read horror stories about cabs trying to rip you off, even hold you hostage until you pay hundreds of thousands of dong (their currency). The best bet we read about was to walk out of the international terminal (ignoring everyone trying to get you into a cab) and going to the right about 300 meters until you get to the domestic terminal. Before getting into the cab, we came up with a plan to fight our way out of the cab if he pulled a metal pipe on us. The biggest guy would sit behind him to get him in a choke-hold if needed. When we got to the domestic side, it was much more calm. There we found a standard taxi queue line with a chart on taxi fare rates. We got into one after giving him the hotel name in Vietnamese and the ride to our hotel was uneventful as we had hoped.
After checking into our room, we explored the immediate area and the markets. We got a sense of the surroundings and learned real quick that scooters do not stop for people. To cross the street, you have to find a small opening, go for it and continue in the general same direction without walking into a passing scooter. After a few close calls or waiting on the side of the street for 10 minutes, you learn quick.
After an hour long walk or so, we went back to our hotel to let the shock subside. We found 4 possible places to eat, jotted it down on the map and made our way out for dinner... Google maps does not work well in a lot of these countries. Wherever I marked the restaurant locations, the restaurant was not there. We were 0/4. We ended up asking hotels around the 4th restaurant and was directed another half mile down. Lesson learned. Either take a cab or if you are going to walk, get the exact address.
We ended up eating at Hoi An. We didn't even bother looking at the menu before going in because we were so hungry. It was nice. Doors were opened for us, people were smiling. It was very different than a lot of the places we were before. When we sat down, we figured out why. It was freakin expensive. We decided on a set menu so that we could sample a lot of different items. With beer, it came out to 60+USD/pp.
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| Crab meat and asparagus soup |
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| Spring rolls "Sai Gon" style |
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| Fresh spring rolls with muscles |
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| Steamed shrimps with garlic |
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| Steamed rice in lotus leaf - the rice was inside |
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| Sauteed spinach with garlic |
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| Roasted duck |
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| Cream caramel aka flan |
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| Our bill - the USD conversion ruins the wtf factor |
After dinner, we walked back. We walked by some places that definitely offered more services than just massages and thoughts of Thailand came rushing back. On our way back, we saw a lot of the buildings lit up with a lot of color. It was pretty scenic on the way back.
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| Opera house |
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| City hall |
We got back early for our standards (11pm-12pm) and although we wanted to wait up for the remaining 2 members of our group, we were tired and turned it in for the night.
Day 2
Day 2 was our explore and figure stuff out day. We had breakfast in our hotel which was a decent assortment of american style breakfast and Vietnamese food. I had 3 plates of food + Pho.
We started by walking across the small park across from our hotel. While we were standing around looking like a bunch of tourists, a girl came up to us asking for a restaurant recommendation. She was travelling by herself and had just landed. We were hungry also so we invited her along for our roaming day. We walked to the Ben Thanh market browsed around, ate lunch, bargained for a bit before walking around for a few hours in the immediate area.
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| Where Bill Clinton ate when he visited |
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| These flags were everywhere |
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| Roundabout in front of Ben Thanh Market |
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| Ben Thanh Market |
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| Ben Thanh Market |
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| Bún Chả Giò - Vermicelli Noodles with Spring Rolls |
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| Where we ordered our food |
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| Fresh Spring Rolls |
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| Jackfruit |
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| Bún Chả Giò |
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| Kinda dangerous IMO |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral |
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| Cool Cards |
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| Cool side of a building. The plant were sideways on the wall. Like regular plants. |
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| They carry everything on these scooters |
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| I love this stuff - 1 of my criteria for if I can live in that country (kidding - ok not really) |
In our roaming, we were able to talk to a few travel agencies and booked a tour of the tunnels and the city. We got back to our hotel to shower (you almost have to after walking around Ho Chi Minh) and get ready for our night out.
We went to the top of the Rex Hotel (supposedly it is one of the 1000 places to visit before you die) for rooftop views. We got some drinks and an appetizer before heading out to Lemongrass for dinner.
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| Rooftop @ Rex Hotel |
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| Rooftop @ Rex Hotel |
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| Rooftop @ Rex Hotel |
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| Rooftop @ Rex Hotel |
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| Beers @ Rooftop @ Rex Hotel |
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| Spring Rolls |
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| Dinner spot - 1 of the 4 initial places we tried to visit the 1st night |
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| Orange & vodka - notice the awesome straw |
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| Watermelon & vodka - notice the awesome straw and the awesome swirler |
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| Spring Rolls |
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| Crab and vericelli noodles - tasted like jap chae |
After dinner, we walked over to Apocalypse Now. It was pretty empty when we got there but it quickly became packed. We lit up the dance floor until a fight broke out. We left shortly afterwards.
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| Some tall building that looked cool that we saw every night |
Day 3
Day 3 began like day 2 with breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards, we got on our bus and went to sleep. When we woke up, we were at the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was fascinating to hear about the history of the tunnels. How they had different levels for different purposes, how they were sized to fit a Vietnamese person but not an American, ways to conceal cooking smoke, traps that they put everywhere, and the signs they placed to signal locations of traps and doors.
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| Pho |
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| Everyone is assed out |
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| Look at all the colors |
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| Ooo - some flowers |
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| Not.. |
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| Do you pee in that? |
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| Nope - it's an entrance to the tunnels |
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| Bye bye |
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| Our guide |
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| They used termite mounds to double as air vents |
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| Traps |
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| Traps |
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| More traps |
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| How they make the white wrapping that wraps the fresh spring rolls |
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| Biggest crater that hasn't been filled |
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| Tree? |
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| Tapioca |
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| Jackfruit - our guide was saying that most of these will fall and only a few will make it to giantness at which ppl eat them |
After the tunnels we took a break at Pho 24 for some Pho.
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| Pho |
After lunch, we went to the War Remnants Museum. It was a moving exhibit and I was pretty mad about what had happened here.
This tour continued with the visit to the Reunification Palace, formerly South Vietnam's presidential palace.
Our last destination was to a local temple. It contained several figures, one of which you pray to when you want children.
After getting back to our hotel, we washed up and headed out for the night.
We looked for dinner but was having trouble because everything was closed. This is definitely not NYC. We ended up going to Pho 24 again which we weren't happy about. The food was good but we didn't want to duplicated meals. After dinner, wwe stopped by the night market by Ben Thanh and 3 of my friends tried some half hatched egg. There were trembling as they downed 2 of them. It was quite hilarious to watch.
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| Pho |
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| Spring rolls |
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| Half hatched duck egg |
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| Half hatched duck egg |
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| Half hatched duck egg |
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| Half hatched duck egg |
We ended the night at a cowboy bar. We ordered some drinks as we listened to live music and a juggling molotov cocktail show.
Day 4
This was our "eat at restaurants that were closed" before going on a night cruise day.
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| Bahn Mi but like a dif style |
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| Snails |
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| Meat wrap |
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| Durian |
The puppet show was thrown in with our tour. I used it to take a quick nap.
We also were giving a "cyclo tour of the city" from the puppet show to the dock. A cyclo is pretty much a bike with a giant basket on the front. We were pretty slow and all the cars, scooters, and buses zipped by us.
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| The pink thing is the brake lever |
The boat was nice. We were greeted with a welcome drink and then had access to buffet dinner. It was a good time, we even got some "free" 10 minute massages.
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| There were many performances through the night |
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| O, how I love mangos - other stuff was good too |
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| The bar on the boat |
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| Skyline from the boat |
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| Skyline from the boat |
After getting back, we tried to go out and do some karaoke. When we got there it was closed. It was quite annoying but we were all very tired anyway.
Day 5
Day 5 did not have breakfast because we woke up so damn early. We got to the airport with plenty of time. Our trip through a lot of Asia had been interesting, and full of surprises. Although we have a lot of destinations left to cover, we were happy to settle down and have a home base of operations... in Hong Kong!
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| We need to not book flights before 8am |
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| "I swore all this stuff fit in before" |
