(31 May - 3 June 2008)DAY 1
We were so excited to take off to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam that we could not sleep much the night before. The plane took off at 6am (Singapore time) on 31 May and we arrived at the airport at 7am (Vietnam time). I changed my watch to an hour behind to follow Vietnam time. Our driver picked us up to drive us to Viet Nghi Hotel and thus starts our adventure.
We freaked out looking at the traffic. Men and women on motorbikes whizzed by honking crazily to get the pedestrians’ and motorists’ attention. We really weren’t prepared for the honking-crazy motorists.
Before we checked-in, we bought a durian at 15,000 Dong/kg. That’s about $1.50 per kg. So, out first meal was a Vietnamese durian.
Our hotel room was our safe haven. To tell you the truth, we were happy and contented to stay in our hotel room and relax but we had to get out and make the most out of our holiday in Ho Chi Minh. The view from our room was also really good.
We walked through the streets after having a breakfast of bagel and cream cheese at a delightful café called Sozo. For lunch, we headed to Pho 24 next to Ben Thanh Market to have Pho Bo (Beef Noodles). Not as tasty as what we had hoped. Definitely unlike the Beef Noodles we had in Krabi.
After being mesmerized by the huge array of local fruits, we bought some Vietnamese coffee and the Vietnamese coffee drip.
Ben Thanh Market was somewhat alike Bugis Street which sold an array of tees and clothing merchandise.
After that, we headed down to Notre Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office.
By that time, it had started to rain and we spent some time at the Central Post Office to wait till the rain stopped. By the time we reached our hotel, it was about 7.30pm. We freshened up and went back downstairs for dinner before escaping from the honking-crazed motorists.
We heard lorries and cars reversing through the streets playing tunes of “Happy Birthday”. What tickled us most was hearing those buses with honks that echoes. That’s precious memories, man!
DAY 2 Jhan had a breakfast of Pho Bo. I’m not sure what I had. Somehow, I didn’t have any appetite since I arrived. Surprise! Surprise! This coming from a foodie like me!!
Then, we heading down to Sinh Café for a day trip to My Tho and Ben Tre. After an hour drive, we stopped at a petrol kiosk only to be told we had to alight and wait for another bus as our bus had ran into some problems.
Our first bump: we had to wait for another hour for another bus to drive us to the boat terminal. We were the only ones who sat under the hot sun trying to get a tan. The Japanese, Koreans and Chinese safely stayed under the shade out of the sun.
On a motorized boat, we were out in Mekong River to see the floating fish port and the fishing ships.
Still by boat, we went to Con Phung or Phoenix island to see the different foodstuff and handicrafts the Vietnamese made from the coconut fruits and trees.
Our second little bump: the boat stalled for about 5 minutes before the driver managed to start up the engine again.
We also visited the orchards before sitting down to a sad lunch of white rice, stir-fried beef with fries and fried tofu.
After lunch, we went to a bee farm to have tea with honey, some tropical fruits and get entertained by some traditional music.
Our third bump: it started to rain heavily.
Then, eight of us plus one driver rode on a little cart pulled by a little white pony. I immediately teared up because I felt so sorry for the little pony. It was also still pouring buckets. We were all drenched by the time we took the row-boat along the creek of Mekong River. The last stop was to see the coconut candy production process. When we went back to the boat, Jhan had a little mishap.
Our fourth bump on this very bumpy trip: when Jhan was stepping onto the boat, she slipped and almost fell into the sea between the boat and the jetty. Luckily, she managed to stop herself from slipping further and got away with a scratches. Mind you, the pair of jeans she wore saved her legs from getting worse injuries.
On the bus trip back to town, we were reminiscing of Krabi, Thailand and seriously thinking of various ways to skip Vietnam altogether and retreat to good-old Ao Nang, Krabi.
However, by the time we reached out room, we decided this trip to Vietnam will provide us with some good experiences. We decided to persevere. I personally decided to make the best out of this trip because honestly, I may not even want to come back to Vietnam again.
Dinner was a fabulous Margherita pizza and linguine with mushrooms in cream sauce. After two days of miserable food, I was in heaven and getting over my culture shock. I was terribly tired of the constant honking!!!
DAY 3 Breakfast was Pho Bo and Egg Mayonaise on Croissant at Sinh Café.
We took the bus for a trip to Cu Chi Tunnels. It’s a network of tunnels of about 200km long built by the Viet Congs and guerilla fighters during the Vietnam War against the Americans. Our guide was a war veteran, Tam who fought the Americans for five years and knew all about the conditions during war very well.
The tunnels were amazing and really reflecting the intelligence of the Vietnamese then.
We saw wax statues of the freedom fighters, various bunkers, blown-up American tanks, bomb craters and enormous ant-hills.
I was in awe of the intelligent Vietnamese when I saw the different types of traps made during the war.
Jhan had a blast shooting with a rifle. Just look at that intense face!!
We had some tea and boiled tapioca before we were given the chance to explore the tunnels.
Back in the city, we had lunch consisting of Rice with Coconut Meat, Rice with Lotus Seed and a plate of stir fried veggie.
For almost every meal, we had our iced Vietnamese coffee and an assortment of fresh fruit juice with yogurt.
I collected my Ao Dai, blouse, pants and dress. I was happy. Also, my nerves had settled. I was finally able to ignore the honking-crazy motorists.
For dinner, we had Pho Bo again and also a side order of calamari and fries.
Oooohhhh… Here’s a delicious donut covered with caramelized sugar!!! It may give you a toothache but it‘s sinfully good.
DAY 3
Breakfast was fab!!
We also bought a couple of durians before resting at a little alley for some iced coffee and dining on durians.
Then, our driver sent us to the airport to get on a domestic flight to Hanoi.
By the fourth day in Vietnam, we've shopped like crazy because things here are way cheaper than in Krabi. We came with two bag packs and now we're leaving for Hanoi with two additional medium-size carry-all.
These are more sights we caught in HCMC.
