SEA Tour 04: HCMC, Vietnam

18November2010

Left KL disappointed. Nothing much to see. Just the Petronas at night, which is stunning. If not for the Twin Towers, KL would be like Ayala/Makati. Maybe Kota Kinabalu is better..

30 minutes before flight to Ho Chi Minh City

It's our second day and we already spent $125, $375 more. I hope we could save in Saigon, Siem Reap and Bangkok..

Inside boarding area bound to Saigon. From here, it will be just Leah and I. Tell you later why Donna's MIA. Hoping we'll get through this trip without breaking each other's neck.

Boarding..

Bye Singapore

Looking forward to HCMC..

Looking forward to..

..new experiences..

..acts of kindness..

..words of wisdom from random strangers..

finally..@ Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Immigration was a breeze, literally. Un Immigration officer eh parang nakikipaglandian pa sa isang Immigration Officer..as in, ikaw pa un mahihiya na naistorbo mo sila..

so, its around 4 in the afternoon when we arrived at Saigon. First impression was..it was nothing compared to SG. I was under the impression that Saigon was like Manila..Sampaloc area that is, until we were at the crossing..

Josko, one is to one ata ratio ng motor at tao dito..Paano kaya kami tatawid diyan?tsk,tsk

So, we got to our guesthouse located at an alley, which reminded me of the dormitories around Dapitan area. Talked to the landlady, on whom Leah had a hard time because despite of her bad accent, she knows to speak English and good grammar, too.

Finally, after three days wearing the same shirt, I got my bathe and clean clothes..

We decided to do nothing for the night. We'll just walk around the area and see what goes. Paid $5 for the half day Cu Chi tour tomorrow, $6 for the Water Puppet Show later in the evening and went out for dinner.

So, we got to the street, crossing the street, that is. Our strategy was to wait for some people so we can cross with them. That went well for the first few streets, until we came to where we were the only ones crossing the street. Leah was saying we should wait for all the vehicles to stop but we noticed that wasn't happening. So, we decided to cross.. We found that we just need to walk slowly without taking a step back. It was a relief we were able to cross the street in one piece.

Food that night was great. Of all the places we've been in this trip, I liked best the food in Vietnam.

i forgot what its called. coconut shavings in rice paper.

Yes, San Miguel Beer

Seafood noodles. yum.

19 November 2010

I'm feeling a bit down because of the rain. Got stuck here at Kim Cafe, waiting for the rain to stop. We really need to buy an umbrella, seriously. Wala namang nagbebenta, halos raincoat. Saan naman namin gagamitin un?

It's been raining in all the places we have been.

Cu Chi Tunnel was an eye opener. I feel for the guerillas. I remembered Liza during the video presentation.

We got up early the following day. Inside the tour bus going to the tunnels, we were the only Asians in it, except for the three Singaporeans. Westerns trying to fit their asses on the bus's cramped seats.

We had a stopover in one of these stores which sells handicraft made by Land mine victims.

Portraits made from egg shells

Cu Chi is a district of Ho Chi Minh City. This is where the Cu Chi Tunnels are. I've been trying to research the reason why America attacked Cu Chi at the time. It wasn't said at the tour and I can't find it either in google. The closest I got was Cambodia was at war with Vietnam at the time and sought help from the U.S. So, the war began.

The tunnels, which is commonly known as "Tunnel Rats" was ingenious. It consisted of three levels and were built in a way Westerns won't fit. They were built specifically for Vietnamese. For more or less than 30 years, Viet Cong (vietnamese guerillas) were able to eat, sleep, cook and practically lived underneath the tunnels. It was also the reason America lost the war to Vietnam. Imagine that, America, at the time, has the upper hand and yet they lost. Pure genius. I had a newfound respect for the Viet Cong. Hats off!

Tunnels consist of three levels

War veteran

one of the Cu Chi traps

inside one of the first level tunnel

It was raining when we got back to the city. Afternoon city tour won't be happening so we decided to take an early dinner on one the cafes within the area we got stuck to.

Banh Xeo (Vietnames pancake)

Vietnamese Poh

The rain stopped finally. Next to rain, yes, flooded streets. Hay naku, napalusong ako ng di oras. Pero infairness, malinis naman un tubig hindi tulad sa Sampaloc, me diaper pang lumulutang. eewww. Westerns went crazy taking pictures of themselves amidst the flood.

Later, we went out to see the water puppet show. Just puppets submerged in water. It's a different way to see rural life in Vietnam. The show lasted for half an hour, I think.

After that, we just walked around the area.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Post Office

Reunification Palace

Until we came upon their mall. Nabigla kami at meron pala silang mall. We had a blast browsing their stuffs because prices were in thousands. A pair of Nike would cost you 1.3M VND. Yes, millions. (To date $1 = 19, 490 VND).

We bought an Esprit shirt for 289,000...VND.

Practically, that's what there is in Saigon. The land of sun and moon. Food and people were great.

I particularly would want to see the Northern part, Hanoi.

20 November 2010

Purchased a Sapang silver for 150,000 VND. (men, do i fell rich here in VN). hehe.

En route Cambodia..

Really looking forward to Angkor Wat. Definitely gonna soak in all of the temples..

Next, 14 hours to Siem Reap...