Trip to saigon was the first time i'm travelling overseas alone. I've always wanted to try travelling alone cause i believe everyone's itinery is never the same. Well, it was a fruitful trip i had, my soul's still there i guess.
The moment i was there, i could feel the vibe of the city. The countless motorcycles, road hawkers, markets, shy stares from the citizens. I was cheated into paying 5 times of what i was supposed to pay for a ride in a taxi from the airport to my hotel. Checked into the hotel, told the receptionist what happened and she got really infuriated, she called up the taxi company and demanded a reinbursement of the taxi fare. Well, it wasn't really successful because i didn't have the driver's car license number. So she suggested i go down to the taxi company and identify the driver, which i think is a waste of time and effort cause they all kinda look the same! Really appreciate her effort though, for making me feel that there was still a piece of love in the city, that there are still lovely people around, and not everyone wants a slice of your wallet. Proceeded to take a moto taxi down to dong khoi st, where i had my clothes tailored. Then took a confusing walk down to saigon square, trying to stay calm and avoid the weird stares. I guess i was looking too "touristy" cause i had my huge slr slung accross my chest, and occasionally flipping out a map from my rear pocket. After a little shopping, went back to the hotel and had dinner. Explored the back alleys and found this shop selling pho. Pho, pronounced as 'fur', is a vietamese delicacy that is cheap and really tasty. I had it for all 4 days there, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A bowl of pho costs less than SGD$2! Sat down, and started talking to a vietnamese auntie. She could speak really good english. Proceeded to the one of the pubs and had a couple bottles of beer while watching the world cup. Over there, most people sit on stools. So there was a saying that the lower the stools, the cheaper the beer. And that was really true. I had beer every night and it costs merely USD$1 for a bottle of saigon beer. It was there when i got to know my first switzerland friend, valentine. We really hit it off really well, discussing about how similar life was in singapore and switzerland.
The next day, at 8 in the morning, i boarded the bus for a 2 1/2 hour journey, 70 km north of saigon city to an area known as cu chi. I soon realise I was the only asian in the bus. It's really amazing to see how life is like outside the city. i saw lots of houses next to cemeteries, children playing in the cemetries, cows and horses everywhere, feeding on the vast fields of greenery. There wasn't proper roads all the time, everywhere was dusty, though there was still some old world charm there. Once we reached cu chi, we headed to the famous cu chi tunnels. A 200km long underground tunnel which were used by the vietnamese to hide from the artillery fire. We were made to crawl through this tiny tunnel which was pitch black and only around 1m high and 1m wide. Watched a vietnamese propaganda film, showed us around the premises and interested tourist could try some live firing. I bought 10 bullets for the AK-47. It costs around SGD$20. So after the tour, we headed back to the city. I dropped my stuff at the hotel and proceeded to Dan sinh market. The market was stuffy, lots of army equipment. Exactly like the beach road army market in singapore. Just that they had tons of watches, zippos, ammo boxes and stuff, which the shop owners claim belonged to the dead american soldiers during the vietnam war. So after that, i walked to ben thanh market, which was a famous tourist trap. Prices were more costly, but the selection was huge. Got myself tailored clothes again. After dinner, i met up with valentine again, for some beer and to watch the world cup. We were bar hopping and that was where i met this vietnamese girl. Her name was chau and she could speak really good chinese. Spent the night chit chatting, and talking about how much i love vietnam.
So the next day, Chau and her friend wanted to take me shopping. They brought me to a bus station, where we took a bus to district 6. Didn't imagine i'll ever take a bus in vietnam cause the moto taxi's are so cheap and convenient, you don't ever have to waste time waiting for a bus. Well it was a great experience though, feeling how it's like taking a bus down town in saigon. Most vietnamese either own a motocycle, bicycle or take a bus to get around. District 6 was really different. There were hardly any tourists, so once again, everyone was staring at me like an alien. Didn't have much guts to take pictures though. Quite a pity. They took me to binh tay market, a huge wholesale market. I was shopping for a pair of sandles at this shop. The salesgirl could hardly speak english and we had a terrible time haggling over size and prices. Luckily, her mum spoke really good chinese and was really happy i was there. She was persistent to introduce her daughter to me. Telling me how hard working her daughter is and how old she is. We then went to andong plaza and andong market. In the night, chau bought me eggs from a street hawker. She claimed that it was duck eggs. The first one tasted really tasty. It was serve with a plate of chilli and various mint and basil leaves. The second one was nasty. the inside of the egg look brown. I thought it was preserved egg of something. I asked chau, and she refused to tell me what it was, just replied," you eat already you will know." She held up the spoon and thrust it towards my mouth. So being adventurous, and wanting the thrill of tasting exotic food, i gobbled it up. I didnt know what i was thinking, probably under the influence of beer, i didn't suspect it was something bad. All i thought was it was just preserved egg or something. Only till i started munching on it. i felt feathers and bones. So i spit out a little piece, and realised that it was a bone. Chau was laughing at the expression on my face. Only did she explain to me that it was a duck foetus. Well I soon got over it, the taste wasn't quite terrible, so i added lots of chilli to eat and finished the whole egg.
Crazy experience i suppose. I made so many new friends. Most of whom were alone, some were backpacking throughout asia, some were working in vietnam for years but never wanna go home. People from Vietnam, Australia, Uk, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Germany. Crossed moto littered roads, Haggled for discounts, Tried exotic food, went to tourist-free areas, lived life like a vietnamese in a city.
One thing for sure, i'm saving up for my next trip to the mekong delta. I'm really bitten by the travel bug and i've got the love for asia. I'll see you again soon, vietnam.
The moment i was there, i could feel the vibe of the city. The countless motorcycles, road hawkers, markets, shy stares from the citizens. I was cheated into paying 5 times of what i was supposed to pay for a ride in a taxi from the airport to my hotel. Checked into the hotel, told the receptionist what happened and she got really infuriated, she called up the taxi company and demanded a reinbursement of the taxi fare. Well, it wasn't really successful because i didn't have the driver's car license number. So she suggested i go down to the taxi company and identify the driver, which i think is a waste of time and effort cause they all kinda look the same! Really appreciate her effort though, for making me feel that there was still a piece of love in the city, that there are still lovely people around, and not everyone wants a slice of your wallet. Proceeded to take a moto taxi down to dong khoi st, where i had my clothes tailored. Then took a confusing walk down to saigon square, trying to stay calm and avoid the weird stares. I guess i was looking too "touristy" cause i had my huge slr slung accross my chest, and occasionally flipping out a map from my rear pocket. After a little shopping, went back to the hotel and had dinner. Explored the back alleys and found this shop selling pho. Pho, pronounced as 'fur', is a vietamese delicacy that is cheap and really tasty. I had it for all 4 days there, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A bowl of pho costs less than SGD$2! Sat down, and started talking to a vietnamese auntie. She could speak really good english. Proceeded to the one of the pubs and had a couple bottles of beer while watching the world cup. Over there, most people sit on stools. So there was a saying that the lower the stools, the cheaper the beer. And that was really true. I had beer every night and it costs merely USD$1 for a bottle of saigon beer. It was there when i got to know my first switzerland friend, valentine. We really hit it off really well, discussing about how similar life was in singapore and switzerland.
The next day, at 8 in the morning, i boarded the bus for a 2 1/2 hour journey, 70 km north of saigon city to an area known as cu chi. I soon realise I was the only asian in the bus. It's really amazing to see how life is like outside the city. i saw lots of houses next to cemeteries, children playing in the cemetries, cows and horses everywhere, feeding on the vast fields of greenery. There wasn't proper roads all the time, everywhere was dusty, though there was still some old world charm there. Once we reached cu chi, we headed to the famous cu chi tunnels. A 200km long underground tunnel which were used by the vietnamese to hide from the artillery fire. We were made to crawl through this tiny tunnel which was pitch black and only around 1m high and 1m wide. Watched a vietnamese propaganda film, showed us around the premises and interested tourist could try some live firing. I bought 10 bullets for the AK-47. It costs around SGD$20. So after the tour, we headed back to the city. I dropped my stuff at the hotel and proceeded to Dan sinh market. The market was stuffy, lots of army equipment. Exactly like the beach road army market in singapore. Just that they had tons of watches, zippos, ammo boxes and stuff, which the shop owners claim belonged to the dead american soldiers during the vietnam war. So after that, i walked to ben thanh market, which was a famous tourist trap. Prices were more costly, but the selection was huge. Got myself tailored clothes again. After dinner, i met up with valentine again, for some beer and to watch the world cup. We were bar hopping and that was where i met this vietnamese girl. Her name was chau and she could speak really good chinese. Spent the night chit chatting, and talking about how much i love vietnam.
So the next day, Chau and her friend wanted to take me shopping. They brought me to a bus station, where we took a bus to district 6. Didn't imagine i'll ever take a bus in vietnam cause the moto taxi's are so cheap and convenient, you don't ever have to waste time waiting for a bus. Well it was a great experience though, feeling how it's like taking a bus down town in saigon. Most vietnamese either own a motocycle, bicycle or take a bus to get around. District 6 was really different. There were hardly any tourists, so once again, everyone was staring at me like an alien. Didn't have much guts to take pictures though. Quite a pity. They took me to binh tay market, a huge wholesale market. I was shopping for a pair of sandles at this shop. The salesgirl could hardly speak english and we had a terrible time haggling over size and prices. Luckily, her mum spoke really good chinese and was really happy i was there. She was persistent to introduce her daughter to me. Telling me how hard working her daughter is and how old she is. We then went to andong plaza and andong market. In the night, chau bought me eggs from a street hawker. She claimed that it was duck eggs. The first one tasted really tasty. It was serve with a plate of chilli and various mint and basil leaves. The second one was nasty. the inside of the egg look brown. I thought it was preserved egg of something. I asked chau, and she refused to tell me what it was, just replied," you eat already you will know." She held up the spoon and thrust it towards my mouth. So being adventurous, and wanting the thrill of tasting exotic food, i gobbled it up. I didnt know what i was thinking, probably under the influence of beer, i didn't suspect it was something bad. All i thought was it was just preserved egg or something. Only till i started munching on it. i felt feathers and bones. So i spit out a little piece, and realised that it was a bone. Chau was laughing at the expression on my face. Only did she explain to me that it was a duck foetus. Well I soon got over it, the taste wasn't quite terrible, so i added lots of chilli to eat and finished the whole egg.
Crazy experience i suppose. I made so many new friends. Most of whom were alone, some were backpacking throughout asia, some were working in vietnam for years but never wanna go home. People from Vietnam, Australia, Uk, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Germany. Crossed moto littered roads, Haggled for discounts, Tried exotic food, went to tourist-free areas, lived life like a vietnamese in a city.
One thing for sure, i'm saving up for my next trip to the mekong delta. I'm really bitten by the travel bug and i've got the love for asia. I'll see you again soon, vietnam.
posted by REEVE at 1:36 PM
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