It was my first time travelling alone and I was nothing but anxious about what the next few days were going bring- am I gonna get lost? is it going to be as fun as I imagined? am I going to meet interesting people? - but mostly I was consumed by the possibility of the unexpected, of how I would react to it and how it would contribute to my growth as a traveler and as a person. I initially wanted to take this trip in order to see how far I could go on my own and I must say, deciding to go is one of the best decisions I have made by far. It was 3 full days of excitement and adventure for me.
One of my cousin's good friends, Josel is working in the city and he was so kind as to have let me stay at a vacant room at his (and his friends') place. And whenever I need help/information about something, he was the one I bothered with my text messages haha I am so thankful though. I would have to say that I wasn't as prepared for this trip as I normally am. I did not have a map, I did not know how to get from point A to point B and my itinerary was not even very realistic. Thankfully though, I was able to find a bookstore with a map of Ho Chi Minh with legends/indications of where the museums/markets/churches are (which came in handy when I lost my itinerary and list of places to visit a few hours into my adventure)
DAY 1:
My first day was dedicated to walking the streets of Saigon; from Ben Tanh, to the Saigon City Hall, Notre-Dame Basilica, Post Office, and Saigon Opera House. The city is beautiful - full of character and history. The architectures are also very intricate and beautiful, they're very European in style. One can't help but be in awe of them, it's certainly not something one would expect to see in a developing Asian country. It's sort of a pleasant surprise.
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| Saigon City Hall |
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| Notre-Dame Basilica |
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| Inside Notre-Dame Basilica
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| Inside Notre-Dame Basilica
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| Saigon Post Office |
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| Inside the Saigon Post Office |
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| Saigon Opera House |
Holding the map, I saw an elephant drawn on the other side of the district. I really wanted to see what it meant so I went to walk thinking that if it isn't anything interesting, I could still go to the History Museum beside it. I walked for about 30 minutes, walking into shops and groceries that I pass by to see the type of snacks and drinks they offer. When I couldn't find the placed, I approached people in the streets pointing to the elephant on the map and thankfully those I asked knew what it meant and pointed me to where it is. Upon reaching my destination, I saw the History Museum, a temple in front of it and something that seemed like a park with small rides for kids in the middle. As I wasn't sure what else was inside I approached the people by the entrance asking "elephants?"and pointing inside but they all kept pointing to the direction of the ticked booth. And so I bought a ticket not knowing what the heck it was for (haha) and apparently it's a zoo and botanical garden. I walked inside, took a tour around and saw elephants, giraffes, monkeys and other interesting animals and plants, it was basically a huge area with nothing but nature. I finished going around about 12nn, I wanted to go to the museum but it was closed for lunch.
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| Temple near the zoo and botanical garden and history museum |
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| Part of the Botanical Garden |
I decided to walk back to the other side of the district to visit the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants museum. The latter should not be missed, it's very educational and one would have a deeper understanding of their culture and history after this. The photos are heart wrenching and are something that you cannot easily forget.
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| Reunification Palace |
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| War Remnants Museum |
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| Outside the War Remnants Museum |
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| Inside the War Remnants Museum |
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| My ride from the Reunification Palace to Ben Tanh (I would have to admit, it was a bit embarrassing riding this along the high way ) |
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| Ben Tanh Market |
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| Inside Ben Tanh |
I finished this tour in about 7 hours including breakfast and lunch, could have been faster if I was not on foot the whole time. The rest of the day was spent in Ben Tanh market looking at possible pasalubongs. Dinner was at this really good Pho place (I cannot recall the name). It would have been better though to have started my tour at the War Remnants Museum and Reunification,Ben Tanh , Notre Dame, Post Office, Opera house and then History museum and then the Zoo to avoid wasting time going around in circles (like I did haha) but getting lost is part of the experience so I did not mind at all.
I am naturally curious about anything and everything around me, and I was very pleased that there was always something that caught my eye in the streets of Saigon on the way to the places I wanted to visit; may it be paintings by local artists that are being sold, or the clothes on the display windows of their high-end stores or even the side street vendors selling anything from Banh Mi sandwiches to rice cakes to cold coffee - these things say so much about their culture which I was very unfamiliar with and I just in awe of all these new things.
DAY 2:
My 2nd day started very early having to be at the meeting place for the Cai Be-Vinh Long tour before 7 in the morning. I book the tour with Sinh Tours the day before along with the Cu Chi Tunnel Tour for my 3rd day.
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| Vegetables. Vietnamese, they can't have too much vegetables. |
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Banh Mi - read as Buhn Mey(?), if I remember correctly. I am not a fan of sandwiches, but this one is just amazing. I could eat it everyday. This was my breakfast for 2 days.
There were very few of us in the tour, less than 10 people. It was fun though because there were 2 Koreans, a Chinese girl and a family of Filipinos. The trip was quite short, however, floating market in Cai Be was already closed when we arrived and so no more trading/selling was taking place. I really wish we could have gone earlier so that we could have watched or even bought something. I was also a little bit disappointed because the waters were murky (not dirty but coming from Loboc river a few weeks back, my expectations were quite high). The tour was great nonetheless, it was a very cultural experience (which is always interesting).
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Banh Mi and Soursop(Guyabano) Shake Stall
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| Mekong Delta - Cai Be |
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| Our boat for the tour |
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| On board! |
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| Parked boats |
After the floating market, we had some honey tea with calamansi which was so so sooo good. Then, we proceeded to watch locals make all sorts of rice products - pop rice, rice paper, rice wafer. The whole process (and all the products) show how resourceful Vietnamese are. They did not throw anything out, even what seemed like waste still had a use. I remember one Filipino saying "Wow, may paggagamitan pa pala niyan! (referring to the skin/shells of rice grains) Sa amin, tinatapon lang yan eh!"
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| Honey Tea served in a tiny tea-cup |
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| Cai Be Bee Farm |
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| Snake Wine |
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| Rice paper being dried |
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| Banana and Rice Wine & Bee and Rice Wine |
We also were able to try the bee wine, rice wine and other rice and coconut products which were all delicious. Our tour group also was able to take a photo with a snake! I don't know what I was thinking but when the tour guide shouted "who wants to have his photo taken with the snake?" I jumped up and shrieked "me!". But like I always say, I would try anything once.
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| True to the statement on my shirt, I said oui to everything, even to a photo with a snake! |
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| Coconut candyyy! |
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| Selling traditional Vietnamese clothes |
After the main tour, it was time for lunch, and my empty stomach rejoiced! However when I saw the place where lunch was going to be, I forgot about my hunger altogether and got busy snapping away with my camera.
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| Such beautiful place! Walkway going to the restaurant. |
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| With some Koreans in the tour with our lunch :) Can you spot the fish? |
The last part of the tour was in Vinh Long visiting the dry market. They have so many types of beans and rice products and they were quite cheap (I bought a lot!). Their fruits are similar to those we have in the Philippines though, watermelon, dragon fruit, rambutan and the like. After, we had time to sit in a cafe (while waiting for the group) and drink Trang Nguyen coffee, this coffee is unbelievably delicious-it's creamy, it resembles a chocolate drink and it isn't too strong. I am not a coffee lover but Trung Nguyen is a must try, I swear.
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| Vinh Long Market |
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| Amazing coffee. Starbucks has nothing on this one. |
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| Coffee with Rainbow, a Chinese girl I was on the tour with. |
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh from Cai Be and Vinh Long around 5pm. It was such a fun, interesting and educational trip! Highlights for me would be having the snake hang on my shoulders, trying Trung Nguyen Coffee and cruising down the Mekong river (Cai Be).
The saigon streets, especially those near Ben Tanh are very busy and it's quite enjoyable just walking around sundown when the colorful store light signs are being turned on. There's just so much to see.
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| Saigon's colorful streets! |
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| Their version of hawkers/dampa |
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| Vietnamese-y street vendor |
DAY 3:
Third day plans were Cu Chi Tunnel in the morning, Saigon Square and Water Puppet Show in the afternoon and then Ben Tanh night maket. I had to be at the airport around 10:30 that night so I had to pack up after.
On a pit stop going to the Cu Chi Tunnel, we dropped by a lacquer ware factory where second or third generation victims of the Vietnam war (I believe mostly of Agent Orange) work as artists who create the beautiful pieces below.
The Cu Chi tour was quick but interesting we saw the tools that the Viet Cong used to defeat the Americans. If there is one word that would describe the Vietnamese, it is that they are very very resourceful, this would be evident to anyone who takes this tour. I think it is this trait that enabled them to survive and fight the Americans. We also entered the tunnels, this is actually the only time I wished I was with someone on this trip. The tunnels we entered (passageways were already enlarged for tourists) had three exit points, the first was 10meters away and the last was 100meters away. I got so claustrophobic that I exited on the first one, had I been with someone willing to go farther, I think I would've gone too but oh well, maybe next time!
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| A trap used by the Viet Cong |
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| I entered through one of the secret entries! |
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh around 3pm, then I went to buy tickets for the 5pm water puppet show and to kill time, I went to Saigon Square which was a 15minute walk away. The puppet show lasted about 30-40 minutes which was quite short and I could not understand any of the words but I did get the gist of the show, it basically shows the traditions, humor and some beliefs of the Vietnamese people. Although I don't think it was really worth the 140,000 dongs.
On my last evening, I dropped by the Ben Tanh night market just to "experience" it but I didn't get to stay long since I had to freshen up and pack for my flight back home.
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| Ben Tanh Night Market |
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| Bye Vietnam! :( |
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| Vietnam 2012 |
Being in another place and immersing oneself in another culture always makes us see life a little bit differently - richer, more colorful, more meaning- Maybe. I'm not really sure, just different. In a way, the people you meet in the grocery store or in the tour group or while waiting for the museum to open, show you a different side of life through their stories and opinions. And in a way I feel more enriched learning from them and observing them - and I can't wait to meet more people like those, hopefully!
Vietnam was amazing, that's about all I can say :)
