Happy Cat Year everyone... ehhhh.... waita minute, I thought this is a year of Rabbit *_*
Yes, 20% of the Chinese in the world celebrate with the Rabbit but in Saigon the people here are not familiar with the rabbit, thus they celebrate with the Cat. A different "Tet" calender huh.
When landed and got out of the airport in a taxi, the first thing that came into sight was the extraordinary tangled wire rooted all over the place which were quite a fascinating sight.
Another things was the messiest traffic on the road, it was total bonker. The opposite of their road direction already made us so confusing and imagine Saigon aka the city of motorbikes, everyday 17 millions motorbikes running and honking non stop on the road. We had to be careful not only on the road but also walking on the garden park and pedestrian because the rushing motorbikes could catch you by surprise.
K said to survive the crossing of the road is to close the eyes. Some said many drivers and riders depend a lot on your body language as a guide. So the trick really is not to have any sudden movements when crossing a road in Vietnam. Many people said once you get the hang of it, it can be quite fun.
We stayed in Saigon Mini Hotel which was strategically located in the city. Not only the place was new, clean, excellent service and very importantly it was quiet.
On the 3rd day, we get to know some new friends and we made good company during the 3D2N Mekong Delta trip (USD59). This trip did not include any meal, we had to find our own food. On the last night we stayed in floating hotel of which I would NOT recommend as nothing special to boast of. The toilet was not clean anyway and a lot of mosquitoes.
The whole trip was about boating and walking under the scorching hot sun (so sunblock, cap and a pair of good walking shoes are very important). As the whole journey was in a slow motion, I get to see the lifestyle of the people. Most of them are living under poverty and struggling to make a living everyday. However I noticed the people here are more engaged with each other and built better social relationship as compared to developed nations. I guess technology has made us lazy and brought us further apart instead of bringing us closer.
Over here in Vietnam, people accept both US dollar and Dong but is advisable to bring enough Dong in order to get the most of out of your spending.
Get yourself a Vietnam guide book in order to find local food conveniently.
Don't forget to bring mosquito repellent or anything similar when going for this kind of tour. The mosquitoes there were cruel. If you have IPhone even best, turned it on as they have this mosquito repellent function installed.
Many interesting stories happened during the trip. One of it was the bus aircon was having problem, our vocal new friend Rick was bold enough to complain to the tour guide and demanded to get a bus change or get us refund. The tour guide was reluctant initially but gave in later saying he could change the bus for us but the bad news was the next bus would only set off 1 hour later. Thinking that it would be another 3 hours ride sitting inside the oven, we decided to wait for the next bus. The rest of the passengers continued to go back with the "ovenized" bus.
Few good shopping places with value for money goods: Bentham Market, Saigon Square, City Hall, Parkson etc.
On the last day, we were very angry with the officer working for Vietnam AirAsia checkin counter. He pissed us by saying our entry visa had exceeded the given timeline and asked us to walk long way to the immigration office to have it fixed. The entire airport was so advanced but the signboard was so "cacat", couldn't find the signboard at all. Later Erica checked the passports again and discovered the expiry date was in fact a month later. Apparently the dumb officer had made a mistake and he further offended us saying the usual visa length to enter Vietnam was valid for 3 days *o*. We were not sure if he has problem understanding our English or he has listening problem.
Saigon to me was like a love hate relationship. Deeply in love with their food, shopping, sightseeing and friendly people. Hate the messiness traffic, polluted environment, the lousy airport signboard and the dumb officer.
I am still looking forward to my next Vietnam trip.
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