Saturday, March 31, 2012

Day 1: Saigon City tour, Vietnam


Woke up at around pass 7AM. My host Huy was already preparing for his day duty on the hospital so I had to hurry a bit a scooter ride, a sumptuous sticky rice breakfast, a prepaid SIM card purchase and a bus all the way to the city's 1st District.

Huy's a very attentive host. He's a bit worried about what will I do on my own, so I said not to worry and just write for me his home address, so if anything happens, I'll just cab my way back home.


So by 9AM, there I was, wandering alone in the city. no printed maps, no idea where to go to.





It didn't take a lot of walking when I suddenly heard two guys talking in Tagalog, Philippines' national dialect. My stealth  self, always confused either as Chinese or Korean followed them and led me to a morning of less lonely picture taking and the backpacker block in Bui Vien and Pham Ngu Lao.

This style has been very helpful for travelers at a pace but with no plans like me: just got to a local travel agency. Normally they will surcharge you for the exact same thing so it helps to ask around and compare prices. This I learned the hard way when I bought my Water Puppet show for 8USD, when actual price is 2 less of that. Sometimes English guided tours are also better just so you can learn a thing or two about a site's history.

 
The lady that sold me my overpriced water puppet show ticket

My day went by with a KFC lunch (not worth it in Vietnam), some dough nuts along the way, more walking, The independence palace (1.5USD entrance), and the Water Puppet Show a 45 minute show that I fell asleep watching.

KFC meal in Vietnam (3.5USD) - not worth it

Saigon City - afternoon

Independence Palace - former South Vietnam's seat of government

Water Puppet Show - boring and not in English. expensive place to nap

After the show at around 6PM, I was picked up by Kha in his scooter for some night city tour and a dinner in China Town.

Saigon City - night

China town dinner

After which, Kha and I just chilled in a local coffee shop. With no Starbucks, local coffee shops a very popular hangout place in Saigon. So just order 1 coffee which you can buy for about 1.5-2USD, and they have free unlimited tea.

Kha & Huy by the way are medical school classmates, and Kha, being the more internationally exposed and better English speaker, connected me to Huy, who wanted to have more interaction with foreigner. It's a pretty forward mindset for someone who has never been outside Vietnam. 

With Kha

Kha had to leave at around 8PM so I  just chilled with free WiFi until Huy can pick me up 2 hours later. When we got home, I told Huy that I'll spend my next night on the backpacker's street instead so it's easier for me to go around places. Actually, there really is nothing much to see in Saigon, unless you go out-of-town. So being in hostels which has their ground floor as a travel agency is much more convenient. throughout my trip I just stayed in hostels, which are usually located in the central part of the town, rather than opting for hosts that are located farther. So my 2 nights of Couchsurfing experience with Huy was concluded with hours and hours of just talking about life, family, school, culture, and anything until we just both dozed off in the wee hours of the morning.

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