The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine
A very famous quote and to which I so agree. That is why I always put travelling as one of the favorite things I like to do.
Last month, my friend and I went on a 9-day trip covering 3 countries, our friendly neighbors, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Three countries in such a short span of time. It was my first time to do that kind of trip. And my first long vacation outside the country. Nine days is actually long considering that it's rare to get approval of vacation leaves this long. Our first and last stop was Vietnam. Cambodia and Thailand were squeezed in between.
September is a rainy month. First day we were in Saigon or now called Ho Chi Minh was raining. Good thing though the rain was not very heavy. My friend did all the planning, she made all the itinerary while I just go and travel with her. How lucky I am to have her!
Our first day involved getting acquainted with Saigon by walking (most of the time). Instead of booking a city tour, we decided on doing it on our own. The places to see were not at all that very far.
First stop was the Ben Thanh market. Well, we wanted to do shopping on the first day as we wanted to buy Northface backpacks that we can use on our side trips to Cambodia and Thailand. Ben Thanh is big marketplace in downtown Saigon where you can buy local handicrafts, souvenirs, textiles, and even a place where you can try local cuisine (although we were not able to do the latter). And in this market you can also find really cheap North face bags/knapsacks, Adidas, Billabong t-shirts and shorts at really cheap prices. I bought my North Face backpack for only 700 Pesos, some 16USD. So cheap! Well, I don't know if it's fake but by the looks of it, it isnt! We also bought souvenirs and pasalubongs for friends and family at Ben Thanh. You can actually do some bargaining! However, the sellers first offer is really high! And if you don't know how much it actually costs, you will be fooled. That's what happened to me. The lady gave me a price twice the actual. They can really be pushy, I tell you. They won't let you go until you make a purchase.
Anyhow, after Ben Thanh, we went on to the next tourist places - the City Hall, Saigon Theater, Notre Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office. I was pretty amazed with the post office. It's not anything I've seen in Asia. The building is of old French colonial architecture that when we went inside we felt like we were in Europe.
Next stop was to get ourselves lunch. All the walking made us so hungry. We went into a typical Vietnamese restaurant. It was named Pho 24. On that day, I fell in love with Vietnamese food. My fave are the spring rolls! :)
After hearty lunch, we went to their Reunifcation Palace. Took a guided tour inside and learned about Vietnam's history. We learned from this tour that the Vietnamese are very good at creating undergrounds. You better go there to see it for yourself.
All the walking inside made us thirsty. So we decided to try the Vietnamese iced coffee. Everyone in Vietnam loves coffee. People sell iced coffee on the streets. We don't have iced coffee sold in the streets in the Philippines.
Getting to our next stop was not easy. We got a bit lost on the way to the War Museum but somehow managed to get there. The Vietnam War is one of the famous wars in the world, the fact that the powerful USA was defeated in this war. What's different in this museum from the other museums I've visited was how they presented the war. My heart was torn to pieces watching pictures of people during the War. The brutality was captured in those pictures; I couldn't bear to look at them so long. They brought me to tears. My heart goes out to all victims of the war.
Next destination was the Emperor of Jade Pagoda. It's an old temple but still being used. A cyclo driver offered to take us there for 150k VND. Only to learn later on that he overpriced us. A tourist trap! Well, let's just charge it to "charity". The pagoda was quite interesting. It wasn't at all that clean and beautiful. Observations - there were a lot of turtles in the pond. There was a hundred yr old or so turtle/tortoise (can't make a difference). They believe turtles are holy (I think). Inside you'll see two large figures of gods. It's also a bit spooky inside.
Our cyclo driver took us back to our hostel. He again charged us another 150k VND. Oh well, the goodness of our hearts didn't see he was taking advantage.
Back in the hotel, we told Auntie our host about the cyclo driver charging us 300k VND and she told us that was way too much. She comforted us by saying just think about it as charity, cyclo drivers don't earn that much.
We took a bit of rest, unpacked items we bought at Ben Thahn. And then headed for dinner...We came to this alley of restos serving mostly tourists. We stayed in downtown Saigon, so expect so many tourists in the area. I think I had a pho - another hearty meal.
We wanted to try Ben Thanh's night market. So we went there again by walking and crossing the heavily-laden-with-motorbikes streets. If there's anything that gives us a heart attack in Saigon it is crossing their streets. They don't seem to follow traffic rules! If you're not careful, you will be hit by a motorbike that came from out of nowhere!
You can practically find the same items sold in the day market at the night market, although much cheaper. And you can haggle to your heart's content! The market isn't as huge as other markets though. But it was a good place to buy souvenirs that we came back again on our last night in Saigon.
NEXT - Day 2, Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple
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