View Larger Map
Besides the fact we almost missed our bus, and our annoying bus driver honked his horn 20 times a minute, getting into Vietnam was a piece of cake. There were only 5 of us on the bus (the two of us and 3 locals), and the bus driver’s assistant got all of our passports and visas stamped for us so we were over the border within 20 minutes.
We were relieved to finally arrive in Ho Chi Minh City later that night. It is truly a city that never sleeps. The streets are filled with alley-way restaurants packed with laughing locals eating Pho, and motorbikes that rule the roads where marketteers specialize in reeling you into their stores to buy something.
As soon as we got there wee hopped into a taxi, not knowing exactly where we had been dropped off or how far our hotel was. The driver promised us it was 10 minutes away and that he would start his meter to "avoid ripping us off". Driving through the main streets of the city we realized he was simply making a big square and heading back in the exact same direction we started. $11 and two very unhappy backpackers later, the car arrived at the hotel. Needless to say, we didn't leave a tip, and tried to accept the fact that we had been given a ride for our money (literally), yet again.
We were ecstatic about our hotel room though, and spent a little bit more time relaxing with the A/C and flat screen TV than usual during our 4 day stay. We spent the rest of our time walking around town trying to weave through the heavy motorbike traffic and taking in the sites from the river front to the House of Independence and market SHOPPING!
At this point in our travels we had gone almost 6 months purchasing only the bare minimum. Buying only what we needed and leaving what we ‘wanted’ completely out of the picture. Traveling through South East Asia made it possible for us to save almost 50% of our daily budget, leaving us with a little room to indulge in the finest knock off goods that Vietnam had to offer. 
Everyday we put on our bargaining caps and visited the Banh Thai Market in search of great deals. We made some great friends with the store owners and walked out with tons of new clothes without even stepping outside of our original shopping budget! We also tried the traditional Vietnamese Pho soups (noodle soups) everywhere we went, eating on tiny little stools in busy alley ways just like the locals.
With our bags almost full to the brim, we took our first overnight sleeper bus to Nha Trang (or little Russia as we liked to call it), a beach town 10 hours north of Saigon. We each had the luxury of fully reclining beds, but were put in the back of the bus in a row of 5 and sardined between 3 locals, one of whom didn't smell very good.
Nha Trang was busy, but much more relaxed and peaceful than the big city, and as mentioned, was full of Russian tourists. So much so, that the street signs were written in both Vietnamese, and Russian! We were lucky enough to have another great place to stay, in a quiet alley just off the main street. We were able to get an early check-in and after lunch we put on our bathing suits and headed to the beach. It was a scorching hot day well above 40 degrees and we were only able to last about an hour before we were out of water and gasping for some cool air.
During our stay there, Vietnam was celebrating it’s bi-annual ‘Sea Festival’. Vietnamese people from all across the country gathered to Nha Trang to celebrate and watch the 3 day parade and fireworks. The main strip was packed with people every night, it was a nightmare trying to walk through the streets to grab dinner. We were lucky to find the city centre mall, fully equipped with a movie theatre, bowling alley and photo hunt mega touch machines and therefore found ourselves sneaking away for some indoor fun almost every night.
On our 4rth day in beach town, we checked out of our hotel and hopped on another sleeper bus to Hoi An, the land of tailor-made clothing. This time we stayed at a place called the Loc Phat Homestay and it was one of our favorites so far on the trip. Our room was a great size, super modern and comfortable (except for the open concept bathroom) with a walkout patio into the garden. Our hosts were very friendly and were able to recommend places to see and trustworthy tailors, they even cooked us the most amazing, never ending breakfasts every morning.
Our 3 days in Hoi An were spent running back and forth into town for our tailored fittings. Dave got 2 suits and a suit shirt made, while Alice got 2 dresses and dress pants and we both got tailor made shoes to top it all off. We even managed to slip in a trip to the famous Marble Mountain, Cham Museum and Buddha Beach before our time ran out!
Stay tuned for more Vietnamese excitement,
With love from Hoi An,
No comments:
Post a Comment