Vietnam trip 2018 Summary
Hi all,
I am back after such a long time. On 5 February 2018, I
decided to take a short solo trip to Vietnam, a country which I have never been
to. Despite being located in South East Asia, I have so far only visited
Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia.
Ho Chi Minh City or formerly Saigon is my first Vietnamese
destination. Located in the southern part of the country, it is only a brief 2
hours flight from Kuala Lumpur, even closer compared to Kota Kinabalu!
At the arrival terminal, I decided to save the hassle of
getting a Sim Card and hence bought it at the building itself. The Viettel
outlet, largest mobile phone provider in Vietnam is located at the far left end
of the terminal after exiting the internal gate.
To get to the City Center without relying on cutthroat taxis
or sweaty public busses, there is a third
option which is the airport shuttle Bus no 109 for a paltry 20,000 Dong (about
RM 4). The journey took 45 minutes and before long, we are at Pham Ngo Lao, the
backpacker haven for Ho Chi Minh City.
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| Once you exit the terminal, the yellow bus stop is located opposite |
The hotel which I checked in, Marie Line Hotel was the best
value for money hotel in the former capital through Booking. It is
strategically located within a 1-minute walk to Bui Vien Street, as well as
23/9 Park, a bus terminal for public buses as well as the yellow airport bus.
After checking in, I then proceeded to Ho Chi Minh City Hall
by public bus through an app (BusMap) from 23/9 Park. Due to the insurmountable
amount of busses, certain buses are picking up passengers from an adjoined
terminal instead of the main building, Bus 04 and Bus 18, both of which goes to
my destination are located there.
The fare is 5,000 or 6,000 Dong depending on the bus you
take but it is still dirt cheap. I alighted at Le Thanh Ton Bus Stop, just beside of Rex Hotel. Now the adventure begins, Ho Chi Minh City Hall
is beside of Rex Hotel and in front of
it is a statue of the father of modern Vietnam himself, unfortunately, the building itself is still in use hence outsiders
are forbidden to enter.
Saigon Opera House is just a three-minute
walk away from the City Hall and it was once the legislative assembly hall for
South Vietnamese lawmakers to discuss the future of their country. Located 15
minutes away was the Bitexco Financial Tower, the highest building in Ho Chi
Minh City, it is used doubly as an office
building and shopping mall but if you intend to splurge here, you are out of
luck as it does not have many outlets compared to other shopping malls.
However, its shape is unique and similar to the Avengers Tower.
When in Vietnam, what food comes to mind? Pho, Banh Mi or
Com Tam. I decided to have my Pho at a shop named Pho 2000, back in 2000, President Bill Clinton patronised this shop
with his daughter and hence the name. There are several
Pho 2000’s around the city but the very outlet visited by Bill was the
one located beside of Ben Thanh market.
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| Pho 2000 is located just beside of Ben Thanh Market |
Inside, the very table used by the American president was
covered in red cloth. I thought it was forbidden to use it but was mistaken
after a group of Korean girls sat at that very table. Really regretted it but
at least I sat right beside of the ‘honored table’. Now, in order to feel like
a president, you have to eat like a president, hence the decision to order the
Presidential menu (what Bill has eaten).
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| The 'famed' red table |
To be honest, the pho was decent, it tasted just like any
chicken noodle soup but the fried spring rolls were great. Also, it is
definitely overpriced due to the ‘publicity’ it received, a normal bowl of pho
is usually just a fraction of the price but hey it is only a one-off occasion so I took it as a new
experience.
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| Presidential menu |
As for night activities, after a hot shower plus brief nap
in the hotel, the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater was my destination to of
course experience its famed water puppet. It is located beside of the
Reunification Palace and there was a sports complex at its back. There were two
sessions per day at 5 pm and 6.30pm
respectively. I chose the latter.
The Water Puppet itself lasted 50 minutes and to be honest
it is kind of boring to me and no way compared to what I experienced at Song
City (Song Chen), Hangzhou. However, with due respect, the crew did their best
in entertaining the various nationalities conjured in the theater.
It was almost 7.30pm when the show ended and with a growling
stomach, I headed to Com Nieu Saigon, a shop that appeared as a destination in China’s version of the Amazing Race to witness
their famed clay pot rice acrobatic
servings. It is located a mere 1km from the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater
so walking is considered chicken feat to me.
2nd Day
The next day, it is time for the famed Cu Chi Tunnels. To
all foreigners out there, there are two tunnels, Ben Dinh and Ben Duoc. Ben
Dinh is not part of the original tunnel complex and has been enlarged to suit
the bigger body size of Western tourist. It is also the usual destination for
local tourist companies with some charging about 100,000 Dong for a half day
tour.
Ben Duoc, on the other hand, was a part of the original
tunnel complex and unaltered to retaine its originality. About 2.5 hours is
needed to get there by public bus. Hence to avoid the afternoon crowd and heat,
you have to be an early bird. Bus 13 takes you from 23/9 Park all the way to Cu
Chi Bus station for 7,000 Dong, the journey takes about 1.5 hours. After
arriving at the transit point, one has to search for Bus 79 for another 1-hour journey for 6,000 Dong.
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| Get off at this junction/ zebra crossing when you see this sign board, when waiting for Bus 79 to return to Cu Chi Bus Station, you can wait opposite of the sign board |
The Ben Duoc ticket costs 90,000 Dong (70,000 Dong for
entrance and 20,000 for guide fee). For some reason,
it is compulsory to pay for the guided tour. Nevertheless,
it is a 10-15 minutes walk to the tunnel
complex proper from the main entrance, in between there is a temple used to
honor Ho Chi Minh himself and its murals depicting the suffering of the locals
at the hands of their American oppressors.
Being a solo tourist, the management staffs will first lead
you to a hut broadcasting a documentary touching on the history of the tunnels
and its usage in the Vietnam War. Just a disclaimer, it is unavoidable that the
narrative will be from the Vietnamese perspective so be prepared for slews of
anti-American propaganda.
It is amazing to see how the Viet Cong managed to blend in
and camouflage the tunnels with the surrounding jungle, one can simply be
walking over an entire battalion of soldiers in those days without even realising
it is a death trap awaiting.
Also, the ground
entrance is extremely small and one has to simply raise his hands straight upwards to enter together with constant
crawling in it. Inside, the tunnel complex is at a staggering 250km long,
without a proper guide, one can easily get lost in it.
After the tour, we
were given tapioca with sugary grind peanuts, a daily diet for the guerillas
during the war. Then the guide hurriedly left us which I felt throughout the
entire trip that he is just trying to skip through the many attractions such as
the traps with the pretext of wanting to be ahead of some tour groups, not good
and doing his job properly!
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| The hands of a pair of Korean tourist who just don't know what is called photography courtesy. Simply no manners ! |
At the end of the building selling souvenirs, there is a sign board displaying the prices for the
bullets sold for guns used at a shooting range. It has been printed on the board
that by purchasing a minimum of 5 bullets, one can be transported to the
shooting range, located 1km away.
After heading back to Ho Chi Minh City and bidding goodbye
to my newfound friend, I had my lunch at the Five Oyster Restaurant at Bui Vien
Street and proceeded to Fanny, the Häagen-Dazs of
Vietnam to experience their ice cream. There are several branches throughout
the city but this particular branch is located near to Ben Thanh Market and Bui
Vien Street. To cut short, it is near the Mcdonalds of Ben Thanh. The price, to
be honest, is not really cheap, my choice Mesonas
costs 89,000 Dong (RM 17.80).
A 3-hour nap and rest
at the hotel reinvigorated me, at 7.30pm I head out for dinner and search for
the famous face mask worn by the locals
riding motorcycles. Out of luck however and with a hungry stomach, I went back
to the vicinity of Bui Vien Street and got my hands on Com Tam, a Vietnamese cuisine. This roadside dish
consists of broken rice, fried egg, cucumbers as well as a grilled pork chop
for 30,000 Dong.
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| Com Tam |
3rd day
The final day is the most enjoyable in my opinion as I am
finally able to visit the Reunification Palace
or the Presidential Palace. You can arrive at
its vicinity by public bus, by once again taking Bus 04 or Bus 18 from 23/9
Park, get off at Le Duan Bus Stop
which is just a 2 minutes walk away from the destination. To give you a little
hindsight, the Reunification Palace was actually known as Norodom Palace back
when Vietnam was a part of French Indochina. The building serves as the
Governor’s residents and it was then abandoned. After the founding of the
Republic of Vietnam or South Vietnam, it became the residing place for the
President. The current structure was actually built in the 60s when a bomb
damaged the old Norodom Palace which prompted Ngô Đình Diệm, the then
president to order the construction of a new palace. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the completion of the new
building as he got assassinated in 1963, just 3 years short before its opening
in 1966.
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| Formerly known as Independence Palace too |
Back to the building itself, it is
actually only decent in size and comparable to the Presidential Palace in
Taipei, Taiwan. What gave it a large appearance is a huge garden in front of the building. Entrance ticket costs
40,000 Dong which is cheap in my opinion.
Inside, there are many attractions
such as the President’s Office, the underground bunker as well as a chopper on
the rooftop. It is my understanding that the President and Vice President works
in the same building however it seems that only the President and his family gets
the privilege to really call the building ‘home’ as a bedroom was provided.
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| President's Office, there is an emergency exit near the desk which leads to the underground bunker |
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| Presidential Bedroom |
Outside, there is a replica of two
North Vietnamese tanks and a jet fighter used by the Communist to ram through
the gates on 30 April 1975, the day where the Republic of Vietnam ceased to
exist.
Located just a stone’s throw away
from the Palace lies the Saigon Notre Dam
Basilica and the Saigon Post Office, the latter was designed by the late Gustav
Eiffel. Yep, the same guy who designed the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris. Unlike other buildings which have been turned
into a museum, the post office is still a functioning one where one can send
home a souvenir postcard.
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| Saigon Notre Dam Basillica |
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| Saigon Post Office, there is a McDonalds on the left side of the building |
After having lunch, it is time to head to my final destination, the War Remnants
Museum which houses artifacts of weapons, vehicles, and machines used by the Americans during the war. Inside there are
also numerous articles and reports mainly from the Vietnamese perspective as
well as a room filled with child survivors of the Vietnam War with birth
defects.
By visiting, the museum presented
an alternate perspective from what we usually hear from the mainstream media
and learn to evaluate the rights and wrongs of any incident. It is paramount to
hear from both sides.
With my flight at 8 pm, I left at 4
pm to take Bus 149 from Nha Van
Hoa Lao Dong Bus Stop, located beside of the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater back to 23/9 Park to collect my
luggage. The journey itself took only about 15 minutes for 6,000 Dong.
After bidding goodbye to the hotel
staff who did a great job accommodating me, I took the Yellow Bus 109 from 23/9
Park for my one-hour long journey back to
the airport for my return flight to Malaysia.
Verdict
This trip is indeed the cheapest I
have ever experienced as I spent only approximately RM 700 including flight
tickets, accommodation and miscellaneous expenses like food and entrance
tickets. Sometimes, it is even cheaper to travel to Southeast Asia than within
Malaysia if one is willing to adhere to the budget travel concept.
