Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam

Fifth and final stop on the journey

So we arrived early in Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon). Once we had collected our bags we found a taxi and headed out towards Banh Tai market. We knew that our friend Charles was staying in that area so we figured we'd try and stay near him. This was the only stop where we'd not pre-booked accommodation. This was to turn into a lesson for the future!

In the sweltering taxi, we experienced traffic like I have never seen before. There were cars, buses, vans and bikes... LOTS of bikes. They all seemed to be wanting to go separate ways, at the same time. It was utter madness. I have never seen a truer definition of 'organised chaos' first hand. At intersections, each bike/van/car seemed to be heading in a different direction and with no traffic controls, seemed to somehow navigate themselves through to where they needed go. It was crazy. To give you an idea of the chaos, click here

When we arrived (alive) at Banh Tai market, we asked for directions and walked through the market. Whilst passing through the market we decided to stop for food. I was concerned about eating at the stall as there was nowhere to sit. 20 seconds later, I was sitting on a tiny stool at a makeshift table, made by wood and other stools, in the middle of the market walkway... whatever. Anyway, the noodles and soup we ate were delicious and definitely a good start to the Vietnamese food experience. Another major plus was that we had Cindy with us, who could speak Vietnamese pretty fluently. We found our way to the 'backpacker area' and began looking for the hostel where Charles was staying. Upon finding it, we discovered that it was full. We tried a few more and settled on one 5 mins away. Cindy went to inspect the room on the 3rd floor and said it was fine. After accepting that we'll stay here Roger and I learned that us boys would sleep on the 5th floor, in a 10-bed dorm and the girls would take the 3rd floor dorm. THANKS CINDY!! haha. I decided that I would not judge, so after climbing six billion steps, I settled in my top-bunk bed and had the worst shower in a dirty bathroom then walked across the dusty floor to my bed. I then considered the evidence and came to the conclusion that yes, I WAS in a shit-hole!

After showering, Roger decided to have yet more sleep, Cindy went to meet her family so Winnie and I went for a walk around the area together. We spent the next hour dodging motorbikes, drinking juice and having a hair-cut. Well, I did anyway. That was an experience! I was in desperate need of chopping my mop-like hair so went to the first salon we walked past. The lady was actually very quick, and despite me having my hair washed on a bed beside another sleeping and snoring hairdresser, the experience turned out ok! We then went to a park to people-watch and rest. Roger joined us after his nap and we met up with Charles to go for Vietnamese coffee, which is STRONG bytheway! sheeeesh!

After having a nap of our own we went out to eat food on the streets, walk around a night market (buying t-shirts, magnets, rice-field hats and decorative plates) and then to a bar. We spent the night drinking, playing categories games and laughing at my terrible knowledge of R 'n' B (I still don\'t see why 50 Cent is such a funny answer?) We also managed to squeeze in a visit to a tour operator where we booked trips to the Mekong Delta and the Cu Chi Tunnels

The next day we woke early to go to the delta. The bus ride was 2 hours so we were hoping to sleep, but the over-informative guide had other ideas and spoke for about 3/4 of the journey in quite an annoying tone. He did tell us however that out of a population of 10 million people, Ho Chi Minh City has 4.5 million motorbikes! Crazy! When we arrived, we were taken to a local fruit garden where we ate various fruits, drank tea and listened to some 600 year old men play instruments to us. Good on them! We left to walk through the jungle and onto a thin boat to float down the delta. This was a serene and peaceful experience and in my view didn't last long enough. We moved on to a place where women were making sweets (candy) out of sugar cane which we were able to sample. Me and Roger also enjoyed sampling the free liquor made by the sugar cane too. Surprisingly, the guide came to us holding a snake. Roger, Winnie and I each had a turn at holding the snake and I even gave it a kiss (not the only snake I've kissed in my lifetime...lol).

We then caught bigger boat to an eating place. It must have been near a school because there were many

children there and they LOVED me and Charles... spot the white guys! After giving 500 'high-5s' we settled for some food, which included some amazing fried fish. After stuffing my face and visiting what barely passed as a toilet, we caught the boat back to the bus, and the bus home. Half way home, we stopped at a giant stone Buddha, which looked fat and jolly. When I was taking a picture of Winnie next to the Buddha, my joke of 'let me get a picture of the twins' (her and Buddha) didn't go down too well :/

Back at the hostel we showered (aka stood under dripping water with soap) and napped, then went for dinner at a BBQ place. We were joined by Jeroen and Jamila. Jeroen is a dutch guy that me and Roger met in the dorms. He was traveling alone, and Jamila is an Austrailian girl who was on vacation for a few days. Cindy and Winnie met her in their nice, cosy 3rd floor dorm... no I'm not bitter!! After the meal we went to some bars and played drinking games, teaching Jeroen games to take back to Holland. Jamila was drunk after 2 drinks so she opted out. Winnie and I stayed out late with Jeroen.

The next morning, our last day of the trip, Cindy, Winnie and I woke early. Feeling a little hungover, we gout ourselves ready for the Cu Chi Tunnels whilst Roger decided to sleep in (man that boy can sleep). We went on the tour, learning about the USA/Vietnam war and looking at the booby traps left by the Vietcong. I climbed in an old tank and we went into the tunnels and watched a documentary (propaganda) about the war. Winnie, Cindy and I then went to a shooting range where we were able to shoot an AK-47 at a target. Man those are loud!

Upon returning to the hostel, I had a nap and Cindy took Winnie back to the market. Apparently they got a 'bike taxi' there and back, scary! After, we showered, checked out of the hostel (THANK GOD!!!!!) and went to a place Jeroen knew to get food. After eating we crashed at the Vietnamese coffee place as it was air-conditioned and had free wifi. Whilst Winnie, Roger, Charles Jeroen and I sat around the coffee table chatting. Cindy went to say goodbye to her family. I was chatting to my brother on Wifi and kind of ignored the conversation, which was pretty rude of me. I think I was just reflecting on the past 2 weeks and looking forward to having my own space again. I'd loved traveling again, I'm just not a fan of the waiting around we have to do to get there and back.

When it was time, we said our goodbyes to Jeroen, picked up our bags and taxi'd to the airport where we met Cindy. We got there later than planned and Cindy was pretty worried, but it all turned out alright in the end. We flew home with Vietnam Airways, an ACTUAL airline! Meaning we got check-in luggage, in flight meals and a blanket... take that Air Asia!! We took the 00:10 flight back to Busan, where would land at 6:40 am in cold, cold Korea...

At home in my lovely apartment, I was thinking that this trip had reignited my love for travelling. I had been worried that going to 5 different places in 2 weeks would leave us tired, or wishing we had visited less places for longer. This wasn't the case as I feel we experienced each place just long enough to understand what that place is about, but not long enough to get bored. We looked forward to the up-coming 3 day weekend, celebrating the Lunar New Year. Surely we couldn't be thinking of going away again.... could we?? ;)