Day 12: Curious Incident at Ben Thanh Market

We arrived Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) just before lunch time, from riding the sleeper bus all night. After checking into our hostel, and refreshing ourselves, we immediately went to Ben Thanh Market to buy more souvenirs.

As we already explored the market a few days ago, we were pretty familiar on what to expect and on what to do. I only bought a few items and looked around aimlessly. Then the incident happened. I was simply looking around at some beautiful bangles and earrings which caught my attention, as they looked the same as what was being sold in the Philippines. I was really interested on knowing if prices were the same or not, so I asked the vendor on how much were the items. Turned out, the items were quite expensive, so I declined. As I continued perusing over the merchandise, she continued asking me “How much?” in her high-pitched voice. It was starting to get a bit irritating as she kept asking the same thing, over and over. As we were walking away, she then shouted “You crazy! Ask price and no buy.” I immediately did a double take on her. I mean, what the hell did we do?! With that, we stormed off. I really didn’t want to prolong this confrontation.

Pissed off as I was, I decided to brush off this incident. No use thinking over and fighting back. I didn’t want this experience to mar my experience in Vietnam.

After Ben Thanh, we explored other places to check on what to buy. When we were satisfied, we called it a day and went back to our hostel.

Day 13: Entering the Cu Chi Tunnels

Day 1: Saigon City Tour

So after we arrived, checked-in our hostel and settled in bed (6-bed dorm type room), we slept at around 4AM. I awoke to the sound of the rumbling motorcycles, mid-Sunday morning. After we freshened up, me and my travel buddy were so excited to hit the road.

In the Coffee Lounge

The first thing we did was to find a place to have breakfast, as we were starving. We ate in the place called In the Coffee Lounge. It was a quaint coffee shop round the corner, with its pretty purple-colored umbrellas. I ordered a Big Breakfast (sunny-side up eggs, toasted bread) for 85,000VND and Iced Coffee for 45,000VND. It was a bit pricey, but hey, we were hungry, and it was pretty delicious.

Second agenda was for us to exchange our money (USD) to Vietnamese Dong (VND). This proved to be a hard task as there wasn’t much English translation for the shops around the area. You’d expect that with the influx of tourist coming to Vietnam, it would be easier to navigate with the help of English translations of shops and services. Language was mainly one of the problems we faced during this trip, as most Vietnamese hardly spoke or understood English. Anyway, after walking aimlessly for a few minutes, we’ve decided to ask what looked like a pawnshop. As it turns out, a lot of shops do exchange money, one must only have the courage to approach and ask, with the help of verbal and, even, non-verbal cues to get your point across.

Ga Sai Gon

One of the main things we did was to buy our tickets for the train going to Hanoi. We took a cab from our hostel going to Ga Sai Gon (train station). Unfortunately, the cab driver didn’t understand what we meant by “train station”, that we had to do charades and did the sound of a train (choo choo) for him to understand. Upon getting at the station, we simply followed what the locals did as there wasn’t directions in English. Luckily, we were able to purchase our tickets (soft berth).

Trung Nguyen Ice Cream

After a quick consult from the map, we decided to walk from the train station, as we didn’t want to spend too much on cabs. After a few turns, it started to drizzle a bit that we decided to take shed in the Trung Nguyen Coffee Shop we passed by. Trung Nguyen is said to be the place to get the best Vietnamese coffee. You can see Trung Nguyen shops in almost every road of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon).

From Trung Nguyen we took a motorcycle (50,000VND for the two of us) to take a quick look at Ben Thanh Market. The place offers a wide variety of goods that tourists can buy from coffee, apparels, bags, souvenirs, and there are places to eat Pho. We only bought a few items as we had lots of places to visit and we decided to put off shopping on our last day in Saigon.

Inside the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City

Museum of Ho Chi Minh City. This wasn’t part of our original itinerary. But after walking, searching and map-reading we ended up in this area that we decided to have a look. One can enjoy the history of Ho Chi Minh for 15,000VND (entrance fee). Its situated at the corner of Lý Tự Trọng and Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa streets, near the Reunification Palace.

Inside one of the halls in Reunification Palce

Reunification Palace. Formerly known as Independence Palace, is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was said to be the place where the President of South Vietnam worked during the Vietnam War. For 30,000VND (entrance fee), one can enjoy and roam around the facilities of the Reunification Palace.

My travel buddy, Vianney, in front of the Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral. Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, or Basilica of our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is also a famous landmark in Ho Chi Minh. It’s located very near the Reunification Palace. This landmark was a testament of the French influence in Vietnam.

French architecture inside the Post Office

Ho Chi Minh Post Office. Located right behind the Notre Dame Cathedral is the Ho Chi Minh Post Office. Still a proof of the French influence in Vietnam, stands this structure with French architectural qualities. One main reason we stopped here was to get a map of Ho Chi Minh, as we badly needed one.

Diamond Plaza. After walking for a few hours, and buckets of sweat lost from us, we badly needed a quick refresher. We decided to stop by Diamond Plaza and luckily found KFC! It’s like home away from home.

Saigon Opera House

Saigon Opera House. Another perfect example of the French colonial architecture in Vietnam, the Saigon Opera House, also known as the Municipal Theatre of Ho Chi Minh City, is located in the center of downtown Saigon. Perfect time to visit the place would be during the night, as the lights give the structure its majestic aura.

Ho Chi Minh City Hall

Ho Chi Minh City Hall. The structure was said to be built in 1902-1908 in a French colonial style. It’s another famous architecture in Saigon.

Our first day full of adventure, we decided to head back to our hostel, ready for the next day.

Day 2: Mekong Delta Tour