Seven Things You Should Know about Saigon

Busy motorways.

Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City is not just about sunlights, moons, joined forces from the gods of fortune, midnights, and high noons. It is the center of trade, commerce, and industry, making it as an important hub of Vietnam with a current population of 7.5 million people. Like Metro Manila, Saigon is a bustling metropolis sans the ubiquitous Philippine jeepneys, westernized commercial districts, and a mass transportation system (currently on the works as of this writing).

Here are the 7 things that you should know about Saigon and I hope that this post will serve as a guide for those who are planning to visit Saigon.

The Modern Kingdom of Cambodia

The Angkor Wat sunrise!

"You are all lucky. We still have seats for you to Siem Reap. Tomorrow is a national holiday in Cambodia. Many people are coming home!", the front desk officer told us gleefully.

The early morning rush in Saigon didn't stop me from thinking about the possible scenarios after crossing the borders of Vietnam and Cambodia. I had this irrational fear of getting scammed, mugged, or worse, mulled along the way. With only 4 hours of sleep, we left Saigon at past six in the morning and made our way to a place where an ancient kingdom once flourished.

The Hidden Gems of Mui Ne

Red sand dunes of Mui Ne.

Mui Ne is a coastal town in the Binh Thuan province. It is a popular resort destination in Southeast Vietnam, most especially to Russian tourists. No wonder why some shops and restaurants are named in Cyrillic characters.

At half past two in the afternoon, we had safely arrived at Mui Ne. Since we didn't have enough energy, we decided to tour Mui Ne the following day. We stopped by at a local restaurant and apparently, the bus company that we rode also managed it. We decided to pay for our fare back to Saigon and for the Mui Ne day tour the following day. We only paid $70 each. Not bad.

After paying for the day tour and for our fare back to Saigon, Vu, the operator and manager of the bus and restaurant, told us that the day tour will start at exactly 4:30 AM. We thought it was too early but we didn't protest. The following day, we woke up at around four in the morning, and by 4:30AM, Vu was already outside the hotel waiting for us. We boarded his owner-type jeep, earphones in, volumes up, and off we went to the first destination of our tour.

Now playing: Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap

The Mui Ne In My Mind

Mui Ne's beach!

There was a sudden jolt.

The flight to Saigon was turbulent, all thanks to the severe weather disturbance off the northeastern seaboard of the Philippines. The plane started to descend, and before we knew it, we have safely arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, after nearly two hours of flight. The sun was almost up when we finally left the airport terminal building and had our USDs exchanged to the local currency (Vietnamese Dongs). For the first time in forever, I became an instant millionaire. Multi-millionaire to be exact.

While searching for a cab, a frail-looking man probably in his early 50s, approached us. He claimed that he was a cab driver and even showed his ID to us. Because we were so exhausted brought about by the delay, we immediately hired him. Normally, the fare to downtown Saigon costs 210,000 dong. However, our cab driver charged us 200,000 each. Multiply it by 3, the total fare was 600,000 dong. Upon arrival at the hostel, we tried to haggle the cab driver to charge at a lower rate. Apparently, he wanted to press charges against us because we were too nosy. He started to raise his voice and we got afraid. We gave up and he sped off.

The first thirty minutes in Saigon was a bit traumatic, but I don't want to disappoint myself. Without a doubt, those scammers are scattered along the busy streets and murky alleys of Saigon waiting for its next victim.

But, I believe Vietnam is more than that.

The Great Indochina Adventure: Prologue

Hey, everyone! Look who's back! It's been a while since my last post.

I'm finally back in Tacloban. Back to work, back to controlling planes. You know what I really hate about going home from an awesome trip? It will take me forever to finally get over with it - the scenic Angkor Wat sunrise, the sand dunes of Mui Ne, and the delicious taste of Pho Noodles. And as the famous song of Nelly Furtado goes, "Why do all good things come to an end?"

Several months ago, my travel blogger friend, Robbie invited me to join him in his Vietnam and Cambodia trip. Since the fare in and out to these destinations were cheap, I immediately said yes. It was like hitting two birds with one stone - two countries with just one round trip ticket.

But the road to Indochina was rather bumpy. Literally and figuratively.