The cold one: Nobyembre 2014

My teaching in college cannot even be remotely compared to my hotel income. But since I wanted a higher education-travel-higher education-travel life, I had to forget that I don't have enough disposable income for my wanderlust. So I raised the backpacking notion thinking I could save on expenditures by trying the South East Asia cross-border tour. I booked the cheapest flight I could get for two via Cebu Pacific-Philippine's second flag carrier. My friend and I was very excited on the idea of Backpacking and spending with extreme parsimony------but Vietnam left us dependent on riding taxis.

DAY 1

Departure 10:50 PM

Manila to HCMC

NAIA Terminal 3

As agreed, me and my best friend met up afterlunch time to run errands and buy dollars for our travel that night. We finished early and decided to kill time at the airport. Had coffee at Bo's for more than 2 hours haha and had our japanese dinner before the flight.

Arrival12:20 AM

Tan Son Nhat T2

Since 'twas our first time in Saigon and our arrival time was a little late we availed Min Chau Hotel's Airport Pick up to be safe and to avoid midnight taxi charges.

-Airport pick up by Minh Chau hotel 18 USD

-check-in @ Minh Chau Hotel (2N 22USD/night)

Min Chau Hotel is not a Backpacker's place. It is located in District 3 far from District 1 where the backpacker hotels are situated. It was my friend who wanted to stay here pacified by the good reviews online- this is how being a hotelier affects you. The rates are a little expensive compared to hotels in District 3, but the hotel manager Ms. Pho Nguyen was very hospitable and good in english, she was willing to help us most of the time, especially on arranging our itinerary which made our stay comfortable-fair enough!

Our room was very spacious, we had our own kitchen with microwave, own bathtub and sitting area.

DAY 2

-Breakfast at the hotel

Breakfast is not an inclusive in the room rate, and their simple menu offers are not cheap. But 'twas fun to eat french style with Vietnamese coffee in a classic cafetiere.

-Day tour:

We asked for the direction where we could get a bus to District 1, the hotel staff gave us a sketch which we thought was clear and near. We walked and walked in circles for an hour and the station was nowhere to be found. The streets of Ho Chi Minh were a total maze we decided to go back to the hotel. We asked for a clearer and concise direction and once again tried, but it was a complete failure. The roads were wide and dangerous with hundreds of motorbike and without stoplights, we experienced the horror of cross at your own risk setup. In the end, we just hauled a taxi and asked to be dropped off at Benh Than Market.

Nothing so great here, just the joy of knowing what Vietnam smells like compared to other countries and the crowd of different tourists milling around. We bought cashew nuts, slippers and clothes at a very expensive rate just for the sake of buying something in Benh Than!

On our way we met 2 Cyclos' drivers offering us a tour ride for what sounds like 20,000 dong (1USD). We grabbed the offer since the route is going to Notre Dame and Post Office. But I've noticed how they were suggesting other tourist spots and stops, something was fishy... that ride couldn't just be that cheap. So I told them, take us to Notre Dame for our first and last stop. But the two were intent on convincing us to try other shopping and tourist place. Something wasn't really right so I conversed with my friend in Tagalog to warn her.

They dropped us off here, saying this is the Notre Dame and the Post Office is close. We were so confused 'cause based on our research the Notre Dame is supposed to be reddish in color and classically vintage looking. Since we were already there we shrugged off our confusion and just took photos.

My friend taking a selfie on what she thought was Notre Dame, haha!

Worst, the cyclos' drivers wouldn't accept 20,000 Dong, they were as clear as sky asking for 2,000,000 Dong already. But we're not complete stupid to give in. We gave them 5 dollars and walked away.

Thereafter, we headed to find where Pam Ngu Lao street is where we're supposed to purchase our Mekong Express ticket. Failure stroke again, nobody was conversant in english not even the taxi drivers. We decided to eat first and found a cozy Pho restaurant where we had an awesome late lunch. The day was a complete failure and we realized we were tired already to pursue the search for Pam Ngu Lao Street and Tricolore Restaurant, which is said to be the best tourist resto in Saigon. So we used the restaurant's local phone to call Pho Nguyen. I asked her to book us a Mekong Express ticket to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and we'll pay her once we get back to the hotel. The restaurant staff was nice enough not to charge me for the call I made.

We obviously didn't know how to get back to the hotel so we took a taxi again, and again the driver overcharged us. Back at the hotel, we had some rest, changed clothes and went out for dinner.

Nearby, we found an eatery and were surprised at the cheapness of their menu! We could have saved dollars had we known its cheap to eat outside.

Back at the hotel, the wifi signal in our room was too low so we stayed at the lobby. My friend was browsing the net and analyzing why the Notre Dame looks red in the pictures. I stupidly told her, maybe its only red on an aerial view. She couldn't control her curiosity so she approached Pho Nguyen, and our questions were answered. We got Notre DAMN it! instead of the real Notre Dame and it was already dark outside to go to the place. But Pho Nguyen said the real one is just near and she could call us a taxi that could take us there and bring us back to the hotel.