Day 3

I think everyone can relate to me on this—visas suck (insert expletive if you really hate visas). This is not to say Vietnam’s visa thing was hell on earth (I think Korea’s was far worse and burdensome), but that the actual act of wasting so much time to print a document that allows me to enter a country is, to put it lightly, pretty sad. Talk about an interconnected society. I don’t even care that it adds flare to my passport, I would rather live without needing one and wasting money that could be spent on food.

When you’re in Saigon (people don’t call the city Ho Chi Minh City by the way), try to avoid cab services that are not Mailinh or Vinasun. These two have good track records and most locals will say they are trustworthy. I rode Vinasun but I was a little disappointed I had to pay extra because the guy didn’t know where he was going for about 6 minutes, but it did only translate to $1.50 extra but who likes paying for a cab ride? Ultimately, I feel like I can’t really blame him because streets are labelled very poorly around this city.

I got a homestay via AirBnB and it is probably one of the nicer places I’ve been in with the service. The family is quite friendly and my host’s English was pretty solid. The place was in the town that neighbors the airport so I ended up hearing all the flights coming in and out. Maybe not soothing but it definitely sounded like adventure.

Although I didn’t want to make it my first meal, since I don’t eat pork and my host wanted to show me a good first meal, I ended up having Pho. Forgive me, I promise I will try to make every meal different so you guys can learn hear about some must haves.

In my first few hours here, I realized this was definitely a place I could not live. It’s not really the amount of bikes and scooters everyone is riding around town, but the absurd amount of honking. I actually like the fact that people can jaywalk as much as they please and people are not crazy with how they break so people can get around quite easily and petty safely (this opinion most likely will depend on your reaction time). However, the honking is too much for me to be comfortable.

So in lieu of taxi and metro, I try my best to be budget conscious and actively use the bus wherever I am. Vietnam is no different, but the buses sure are. I only saw about two large Hyundai commuter buses thus far and very other bus reminds me of the glory days of the Volkswagen camper that I never experienced. I’d say these buses are not for the faint of heart, but I’ve ridden them with multiple folk across the physically able spectrum. If you’re safety standards are not lax, I would avoid these. With the lack of card reader, all bus payments are made in dong (VND) to an actual ticket person who is not the driver. I would say hey look another person is employed, but I’m not sure how much of a positive economic impact it is since I have no idea if and how they’re salaried. Considering, the fact that bus tickets range between VND 6000-9000, you’re paying around 25-40¢. Again, since food can also be purchased for about VND 25000 (~$1.20), I guess that’s comparatively fine when comparing US and Korean proportions for their respective costs of living.

My day was spent just exploring the city on my own. I think I hit up all the major sights: Song Sai Gon (Saigon River), Bitexco, the Opera, the People Committee Hall (aka the socialist version of a city hall), their Notre Dame, the Central Post Office, the Reunification Palace (a reminder that the US lost the war with all the national propaganda surrounding the park as you walk towards it), and a little flower festival occurring at Cong vien la Van Tam. A pretty busy, energizing day.

Luckily the food I got made my feet okay with it all. Go to Fanny Ice Cream if you’re ever in town. I really like their micorazons, but their passion fruit ice cream is to die for. For dinner, I actually had a bunch of street food: Bo Bia, Bo Vien, and Tom Nuong Xa. Bo Bia are those spring rolls you love so much, especially when they wrap that rice paper up super tight. If you’re like me, you’ll need to tread carefully if they make it with pork but most places should be able to substitute it with tiny shrimp (they’ll call them prawns). Bo Vien are the beef meatballs you can often find cut up in your Pho; however, when you go to get street food, you can get a bunch skewered up and seasoned with extra goodies and find a smile on your face shortly thereafter. Out of the three, the lemongrass seasoned and fried shrimp on skewers that are Tom Nuong Xa are my favorite. A must have. Like seriously, very much recommend Tom Nuong Xa because that lemongrass seasoning was on point.

Day 4

Guys, I have to say if you’re going to have only two meals in Vietnam for a few hours seriously consider making them Bo Kho and Bun Bo Hue. Bo Kho is Vietnamese style beef stew and Bun Bo Hue is Hue (a central Vietnamese city) style beef noodle soup. The beef I had in both dishes was so on point I think I shed a few tears (it may have also been because the dishes were steaming into my face). My stomach felt these two dishes alone made Saigon a success.

Actually, I think the friendliness of the people was also really great. The way I was treated by a good amount of Vietnamese was different from the Taiwanese I met. I don’t think many people could have been nicer than the Taiwanese but I’d say the Vietnamese are close second. Although there a bunch of peddlers and people trying to bother you into thinking you need a ride for their help, when I really needed help most I had a few folks just drop what they were doing and take me to where I needed to be. No questions asked. Similarly, speaking no Vietnamese in Vietnam can be a tad troubling as you may expect, especially when traveling on a shoestring. The bus drivers, although a little road-rage-y really made sure I got off at all the right locations and gave me instructions on what else I needed to do to get wherever. These 40¢ bus rides sure as hell beat a number of other services I’ve ridden on when it comes to sheer friendliness and making sure I didn’t make a mistake in directions. Also how do you beat a view sitting right next to the driver?

That was taken on my ride into Cu Chi. The Cu Chi people built an extensive 275-km long tunnel system during the Vietnam war to fight the “American enemies” as the historical introductory video I watched put it. I travelled on my own and befriended a French dude to the Ben Duoc site (I strongly suggest avoiding the tourist-designed Ben Dinh sight as most of those tunnels were made for tourists and not even part of the original system). Something about a Frenchman and an American visiting a Vietnam War site that our nations thoroughly bombed and failed to defeat did not seem right. The Cu Chi people were communists that wanted South Vietnam to win… for communism. To help you grasp that, these were people on the Allied side of the fight trying to defeat the Allies (and let’s be real, they sure did). Since North Vietnam did win the war, or “reunified Vietnam” as the government aptly puts it. These people were viewed as heroes and after visiting, I couldn’t help but think the same. These tunnels are incredibly well engineered, full of booby traps, and designed to reveal so little of their existence it really startles you. As an added bonus, take this into context: these people were simple farmers that built one of those elaborate underground networks around. Mad props to them. I would tell you more but I would like you to learn more on your own if you ever come to Vietnam. Definitely a must see.

As I get ready to leave Saigon, I have bigger thoughts on the intense amount of governmental propaganda that you can find around every corner and by every flag hung by every house. It is a lot to swallow for the historically conscious and as an American, I know I must carry my nation’s privileges and atrocities with me. However, since I will be visiting Hanoi, I’ll elaborate my thoughts fully then.