A little overdue but I hope it'll still be an interesting read. Did Vietnam with a few fellow windsurfers two weeks after the exams've ended. On this trip, I managed to get my contact lens solution confiscated at the customs checkpoint (forgot all bout the no-liquids rule, $%^&*#$%^@&#), learnt to appreciate coffee a lot more, had a couple of really cheap beers in Mui Ne, learnt that I'm not the only one who can really eat, and the list just goes on.
So, let's just start with the first day!
After one big bite of Ben's McGriddles and two hours of flight, we arrived at Ho Chi Minh International Airport. Met up with our guide, Ko, who gave a brief introduction and we were off to lunch!
It was early when we arrived, and the roads were not as congested as they'd usually be. Ko explained that was because it was a Sunday morning, and many people didn't have to go to work. We were pretty intrigued with the new sights and sounds; if you ask me, I'd say it's a little different from the other Asian places I've been to.
really tall trees along the roads
Saigon's got a human population of 8 million, and a motorbike population of 4 million.
nope, no refrigeration. and no flies, now I'm really curious.
Motorbikes started filling up the streets in throngs with each passing minute and we learnt that honking of the carhorn's really a common affair. It took me around half an hour to get used to our van overtaking on the left (left-hand drive), and you can never ever keep track of how many times the driver's honked the horn. I lost count, and couldn't be bothered after.
lunch check-point.
river-side restaurant; where the waitresses are all clad in white, translucent ao dais, revealing whatever sort of bras they're wearing underneath.
first course; no idea what fish that is, tilapia? anyway, it was so deep fried that the scales could be eaten.
a waitress came to our table and rolled up some fish, thick bee hoon and pineapple slices with the rice paper.
first of many springroll dishes that we were going to encounter. I like spring rolls.
big headed prawns; waitresses did the shelling for us. not that I minded.
celery and carrot soup, with thin pork slices. homely feel.
great ball of rice. ball, not bowl! haha
great ball of rice cut up and flattened.
After lapping up the last bit of soup in the charcoal steamboat, we hopped back onto the van and the driver took us to the part of Mekong Delta where we were going for a boat ride.
local and offshore fishing vessels, local ones have 'eyes' painted at their bows to scare away any monsters that might be lurking beneath the surface of the waters.
what lurks beneath...?
Did a few stop-overs along the long stretch of Mekong Delta, had some honey & lime tea at a small bee farm (?), petted a giant python where we had fresh fruits for our afternoon snack, visited the place where coconut candy is produced, hitched a pony ride, sat in a rocky sampan and so on.
tea-time
tea-time snacks, preserved coconut strips, lotus seeds and ginger pieces. coconut ftw.
mini tea cups.
the tourists...
the old lady who powered our sampan. strong woman.
and our pony was way ahead of everyone else. what's the rush, pony?
passed by this lady while we were on the carriage; how's that for retro? love the bright red!
one coconut drink awaits each of us when we got back to the boat. neither cold nor sweet, but still a good end to our Mekong Delta visit.
doesn't this remind you of bowling pins?
expressway's limit is 70km/h (wtf?) and there were many humps along the expressway, good idea to stop people from speeding eh.
The Mekong tour took us one whole afternoon, and we headed straight for dinner after. Chinese fare lor; braised pork belly, stir-fried lala, omelette with springies and fried squid. Our group can really eat, compared to the other group from NBS that was there too. Nothing left on our plates and none of the other tables (all from NBS) could finish up everything on their tables. Weak! hahaha.
We only got to our hotel after dinner. The hotel where we stayed at is called Lien An; there's a few more 3-star hotels along the same stretch of street, 'aquariums' disguised as salons just beside (and the girls have a standardized uniform can), and a shop selling Singapore food (super not cheap) just across the street.
i had lijun & mel as roomies. big rooms ROCK.
We idled for a short while in our rooms (the usual channel-flipping, bouncing on bed stuff luh) before heading out to Ben Tanh Night Market. Lots of beaded pouches, cheap clothes and imitation goods, especially Polo and Adidas tees. Brands like LV, Gucci, Channel abit cannot-make-it. Sidenote: guess once you've been to Bangkok, shopping elsewhere is never comparable. Back to the market, it's a rather popular tourist spot, so, you must always remember to bargain. Street snacks are sold here too; coloured-glutinous rice with durian/sugar/bean-paste toppings, kinder surprise (will blog bout this the next time round), zhi char stuff, and so on. I had a jolly time stuffing myself silly with whatever snack we bought while waiting for the rest to finish their shopping.
entrance/exit of ben tanh.
First day of Saigon? The tourist spots (nothing really impressive yet) did not really appeal to me, but the food and the laidback vibes from the people did. The people there take things slowly as they come and never seem to be in a hurry (apart from on the roads, I still remember the aftermath of the accident on the expressway) I became known as the-girl-who-eats-a-lot. Later in the night, I sucked on a watermelon-flavoured ice-pack that I got from the supermart before finally heading to bed, satisfied.
Visit again for the next few parts soon.
ps. I think my hard-disk's down. knccncbcb. All my pictures are in there, I hope I'd be able to get it fixed soon. Please let it be fixed. I hate worrying bout this kinda stuff. argh.
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