My Land Journey from Singapore to Hanoi in 25 days. Pt 4: Ho Chi Minh

Part 4: Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam 

Day 11  

Woke up at 5.30am, have to get ready for my 6.15am pick-up transportation to The Russian Market for the Mekong Express Bus to Ho Chi Minh City or their locals still insist as Saigon
  
The Russian Market                                                 My Bus, Mekong Express

  

Assorted fried delicacies sold at the bus waiting area   Inside the bus

Our bus will depart at 7.00am, estimating will reach Saigon by 1.30pm to 2.00pm. Along the way, we passed by small clusters of shop-houses known as villages or small towns, which reminded me of when I traveled to Ipoh before the North-East Highway was build 30 years ago.

Sitting next to me was this young Cambodian man of 24 years old, who speaks a little English. We spoke on and off throughout our journey. He told me, this was his 2nd visit but 1st time travelling alone to Saigon and his mum was very worried. 

Upon hearing this, prompted me thinking of how fortunate we Singaporean are, most of our kids start travelling when they are still an infant. Of course, when they start school, there are all these school excursions either by bus to Malaysia or fly to oversees destinations eg. China or even Indochina.
My daughter, Eva came to Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh on her school trip years ago, and I had to ask her for tips on both Cities.

    Half way stop

The young man sitting next to my seat.

  

We stopped for lunch here was already nearing the border

   

The Cambodian Immigration Check-point                The Vietnam Immigration Check-point 

There was quite a wait at the Vietnam Check-point at 11.30am, course was around lunch time. We finally reached Ho Chi Minh about 1.45pm. 

Yeah! welcome to Saigon

After using the Bus office's toilet, I made my way to my Hostel http://suitebackpackersinn.com/ho-chi-minh-city.html; easy-breezy with the help of 'mapsme'. This Hostel was newly renovated I paid SGD9.00 per night for a female 4 beded dorm room. Its very clean and the staff are super friendly and helpful. 

Again, the location of this Hostel is superb, at De Tham Street. in District 1, adjacent to Phum Ngu Lao Street. within walking distant to most tourist attractions eg. Ben Thanh Market, War Remants Museum, Independence Palace and Notre Dame Cathedral which we are going to visit all, tomorrow.

By 2.15pm, I was sitting at the reception, waiting for my sister; Emily to arrive from the airport. 

Correct! Emily is joining me from here onward till the end of my journey in Hanoi. I am very excited and am looking forward to explore Vietnam with her. 

There are so many things we could do as a twosome, which I find it awkward when alone. eg. ordering more than 2 main-course! hanging-out at bars the whole night! and joking and giggling together!

If you're lucky enough to have sisters like I have, you probably realized the bond between sisters is unique and incomparable, especially ours. Its like having best friends who you happen to share a ton of genetic material with, and who you know will always have your back regardless you deserve it or not. 

Being the eldest, I'll be the first to admit that I do sometimes have taken our relationship for granted and a bit of a bully too. But never doubted that I will always try to shelter them like the wise older sister and they'r the number one person I'm always happy to see and hear from. 

Yeah! I am blessed with 3 younger sister; Emily, May and Leng.

If you feel the same way about your sisters, then you should probably try to hang out with them as much as possible. 
                           As my personal belief :"Its always never too Late"

Emily is closer to me due to our age gap and also geographic proximity, she has been my constant travel partner way back from 2006 when she joined my family; hubby Albert, daughter Eva and me to Spain, Portugal, Morocco and UK. Just last summer we went on a backpacking trip to Scandinavia.
(Look out for my blog on this trip)

   

Us outside our Hostel                                               Our Pho, my coffee and OMG Emily's Milkshake!

Emily arrived at about 2.30pm, once checked-in, we decided to go for lunch.... to savour our very first bowl of Pho and of-course Vietnam coffee!! The Hostel receptionist recommended us Pho Hung at Nguyen Trai Street. Its about 20 mins walk away from our Hostel. It is the best Pho (beef noodles) SGD8.00 I have ever tasted. 

I have yet to turn Emily to drinking coffee! We are in Vietnam! all should savour its coffee NOT Milkshake!!

After our late lunch, we explored the surrounding area.

                     

                 sitting on low stools seem to be the norm here in Vietnam

              

There are about 8 million motor bikes in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and its population is 8.4 million, almost everyone owns a bike event a kid!

This evening we are going to Bitexco Tower and Sky deck, by 7.00pm we were walking towards Bitexco Tower.

    

 Sky Deck (49th Floor)stands 262 metres high at the centre of the city’s business district and offers a 360 degree of unparalleled  city view and the Saigon river. Entrance fee 200,000VND (Sgd13.00) 

      

 After The Sky Deck, we went up to the Heli bar at 51th Floor for Happy hours! We had our dinner there and more drinks.

    

 We took a taxi back to our hostel after-which.

Day 13
8.30am we are having our breakfast in-front of our Hostel. Saigon Pho; Noodle shop by day & Bar by night! 

                  

1st stop: War Remnants Museum

The War Remnants Museum is a sobering and unforgettable museum which details the effects of the 30 year long war between America and Vietnam. Hard hitting information eg. photographs, exhibits and written documentation show the horrific lengths the American Army lowered themselves in order to try and defeat the North Vietnamese Army. So many lives taken! and yet “the only war America ever lost.”
         

Reunification Palace:
     
Along our route, we came upon a beautiful park, it was so serene and peaceful. We saw families and friends gathered here for chit-chat over a cup of coffee or just read newspaper. Children were playing catching in the open field.
Oh yes! it was a Saturday!!
   
Singapore Food Restaurant                                       The Mariamman Hindu Temple
                      
The palace is like a time capsule frozen in 1975 with two of the original tanks used in the capture of the palace parked in the grounds. Originally the site of the Nordom Palace also known as the Governor’s Palace its first role was as a home and workplace for the then French Governor of Cochinchina. 
Ben Thanh Market
One of Saigon’s oldest landmarks, Ben Thanh offers a great atmosphere that is absolutely authentically Vietnamese. This market is huge, things sold here ranging from fresh fruits to textile.
We saw plenty of food stalls too. We could smell coffee, spices, nuts and local fruits (durian) heavily scent the air which are also filled with the chatter of tourists and locals haggling on the price. 
Yes to note: WE NEED TO BARGAIN!! 
My advise; safest to bargain half of the asking price first if there is not price tag on any item.
        
We had lunch here, i had dried chicken noodle with black coffee.
         

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica
Shoe-shine boys Scam
Its blazing hot now, we were walking on route to Notre Dame Cathedral, somewhere near Ho Chi Museum we bought fresh coconut to drink.
We set on a bolder along the street enjoying our drinks, than came 2 shoe-shine boys, they approached if we wanted to clean our shoes.
I said "No, we have no money". Then this checked-shirt guy started to use a tooth-brush began brushing the dirt off my shoes, I kept telling him 'NO NO NO!'.
The second guy did the same to Emily's shoes.
I turned to the old lady sitting next to us, gestured her to tell them; NO!. She just looked at me with oblivion.
By then, they already taken out both our shoes, cleaning them. I kept on saying 'No money'.
I am very sure they understood what I was saying. But they persistently kept on cleaning and finding damages on our shoes for instant repair.
I kept on saying 'No'. Finally, they gave back our shoes and demanded 100,000 VND each.
I told them we don't have any money and not going to pay them.
Both of them just stand aggressively right in front waiting for payment, the checked guy began pointing at me almost touching me. Its starting to look like harassment!
 I said angrily in English: 'Do Not touch me, or I will scream'. and I pointed at the old lady indicating that she heard me saying NO many many times.
Yes she set there witnessing the whole transgression.
They kept on staring at us for almost another 15 mins and finally walked away demanding that we should erase the photos taken of them. Emily erased in front of them then later recovered back for my blog.

   
                         Warning: Be aware of this 2 shoe-shine boy, they are Scammers.

Finally, we reached the cathedral! 

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, officially Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception is a cathedral located just next to the Central Post Office.

  

                        The famous Cental Post Office, a glorious example of French colonial architecture

After visiting the Cathedral, we decided to go shopping at Le Thanh Ton Street where Vincom Centre and Parkson are located. We were only in Zara for a while, compared to Singapore, the retail price were much more higher, so decided not to buy anything. We wondered around the mall for its supermarket and bought yogurt.
We were feeling quite tired by then and took a taxi back to our hostel.

During the evening we hung-out near our Hostel, had dinner at the food fare at the nearby park, 
    

    
We had Vietnamese Spring Roll and Banh Mi sandwich, them we checked out the bars at Pham Ngu Lao street.
 

By nightfall these streets turned into a vibrant kaleidoscope of loud pounding music and neon lights. Pham Ngu Lao nightlife is one of Ho Chi Minh’s finest, with throngs of street vendors, bia hoi stalls, lively bars and clubs eg. The View Rooftop Bar, Seventeen Saloon, Go 2 and Crazy Buffalo Nightclub as well as many smaller pubs that are known for their cheap drinks and happy hour promos. 

  

It’s also commonly know for backpacker hang-out. As there is always something going on here on this street, we even saw a lady street performer doing a fire eating tricks, we decided to sit on the road side opposite Crazy Buffalo club for people-watching while enjoying the incredibly cheap beer. Promotion 2 for 1 beer.

Day 14
Chinatown
Woke up quite late today after last night bar hopping, we had heavy breakfast of egg omelette, salad and banquette, anticipating on late lunch or early dinner cos we are going to walk around Cholon (Chinatown) 
We took a local bus to China town from around the corner of Pham Ngu Lao Street. 
A good day to go Temples hopping in Saigon china town! By local bus no: 01
Walking around Chinatown from temple to temple were quite a pleasant surprise for us, amid with traffics' noises we heard faint murmur of voices spoken in mandarin or Cantonese. Yes, we are 100% in Chinatown! The locals here still maintained their Chinese heritage. 

                              

1st stop; 

Quan Âm Pagoda is founded in the 19th century, it is dedicated to Guanyin the Chinese goddess of mercy and the Chinese form of the Indian bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
    

Ba Thien Hau Temple is a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess, Mazu. It’s believed that she protects and rescues ships and people on the sea by flying around on a mat or cloud. 
           

Giác Lâm Pagoda is a historic Buddhist pagoda, build in 1744, it is one of the oldest temples in the city. It is surrounded with a numbers of small Temples too. Yet here again, we met the temple security who spoke perfect Cantonese.
        

Taking the local bus back from Temples hopping. Changed bus at Binh Tay market place, The building was under renovation hence the open-air market place!
     

We took the same bus back to Pham Ngu Lao Street, rested for a while in our hostel then dinner time!
We went back to Pho Hung for Beef noodle again and hung around the hostel neighborhood for people-watching again. This is our last night in Saigon! 

                                                             Housewives have evening coffee at side-walk

     Beside cheap beers, this area do have quite a variety of very good and inexpensive local cuisines.

Day 15
This evening we are taking the Hann Cafe express bus to Nha Trang. We will be travelling by bus instead of the train cause its WAY more economical.
Just compare: a one way train fare from Saigon to Nha Trang is about SGD33.00.
Wheres the total fare by bus; open ticket ie. Saigon>Nha Trang>Hoi An> Danang>Hanoi; is only SGD52.00

 Our bus depart at 8.00pm tonight, so the whole day we explored the area around our Hostel.
We stayed indoor cos was raining almost the whole day!

We went for pedicure only SGD2.40!!          Ok look! Burger King giving away FREE BEERS

Bye bye Saigon                                                Sleepers bus! very comfy!!

                                 They have toilets any FREE WIFI!!

Look out for our next Advanture Pt 5:  Nha Trang!!