chào bạn!
(hello)
Hmm where shall I begin...?
Alright. Let me start by talking about the first impression I got when I first arrived in Vietnam.
The airport was kinda empty. We found out why later on. That's because only people who just arrived by the airplane can be in the arrival hall. Those who were there to pick up or meet the just-arrived people had to gather outside the airport. I could still remember how it looked like to have so many people waiting outside the arrival hall - you feel as if you're a superstar. lol
The next we noticed after we hopped on the bus was the busy streets. It's strange because seemed like there were more motorcycles than other vehicles in Vietnam.
Actually, it could get kinda irritating at times ... because they would keep sounding their horns all the time. Especially in Ho Chi Minh city, you could hear horn sounds like almost every second during peak hours.
You should always watch out when you're crossing the road because even though the traffic light may turn red on their side, they would not necessarily stop. There are junctions where they don't even have traffic lights but they could still cross the road without running into each other. This was one of the things we found impressive.
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We spent approximately RM800 during this trip (not including flight tickets). We exchanged some Vietnam Dong and the rest into US Dollar. We heard that some of the places accept USD that's why we did so. However, after that we realized that by paying with Vietnam Dong it actually costed less.
You may think that then it's better to change all the MYR to VND in Malaysia before departure. But no, the exchange rate was unexpectedly much higher in Vietnam.
(Beware to exchange your money at the airport. We almost got conned. Therefore, don't forget to count your money after the exchange. RM200 / 50USD can be exchanged to more than 1 million Vietnam Dong. Count cautiously because you might get confused with all the zeros at the back.)
Next thing you need to get is the SIM Card. The counter will just be next to the currency exchange.
We got our Mobifone SIM card at 160,000 VND and that's just for online data. If you need to call local numbers, you need to top up of at least 100,000 VND. (for this, you'll have to go to one of the counters outside the airport)
Of course, everytime when you pay, make sure to count it as well (yea, because of all the zeros).
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Now, let me talk about the transport.
You hardly can find buses in the city. On the contrary, taxis are everywhere.
They are in different colours indicating that they belong to different companies. Normally, they charge by using the meter. However, make sure that you have the GPS on to ensure that the taxi driver is using the right way to your destination.
Unfortunately, we were conned once again.
The fare, as told by a local, was supposedly be 50,000 VND. However, we were nowhere near our destination when the meter hit that amount. Eventually, when it hit 80,000 VND, we anxiously stopped the driver. We insisted to get down the car and we walked to the destination.
If you happen to go to Dalat, use the RED taxi. They charge much lesser and the drivers are more honest (according to our experience).
Most of the time, we walked. There are two reasons - first, we need to save our cost. Second, we didn't wanna miss anything we could observe at the roadside. For instance, street food.
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For accommodation wise, you can find really cheap ones in most of the places in Vietnam.
During these 7 days, we went to 3 different cities of Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh. Mui Ne. Dalat.
4 of those nights we stayed in the 3 different hotels and guest houses. And it only costed us less than RM 100 per person!
For the other 2 nights, we spent the nights in the sleeping bus. Yes, you didn't read that wrong. It's a kind of bus where you lay down during the whole journey. To be honest, they are really conducive and hygienic.
You have to take off your shoes at the moment you step into the bus. They will also provide a bottle of water and a piece of wet tissue.
There are a few companies where you can book the sleeping / open buses. They are quite famous among the tourists. The Sinh Tourist (formerly well known as The Sinh Cafe) and FUTA Bus Lines. When you reach Ho Chi Minh you can always reach both of their companies at the Pham Ngu Lao street.
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I will further explain about the 3 different cities and the delicious local street food in my next post.
Stay tuned.
