Why on earth we ended on that side of the planet boiled down to the following reasons:
1. Bangkok was too hot and fully booked on a short notice.
2. Macau was fully booked on a short notice.
3. We are the the type of people who book vacations on a short notice.
Several weeks before, another friend (let's hide her under the name, Hobbitus) went MIA on us. When Hobbitus came back, she revealed to us that she went to Vietnam ALONE and recommended that we should check it out.
Ho Chi Minh City (or SAIGON) is a 2-hour trip from Manila. The sweltering climate welcomed us, including a sight that is familiar yet strange. The place reminded me of some cities in the Philippines. What made it different were the Viet characters on the billboard, the Viet sounds (language included), a million motorcycles on the streets, and CLEAN AIR.
Saigon Streets
Hotel ViewWe sought refuge from the afternoon heat in our airconditioned hotel and came out of hiding when the sun came down. We headed down Ben Thanh market for the evening street food fare which was not bad and considerably cheap. (During that time 1 USD = 15.5 VND more or less ... 5 bucks or less fed us to choking already.) Vietnamese food is not limited to Pho Hoa as we have discovered. Yet if you have a hankering for Pho there's like a 24-hour resto of it in the city. If you are into the healthy stuff, Viet food is for you as their diet contains a lot of veggies. There are dishes that can be hot and spicy, but you can request a milder version if they have one. One gastronomic word of advice though is to bring or buy bottled water. I'm not saying that water is not clean, but if you have guts that are a wee bit picky like mine, take my advice. Saves you trips to the john.
Ben Thanh Night MarketBen Thanh Market is open from 6AM to 6PM. After 6PM, the vicinity around the market becomes the night market which cater food and stuff like bags, clothes, shoes, lacquerware products, etcetera.
The night ended with a 5-minute walk back to the hotel and into snoreville.
