Saigon, Vietnam

Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, is the commercial heart of Vietnam. I liken the city to Shanghai, for it has a blend of historical and modern architecture.

I was expecting Saigon to be a cramped, chaotic city, similar to Hanoi. Saigon is filled with honking motorcycles and people and has bad air pollution. However, the city has wide boulevards and open spaces, making it less dense than Hanoi. Furthermore, the city has modern cafes, bars and restaurants for those who are tired of eating at street stalls. I was surprised at the number of modern hotels and skyscrapers in Saigon compared to Hanoi.

My time in Saigon was spent sightseeing and eating. I was lucky to finally have a local, my CS host Tuan, show me around. Tuan took me all over Saigon on his motorcycle. We visited French colonial buildings such as the Old Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral and City Hall. We passed by the War Remnants Museum, with its U.S. tanks, helicopters and planes displayed outside. Tuan then led a tour of the Reunification Palace, the former presidential palace. He narrated the history of the building and was more knowledgeable than the other Vietnamese tour guides I have met! One unexpected place we visited was the expat neighborhood, a new development in south Saigon. I was again surprised to see Western-style apartments and homes in Saigon.

One of the highlights of my time in Saigon was the food! Tuan took me to street stalls and local restaurants. Among the items I tasted include self-wrap rolls (with veggies, pork, fish sauce), pork and egg rice, meat and spring rolls on rice noodles, veggie juice, and fruit shakes (plenty of these). I thank Tuan for showing me around, for I would probably not venture to these eateries on my own, or with other tourists.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is another central Vietnam city with a UNESCO world heritage old quarter. Unlike Hue, there are no city walls in Hoi An. However, there are more historical buildings here.

Hoi An is and will be my favorite Vietnamese city (I have yet to visit Saigon, but I doubt that I will fall in love with that city.). The old town, right beside a river, is absolutely charming. Inside, numerous Chinese temples stand side-by-side with French style yellow buildings. Many of these buildings contain art galleries, souvenir shops and tailor shops. In fact, one can get a designer suit custom-made in Hoi An for a fraction of the cost elsewhere! One other notable structure is the pink Japanese Covered Bridge.

A stroll along the river on the opposite side of the old town is a must. On the river, I saw boat rowers wearing the traditional conical farmer hat. I also saw the reflection of the old town, the ultimate factor that made me fall in love with this city.

At this point in time, I am getting tired of the soup noodles and rice for breakfast. Most people eat noodles and rice throughout the day. Despite its French influence, there are few bakeries in Vietnam! The only places that sell baguettes (the only bread that they eat) are street stalls that sell Vietnamese sandwiches. I have seen most of the Western tourists eat baguettes--they must be getting tired of the rice and noodles too.

I spent only the afternoon in Hoi An. That evening, I embarked on a nearly 24-hour bus ride to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). The first part of the journey was on a sleeper bus, where the seats reclined to a near flat bed. However, the bed was very narrow and short. Buses are slow in Vietnam; I find it ridiculous that it would take that long to travel 1,000 km.

Hue, Vietnam

Hue is a city in central Vietnam that has a UNESCO world heritage old town, enclosed within the walls of the Citadel. The city served as the imperial capital of Vietnam from 1802-1945, during the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty.

This was the first place where I experienced hotel touts. Basically, the moment a tourist bus stops, crowds of men would harass each tourist, asking them repeatedly if he/she wanted a moto taxi or hotel. If one walked away, one would be followed for a few seconds. Through a little persistence, I managed to escape from these touts.

Walking around Hue was relatively enjoyable. Like any Vietnamese city, there was honking and crowds, but not to the level experienced in Hanoi. Most of the old buildings are centered within the Forbidden City, an enclosed area within the Citadel. There, I saw gates, temples and palaces, all in the Chinese style. There were stone dragon and unicorn statues throughout the complex.

The unfortunate aspect was that many of these old buildings were under renovation when I visited; thus, they were not in their best appearance. Furthermore, most of the canals were so polluted and littered that algae was concentrated in them. It’s ironic that they named the river that flows through Hue, Perfume.

Lastly, it seems that most of the old town outside the Forbidden City was either destroyed or razed, as I saw mostly modern buildings with no aesthetic value in them.

One interesting observation I noted was in a supermarket (in fact, the only supermarket I have been into in Vietnam). There, baguettes were on sale and hordes of people were pushing and shoving each other in order to obtain as many baguettes as possible. At first I was wondering if there was a food shortage and then I realized that all of these people were probably going to resell these baguettes at a 50% profit.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Halong Bay, with its karst limestone formations jutting out of the water, is similar to Guilin, China. Unfortunately, I went on a rainy, overcast day.

I joined a day tour from Hanoi to Halong Bay. This was quite rushed, as I only got to spend 4 hours on a boat cruising the bay. Of this, about 2 hours were spent eating lunch (boat stationary) and waiting for the other people to kayak. The highlight was definitely admiring the dramatic scenery, quite appropriate for a painting or movie. I also enjoyed the one cave we toured. Inside, there were large stalagmites and stalactites and limestone shaped like creatures.

Lastly, my camera lens broke the day before, so this is the first place where I do not have pictures for. However, I will most likely purchase another one when I get back to Hanoi.

Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa is a town in the northern hills of Vietnam, surrounded by hill tribes. This town is very touristy and the biggest moneymaker are trekking tours to the tribal villages. I originally wanted to take a train there and arrange for my own tour to the villages, but decided that it was worth a few extra dollars to start the tour in Hanoi, as I was spending too much time comparing and bargaining for tours.

The overnight soft sleeper train to Lao Cai was very comfortable. However, once I got to Lao Cai, I had to take a minibus to Sapa. Everyone on the bus waited 45 minutes as the bus driver would not head to Sapa until ever seat was taken. What an inefficient and third world practice!

Sapa itself is not a very attractive town. It’s just a smaller version of Hanoi with honking and touts everywhere. Just like Hanoi, there is no architectural uniformity. Unfortunately, the attractive buildings are covered up with huge, ugly signs.

The tour I signed up for was a 2 day/1 night home-stay and trekking tour. I enjoyed the food, the scenery and the walks. I saw plenty of rice terraces, villagers in traditional attire and water buffalo. This was great despite the misty and overcast conditions.

However, there were certain aspects that could be improved. First, I felt that there was no value for money. We only trekked for 3 hours the first day and 2 hours the second day. I should have signed up for the 1 day tour! The guide simply wanted us to hurry along so that she could have free time. Second, the guide did not explain much about the various tribal customs and lifestyle. The walks were designed so that women in colorful attire would walk with us and then harass us to buy their crafts until we would cave in. Third, there was no interaction with the family at the home-stay. In fact, it felt more like a hostel. Hence, I am quite disappointed. I am never a person to join tours, but I realize that it would be difficult to find my way back from the villages if I did not.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, was a rude awakening to this Southeast Asian country. The scene in the city was nothing similar to the surrounding rice fields that dot the surroundings.

After my plane landed, it took me over 30 mins, perhaps much more, to clear immigration. I can’t remember the last time it took me this long to get through. After I cleared customs, I knew I would be harassed by taxi drivers, a scene all too familiar in third world countries. Ignoring them, I went to take the airport shuttle to the city center. This shuttle had no official price, as the numbers had been scratched off the sign. How unscrupulous!

The scene in the city was chaotic and overwhelming. Everywhere, there were motorcycles and people. In fact, there were so many motorcycles parked on sidewalks and so many people sitting on stools on the sidewalks that one simply had to walk on the streets. There was constant noise pollution in the form of honking and smog filled the air. Crossing the street was an adventure each time as one had to continually dodge motorbikes.

Everyone was trying to make money off tourists. This is very easy due to the fact that prices are never posted for anything, making bargaining a must. Men would constantly gesture tourists over for a motorcycle taxi ride. Sellers would hawk their goods. Travel agencies would copy reputable agencies’ names, confusing the tourists. Travel agents would try to sell overpriced tours, saying whatever the tourist wanted to here but not necessarily delivering on his/her words. There is very little customer service in poor countries like Vietnam.

Thus, Hanoi was a shock to me. I did not enjoy the city as much as I thought I would. However, I did have a few highlights, including the water puppet show and the food. The water puppet show is one where puppets performed on a pool of water, with an accompanying band playing Vietnamese music. It was quite a cultural experience! As for the food, it was very similar to Chinese food, with the main staple being rice, accompanied with tofu, vegetable and meat dishes. I also tasted the famous pho (beef soup noodles) and nem (spring rolls).