It's been thirteen years since I've been back to my hometown, this is actually where I could paint a million pictures of my childhood.
We took the sleeping bus, which was a six hour ride from Saigon to Phan Thiet, going at 40 miles per hour, priced at 7$, the seat was very comfortable because you could convert your seat into a bed and sleep on the way to your destination. The bus made two stops, one for snack, and one for lunch.
On the way, I could not sleep because the scenery on the way to Phan Thiet was pretty entertaining. Everyone here constantly honks while driving, honking means "get out of my way, I'm coming". The bigger the transportation you have, the more rights you have, completely opposite in America. There was no way I could fall asleep, just too entertaining. Most of the bus was full with American tourists, couple loud Vietnamese guys, these people seem like they have visited Vietnam before, probably more experienced than I am.
Vietnam really has a problem with pollution, trash, plastic bags are everywhere, but Phan Thiet stands out to be one of the cleanest cities since it's a tourist destination, plus it's along the beach, and you could smell the fresh air as you get closer to the city.
First stop, of course, is home. My house has not changed much, it looks smaller for some reason, and my room still looks the same. We settled in, the house feels empty, so we went to visit some relatives.
Internet here is not as bad, you'll have to go to a coffee shop to get some free wifi.
Shoot, battery is almost dead, but overall, the beach has changed, there aren't a lot of shops around them anymore, they replaced them with hotels, a little bit cleaner.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Vietnam Day1 - Who doesn't change?
First day in Vietnam. It's ...
Changed, here is the first disappointment, I am not very good with capturing the moments when I travel. So here I am recording my first day using my memory, which isn't that good either.
No matter how I can bring this image to whomever is reading this, one cannot, and I mean cannot, describe Saigon in any shape or form of this unbelievable city, which has changed since my last visit, 2001.
I woke at 6:30 am from the sound of honking cars and crazy motor cycle riders. Had my breakfast, which was noodle soup, with some combination of American dishes because this hotel caters to tourists, yet their soup was still delicious, they tried to be westernized, but failed, exactly the way I wanted.
My brother and I took our first cab ride to walk around District 1, the streets are well developed, no one cared to even look at us, most of them don't even know that we were there, the city is so crowded, everyone minds their own business, looking around, tourists everywhere, as if most of them sort of live here. The term "Viet Kieu" translates to "Westernized Vietnamese" are no longer rare, new, and will ever receive the usual better treatment than those who live here. The city has removed its dependency from these so called "Viet Kieu", and has learned to operate on their own without the financial support from us coming back to share the cash. I felt no longer a queen, a rare item, but more of a citizen, a friend, or just another person in this extremely crowded city.
We are staying in a brand new hotel, they even have a computer running Windows XP for us to use, wired with ready internet access. Extremely slow, I got impatient, used my laptop instead to write this entry.
Let's talk a little bit about the design of this hotel. Ok, I should really get up and take some pictures. Ok, too lazy, scratch that. Let me try to explain in one word first. Modern. Yes, as I expected, marble throughout the bathroom, the tub is super deep, the sink is a bowl sink (the current trend nowadays), and the toilet has two buttons, plus a butt washer, don't know if this is the right term for it, but yes, it has a butt washer. Each night here costs 30$ since it's one of the newer ones on the block.
The whole day involves eating, relaxing, people watching, planning for the next couple days, money exchange, and more people watching. One of the most outstanding things I noticed in Saigon is everyone carries a smart phone, either Android or an iPhone, there are a lot more Androids, but not many iPhones. Internet service is about 4$ per month, fast enough, download is 15MBs, yup, not complaining. I was worried about bringing my phone to a third world country, oh please sister, Saigon is full of laptops, cell phones, all over the place. They probably think I'm not even up to date since I have chosen to carry nothing.
Ready for the cost? Each taxi ride is between 1$ to 3$ around the city. Food is about 1$ to 3$ at most. And yes, they are amazing, this is in restaurant food, not on the street food. I'm assuming on the street food will be quite cheaper, but not yet ready to take this risk since I'm here for a short period of time, and really don't want to spend a few days of my vacation taking meds all the freaking time :)
My full day is not finished yet. I am taking a short break while my brother runs out to meet some friends. They are rich and spoiled kids, their parents own some government parts of the city. They could easily throw a 1000$ per day during their outing. Corruption continues, but it seems like the economy here is getting more fair for others in Saigon. But still, they are using the trigger down economy, which I personally think is not a sustainable model. We'll have to get back to the politics later. Let's now talk about food!
I love food and I cannot lie. No woman will ever deny! I even planned to eat which kind of item each time. I wish I have the motivation to take pictures wherever I go. Just the thought of bringing the camera around, taking it out, too much work, not very efficient way of enjoying a vacation. What I need is a camera hidden in my head, automatically capturing each image as I tell it to. Once done, my head will automatically upload these images to Skydrive. Yes, this is the ideal way of solving laziness. Now, someone please go implement it!
Ok, going to take a little nap. Day 1 recorded.
Changed, here is the first disappointment, I am not very good with capturing the moments when I travel. So here I am recording my first day using my memory, which isn't that good either.
No matter how I can bring this image to whomever is reading this, one cannot, and I mean cannot, describe Saigon in any shape or form of this unbelievable city, which has changed since my last visit, 2001.
I woke at 6:30 am from the sound of honking cars and crazy motor cycle riders. Had my breakfast, which was noodle soup, with some combination of American dishes because this hotel caters to tourists, yet their soup was still delicious, they tried to be westernized, but failed, exactly the way I wanted.
My brother and I took our first cab ride to walk around District 1, the streets are well developed, no one cared to even look at us, most of them don't even know that we were there, the city is so crowded, everyone minds their own business, looking around, tourists everywhere, as if most of them sort of live here. The term "Viet Kieu" translates to "Westernized Vietnamese" are no longer rare, new, and will ever receive the usual better treatment than those who live here. The city has removed its dependency from these so called "Viet Kieu", and has learned to operate on their own without the financial support from us coming back to share the cash. I felt no longer a queen, a rare item, but more of a citizen, a friend, or just another person in this extremely crowded city.
We are staying in a brand new hotel, they even have a computer running Windows XP for us to use, wired with ready internet access. Extremely slow, I got impatient, used my laptop instead to write this entry.
Let's talk a little bit about the design of this hotel. Ok, I should really get up and take some pictures. Ok, too lazy, scratch that. Let me try to explain in one word first. Modern. Yes, as I expected, marble throughout the bathroom, the tub is super deep, the sink is a bowl sink (the current trend nowadays), and the toilet has two buttons, plus a butt washer, don't know if this is the right term for it, but yes, it has a butt washer. Each night here costs 30$ since it's one of the newer ones on the block.
The whole day involves eating, relaxing, people watching, planning for the next couple days, money exchange, and more people watching. One of the most outstanding things I noticed in Saigon is everyone carries a smart phone, either Android or an iPhone, there are a lot more Androids, but not many iPhones. Internet service is about 4$ per month, fast enough, download is 15MBs, yup, not complaining. I was worried about bringing my phone to a third world country, oh please sister, Saigon is full of laptops, cell phones, all over the place. They probably think I'm not even up to date since I have chosen to carry nothing.
Ready for the cost? Each taxi ride is between 1$ to 3$ around the city. Food is about 1$ to 3$ at most. And yes, they are amazing, this is in restaurant food, not on the street food. I'm assuming on the street food will be quite cheaper, but not yet ready to take this risk since I'm here for a short period of time, and really don't want to spend a few days of my vacation taking meds all the freaking time :)
My full day is not finished yet. I am taking a short break while my brother runs out to meet some friends. They are rich and spoiled kids, their parents own some government parts of the city. They could easily throw a 1000$ per day during their outing. Corruption continues, but it seems like the economy here is getting more fair for others in Saigon. But still, they are using the trigger down economy, which I personally think is not a sustainable model. We'll have to get back to the politics later. Let's now talk about food!
I love food and I cannot lie. No woman will ever deny! I even planned to eat which kind of item each time. I wish I have the motivation to take pictures wherever I go. Just the thought of bringing the camera around, taking it out, too much work, not very efficient way of enjoying a vacation. What I need is a camera hidden in my head, automatically capturing each image as I tell it to. Once done, my head will automatically upload these images to Skydrive. Yes, this is the ideal way of solving laziness. Now, someone please go implement it!
Ok, going to take a little nap. Day 1 recorded.
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