We arrived in Ho Chi Minh city at 8PM, getting off the bus
at the main street of De Tham to walk towards Diep Anh Guesthouse. This was
another family-run hostel, conveniently located near restaurants and cafes. So right after checking in, we looked for a place to eat at and found Pho Quynh, where we had delicious and comforting pho.
This was my birthday night and I wanted to maximize it so we
walked towards De Tham street for some drinks. We ended up at a table outside CO2 bar, with a very good view of the nightlife in Saigon.
We had several cocktails and bottles of their Saigon lager to celebrate my turning 27.
The first order of business the next day was to hear mass at the Notre Dame to thank God for another year in my life, and of course, the bountiful blessings I've received, including this fun birthday trip I was able to experience with my friends.
From the cathedral, we crossed the park to the Reunification Palace and toured the rooms within. The tour fee was VND15,000.
We then headed to the famous Ngon restaurant, where we had a
filling lunch. This was undeniably the best meal we’ve had during the trip.
We walked around the city some more, passing by the malls
and the Saigon Square.
The next day we went for another history flashback, with a
tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. This was the site where the Vietnamese hid and
survived during the war. We paid VND190,000 to go around the site and even go
through the tunnels. It was quite scary, especially for claustrophobic me. Good
thing that I am a small person and naturally motivated by a challenge. Picci
and I were the only two tourists to get to 80m of the tunnel, in which we were
crawling on all fours inside. We were supposed to finish the 100m but the
tunnel became so dark. I was not following anyone in front of me, and getting
creeped out by the minute, thinking of creatures that would crawl on me. So I
led us out of the tunnel eventually. The guide was disappointed we didn’t
finish and when I told him the reason that it became too dark to maneuver, he
simply said “Well, that’s the way it was during the war.” Well-said.
We took more photos at the site, me in my very appropriate
camouflage t-shirt.
We also tried shooting, in which I totally sucked, but enjoyed
anyway. That cost us an additional VND180,000 per person.
We returned to the guesthouse by noon and had lunch at the
Asian Kitchen, which was in the same alley.
Our flight back to Manila was not till 1AM the next day, so
we had the rest of the day for killing time. We went our separate ways; I obviously
understood killing time as shopping time so I went to the Ben Tanh market. Then
we met up at around 4PM to stroll at the park.
Unlike our Luneta Park, the
people actually used the park to exercise and socialize.
We scoured the grounds
and discovered the secret to the Vietnamese woman’s flat stomach - MASS PUBLIC
EXERCISE. At first we were just invited by the funny upbeat music. But then,
when I figured out that their steps were repetitive and easy, I tried it
myself. It was like doing an ab workout but standing up. What a
discovery!
I wasted away my exercise by having dinner and drinks after.
Then by 10PM, we headed back to the guesthouse, thanked the owners and took
photos with them and took a taxi to the airport.
All in all, I spent just over 30K at P31,101.79 for the
whole trip, which was mainly driven by my shopping expense at around P8,000. My
unique Cambodia pants were worth the spend though!
*Quick Conversion Tips:
| 100 KHR = 1 PHP more or less, so just divide by 100 to get the price in peso! |
| 500 VND = 1 PHP more or less, so just divide by 500 to get the price in peso! |
