Day 1
It was Moi's first time to travel BUDGET!!! Hahahahaha!! So I was a little bit blur with the checking in and boarding at the budget terminal which fortunately Moi "survived".... Just for info, the boarding notice board below is not the real flights notice board but HANS menu board at the budget terminal. =P We departed on a thursday morning.
Despite being a budget airline, Tiger Airways' service standard was still rather amicable. The flight was not very timely with slight half an hour to an hour late for both our going and returning flights but with regards to comfort in terms of seats, it was still rather acceptable. For a budget price, it was reasonable and nice.
Moi got a bit of a "surprise" upon arriving at Saigon's airport as the "budget" terminal was so much newer, nicer, cleaner, more posh than the Tan Son Nhat International Airport that Moi came 2 years ago.... until I discovered upon checking out that both the budget flights and international flights all docked at Tan Son Nhat International Airport and that the airport just got renovated. Hahahaha! What a BIG make-over!! I was utterly surprised.
After hearing all the "unpleasant" experiences about HCMC cabs, the 3 of us decided to pay a little bit more for premium and safety to get the airport taxi at a higher price at USD 10 for a 20 minutes ride to our guesthouse. It wasn't much of a big surprise for Moi to be greeted again by the chaotic traffic.
restaurants, cafes, all within walking distance. Service was great and money worth. For 3 nights stay in a 3-pax bedroom, Moi paid USD 24 and that includes breakfast, attached bathroom with hot shower, 
fresh towels and room cleaning daily, throw in cable tv, air-conditional, fan and use of a room fridge. Heaven!! hahahaha! Look at the clean toilet and our breakfast. Cool right? Every morning, we got a choice of either bread with omelette or 
bread with butter and jam, together with a choice of either coffee, tea or pineapple juice. Yummy!! There is also free wifi internet servicing on first floor. The only demerit about Luan vu might be the noise in the morning. Though Luan Vu is located in the inner lane and well cut off from the bustling main road. The few hawkers downstairs start their business early morning around 6am. If you are a light sleeper, you will be easily wake up by the chatting, cries of children, etc.After putting down our barang barang, we wasted no time to go down to Sinh cafe, a travel agency located at the very next street, De Tham, to book for our Day tour tomorrow to Cu Chi Tunnel at USD 6.00 per pax excluding lunch and entrance fee. I would say it's very cheap and service was quite ok. M was famished and her gastric was working against her... so we quickly adjoined for a quick tea break which costs a total of about USD 8.00. Food was not too bad, save the bread which was much too dry, such that it was cutting into my mouth. =( GRRRRRRRR!! The sandwich set actually came with a crab meat soup which though nonetheless looked and tasted like one, was quite delicious. M's chap cai peng was a little too blend but L's seafood noodle tasted quite alright.
Tea break @ Sinh Cafe
Well, once we got re-charged, we were invincible. kekeke! We made a BIG detour to Ben Thanh Market which is actually very close to us. We figured out later that different people gave us different directions as Ben Thanh was located around a circle road and you could either enter through the right or to the left. Getting there through the chaotic traffic was our worst nightmare. The traffic lights seem so redundant. Nobody seems to be following any rules, both pedestrians and motorists. Cars, motorbikes, buses, vans were moving in any possible directions and we could even see big car making a U-turn in the middle of the road amidst the heavy traffic. We took a while to figure that the only way to cross the roads was with your eyes closed. hahahahaha! Amazing, right? You just have to put your faith in the drivers and just walked very slowly from one end of the road to the other end without looking. The motorists will diverge from you miraculously. The fact that the three of us make it home safely, does imply that this is the correct method to cross the HCMC traffic. kekeke!
Did much shopping at Ben Thanh market and got nearly 40% of the stuffs that Moi was entrusted to get before my departure. Heehee! All of us got our hands really FULL with things and more things. I especially like the colorful bags that we managed to bargain from USD 6.00 to USD 4.50. A good technique to shop in vietnam is to go many shops to compare the prices first; bargain first before you request them to take out the goods and once bargained, be sure to take the price that you offered. My personal opinion is the vietnamese are tougher sellers and less friendly. But we still got lots of fun. Just a note that Ben Thanh market opens as early 8:30am and closes at 6pm. After 6pm, you will find little stalls all set up like pasar malan outside Ben Thanh market selling food, clothes, souvenirs and lacquer related handicrafts.
With our hands all full, we went over to Pho 2000, a vietnamese noodle shop made famous by a visit by USA Ex-President Bill Clinton. Both myself and L had the vegetable noodle while M had the spicy seafood noodle. We shared a plate of vietnamese spring rolls and sea coconut jelly for dessert. The noodles were really fine and smooth. Portion was a little small but with a price of USD 10 for all, it was still rather worthwhile. A special note that Pho 2000 like some restaurant tends to serve wet tissues and small table snacks like peanuts which are chargeable. So if you don't want the tissues or the small table snacks, be sure to return it to the server, so you won't get charged.
Dinner @ Pho 2000
Proceeded back to our guesthouse for a hot shower and chat till 2am, before we hit slumber... kekekeke! An exhausting day but joyful..... Day 2, starts at 6:30am....
Luan Vu Guesthouse
35/2 Bui Vien Street, District 1,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Website : http://www.geocities.com/guesthouseluanvu
Sinh cafe
246 - 248 De Tham Street, District 1,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: (84-8) 836 7338
Fax: (84-8) 836 9322
Website : http://www.sinhcafevn.com/
Ben Thanh market
District 1, Saigon, Vietnam.
Pho 2000
1-3 Phan Chu Trinh
Tel: (84-8) 822-2788
Open daily 6am - 10pm
Day 2
Today is a full day guided trip to Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels at 8am sharp.
Our USD 6 tour covers transport, 1 bottle of water, 1 packet of coconut coated peanuts (which M likes it so much) and a tour guide full of craps and jokes in his vietnam-accent English which unfortunately was only fully decipher most of the time by only the 3 of us. Hahahahaha! All the ang mohs, hongkees and the chinkaporeans just seem not able to laugh at his jokes. =P
Like all guided tour, there is a tendency to stop at certain places. Our first stop was at a lacquer making factory which was not inside the tour itinerary. It was interesting to watch how each lacquer cravings was craved out and washed and polished.
Lacquer factory
After the lacquer factory visit, we went to our first stop of the Great holy Cao Dia Temple that prays to the EYE. The EYE represents the EYE of Heaven watching over us and making sure that we don't make any mistakes. Even though the temple was not very impressive in terms of size and architecture, it's still quite interesting to observe and learn about a total new religion unheard in our little island. Caodaism is a religion with colorful mix of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. We attended the noon prayer session to witness the daily mass held by the Cao Dia followers dressed in white. Everyone is split clearly based on their ranks inside the temple and their gender. The more superior in terms of status and rank stood in front nearer to the altar; the female on the left and the males on the right. Non-followers (e.g. tourist) are not to step in the middle of the walkway and to stay strictly to the side of the hall. Photo-taking of the temple, statue and people are permissible but no posing for photography.
The temple tour lasted not more than an hour and we went on for lunch at this really dilapidated coffee shop... EEeeeeeeeeee... but food was still ok. We had...
In clockwise starting Top left corner : (2) Lemon tea (3) Spring roll rice set (4) Chicken noodle (5) Spring Roll (6) Fried Rice
Moi ordered the fried rice and only discovered later that their fried rice was fried with beef so I got to hand-pick each piece of meat out. But their spring rolls were really nice... maybe the best that we tasted in all the Vietnamese eateries we visited during our stay.
Well we took another 1 hour 15 mins to travel to our next and main destination for this tour - Cu Chi tunnel. The tunnels of Cu Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels that were used by Vietnam Cong (VC), guerrilla fighters, as hiding spots for combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters during the vietnam war. It is so famous because the tunnel system protracted the war and caused American withdrawal. Cu chi was a well connected area between north and southern part of vietnam via Saigon River and American needed to take down Cu Chi to capture Saigon. With a small remaining army making up of all surviving inhabitants of Cu Chi including women, the Viet Cong together with the inhabitants and limited artillery and backward technology managed to force American withdrawal with Cu Chi Tunnels. At its peak, the Cu Chi Tunnel network covered more than 250km, from Cambodian border, far north of Vietnam to Saigon.
From the documentary video that we watched at the site and our tour guide's explanation that Cu Chi Tunnel was made possible because of the nature of the soil - hard clay and the presence of Saigon river as a water source. In actual fact, there was never a direct order to build the tunnel but the tunnel evolved out of war circumstances and made up by connecting separate tunnels that were built earlier. The irony is that most of the supplies used to build and to maintain the tunnels were stolen or scavenged from US bases or troops. As shown in the photos under weapons below. An simple map also show that the passages are really small and so immerse with many bogus trap doors to kill foreign intruder into the tunnel. If you could look closer, the air vent are all slanted to prevent water from dripping into the tunnels. In fact, American suffered so much casualties here that had to do carpet bombing dropping 30MT of high explosive onto Cu Chi, turning the jungle into a pockmarked moonscape.
Map of the Cu Chi Tunnels
Now you see me...Now you don't
American tanker
Weapons and traps
The impressive part is that the tunnel was dug by very simple tools and hands and not by any machines. During the day, Vietnam Cong hid inside the tunnel and at night then they would surface to collect American fired ammunition and to grow staple food.
Surviving Cu Chi tunnels
After much talking, it's time to try out the trap ourselves. =P The tunnels were actually cleaned up and widened for tourist.... but for those with claustrophobia, I would strongly advise against trying to enter the Cu Chi Tunnel. The entrance is quite big but the tunnel inside is still very small and one will need to go on all FOUR to crawl through the tunnel.
Hi-ho Hi-ho...
Tin can models sold at Cu Chi Tunnel souvenir shop
We were rather tired with the long trip due to bus ride so we decided to settle dinner nearby at Gon Cafe just beside Sinh Cafe. The food there was not too bad, in fact, quite nice. We ordered a little bit more this but the bill still did not exceed more than USD 12 for all... really economy and nice.
In clockwise starting Top left corner : (1) Spring Roll (2) Omelette with ham (3) Claypot vegetable (4) Paper roll
Would have really love to go for an ice cold beer in hot sweating Saigon if not because the 2 gals are non-drinkers. =( Luan Vu being situated in a backpackers' area got a great number of chill-out bars with one nice one just downstairs - GO 2 bar at 187 De Tham Street; corner of Bui Vien Street and De Tham Street.
Gon Cafe
(Beside Sinh cafe)
De Tham Street, District 1,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Day 3
We wanted a very relax trippy so today was really just a free-and-easy day with no rushing for tour sights, squeezing onto tour bus or rushing for shopping. It's a whole day of just doing what we like....
We started the morning around 830am after breakfast, strolling along the crowded streets of Saigon and taking leisure shots...
Decided to go back to our familiar shopping area to "finish" up all the shopping we need. =P Bought my tonnes of coffee and most important, we had great fun trying and buying pretty ao-dai for ourselves and friends. 
hahaha! No Surprises!! We went back to Pho 2000 for lunch. =P
Our Pho 2000 lunch
Took more leisure shoots while strolling around District 1....
Notre Dame Cathedral is built during the late 19th Century and is open only sunday for church services so we were not able to take a peek inside the cathedral. The cathedral is actually "isolated" in the middle of a circle road without any direct connection to other walk-way, making the 3 of us wondered the convenience of visiting the cathedral during sunday service.
The closing time for Reunification palace is around 4pm so we did not manage to get in. But it didn't look too impressive in terms of appearance...
A rare sight, nearly "invisible" in Singapore...
Adjoined to this posh-looking little cafe along Dong Khoi street for tea break... the dessert tasted really nice. Both myself and L loved it very much.
Tea break : Lemon soda + Ice coffee & lemon drink
Took more shots...
It seems that vietnamese people can be rather healthy conscious.... on our way back from our leisure stroll, we spot a group of Vietnamese doing exercise at a park in the middle of a circle road. 
Thought of trying something different by tasting their fast food, Lotteria. Lotteria is like MacDonald.... maybe it's because of the Vietnam war but I did not spot any MacDonald but a many Lotteria, belonging to a Japanese food-food chain. Food was just so-so.
Dinner @ Lotteria
Day 4
On our fourth day and also the date of our departure home, decided to just relax and fill ourselves with vietnamese food... had a heavy breakfast at Saran Saran cafe along De Tham Street... We tried our delectable lemon drink and spring rolls... Me and M had their seafood noodle (yellow noodles) and L tried their fried noodle which was pretty good. Yummy yummy!!
breakfast
Luan Vu got us a taxi at USD 8... we enjoyed our trip thoroughly and our stay at Luan Vu. Was a little sad during our departure... had wanted to settle for some vietnamese food at the airport but instead the more affordable one around was opened by Singapore Prima Deli and so we had Singaporean food... SIGH... how disappointing. And of course the food was not comparable to those we usually have in Singapore...
In clockwise starting Top left corner : (1) Prawn Mee (2) laksa (3) Fried Nasi Goreng (4) Coffee & tea
1 Comment:
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August 10, 2008 at 10:55 AM
What a great account! I especially love your shots of the people, AND the food!! Now I wish I was on the trip with you. :-)