Ups and Downs of Vietnam

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The ups and downs of Vietnam....



Flying to Vietnam from Malaysia I was really excited. Last year in August was my first time to Vietnam and I had amazing trip, mainly thanks to Mr Quy an Easy Rider guide that joined on his motorbike from Dalat to Saigon which has become one of the best experiences I've had in my whole life. With this in mine and after the last couple of days in Malaysia where at points i was starting to feel lonely you'd expect me to be little excited.



With the Air Asia Plane landing and completing the some what painful Vietnam Visa process, I had my bags and off to find my way to District 1 where I had booked my hostel, Saigon Youth Hostel. Amazingly enough I found it straight away even though it was down a small little alley way and all i was going off was a small picture of a map I saved onto my phone. Checked in and bags dropped off in the room it was time to get the first thing you do whenever arriving in a new country and that is find a beer!!! Once again lucky for me at the end of the alley way my hostel was one that had the cheapest beer in District 1 with Saigon beer selling for 12,000 Dong (0.60usd), so it was pretty much a no brainier. With a few beers under my belt I made my way into a conversion a group of people we having next to me. Can't remember every bodies name but one of them was Jezza a 30yr old South African guy who I have now been running into quit regularly but that will all be explained later. With many laughs and many more beers down 1am soon arrived and it was time to call it a night. Not bad for my first night in Vietnam, I was getting a feeling this was going to be a great leg of my trip.



The next morning Tuesday the 11th of April I was on a mission to find a massage place and the reception at the Hostel told me of a blind massage down the road. So out the door with map in hand I was off to find this blind massage. With the typical Saigon District 1 Vietnamese constantly asking you to buy something, rent motor bikes, taxi rides, etc. I had this one Vietnamese on a motorbike say hi and asked me where I was going, I ignored him at the start but he followed so I decided to ask where the blind massage. With a while chatting and not giving me a clear answer other then he could show me and with me mentioning I was thinking about buying a motorbike he said he knew of a good shop to buy from. So I gave in and jumped on the back of his bike and we rode off to the blind massage. Walking in there was a little reception desk where you pay up front for how long you want 1 or 2 hours. I just went the normal 1 hour full body and the price come to 60,000 Dong (3usd), I could not believe it. The massage was actually really good, not a muscle/deep tissue sort of massage but a nice relaxing one that done the job very nicely. Walking out the Vietnamese guy was waiting at his bike and said will go buy a motorbike now. So off we went zigging and zagging through the Vietnam mayhem of traffic. We ended up going a fair way out of town, which later in time I found out was District 7. Because we were heading out of town I thought I was get a pretty good deal, being out of the main tourist trap area that is. With not much to choose from, I decided on a Suzuki scooter. Bargaining with price it started at 350usd and finished at 280usd, at this point I should have noticed something up with such a big price difference. So with money swapped and registration in my hand I was on my new scooter and following the Vietnamese guy back to District 1. Once back in District 1 he did the typical Vietnamese asking for money so i gave him a few dong for his troubles. Saying goodbye we went our separate ways. From here I was off to find a warehouse I've been researching on the Internet that was in District 4 in Saigon. After getting lost a few times I found the right street but still was a mission to find the store, even with the street number!! This is when everything started going pear shaped because the scooter ran out of fuel, looking at the gauge it was still in the same position as when I first bought it but after further investigation i noticed the fuel send wires had been cut... Now I was in district 4 with no fuel and no idea where I could get fuel. I continued looking for the warehouse thinking I could ask the people there if they knew where I could get any fuel. Eventually finding the warehouse the girl inside had no idea what I was talking about when asking for petrol for my bike, fail. Still doing what I need to do in the shop I left and asked a few Vietnamese for help to find fuel, I managed to get the Vietnamese word for fuel from one of them been "Sung" but still couldn't tell me where I could get it from. One guy with zero English I managed to get across I need fuel, so on the back of his bike I went to one get a container and two get some fuel. That was a mission but with it done and I poured it into my scooter and it started, Woohoo. Once again having to give him some money for his troubles, seemed nothing was for free in this country. At this point I wasn't the happiest person in the world and back in my room I was on the internet looking at Google map trying to find where the bike shop was, thinking it was a pretty slim chance but had to give it ago. With my good luck kicking in again I notice on satellite view I could see some 100 odd ton overhead cranes at a shipping port which I remember noticing riding to the bike shop. So I traced my way along the map and thought I'd give it a go and ride down to see if it would come back to me and find the bike shop. Sure enough it did and back at the bike shop I decided I wanted my money back with a few other problems with the bike etc. With no English I eventually got out of him to come back tomorrow. So with no choice but to leave I did and decided to get some local dinner while I was out of the tourist infested District 1. This turned out to be the best thing i did in Saigon going to an open air restaurant with once again zero English, but lucky for me one of the guys running it, Duyen could speak a little English so I was able to order some chicken. With a few hours passing My (one of the waitresses), Duyen and Chinch (one of Duyen friend's) were all sitting at my table drinking beer with me. Even in one night of talking I could already tell their English was getting better and with having such a great night told them I would be back the next day for lunch and to say hello.



Wednesday and with my mission to try and get my money back for the bike I was off to the shop. This was a very painful experience. With no English I was getting nowhere fast and there was no showing of money. After a few hours of getting nowhere I decided to get the shop owners phone number and go back to my hostel where I could ask the reception to call and hopefully translate why I wasn't getting my money back. With the phone called made I was told the shop owner wanted me to find the Vietnamese guy that took me to the shop and bring him back there. With knowing this was going to be impossible in busy Saigon I rode back to the bike shop. This time I was well pissed off, and even more after yet another couple of hours of arguing in different languages. With a note pad and pen I had it turned into a bit like a game of Pictionary drawing pictures to explain what each of us were saying. Long story short the bike shop owner and the the Vietnamese guy had done a deal with the 280usd I gave the shop owner. From what I could work out the Vietnamese guy come back later that day and got 100usd for taking me down there. So the shop owner would only give me 180usd back and I would have to find the other guy. This didn't help my anger but after a bit of time and the owner not budging I decided to cut my losses and take the 180usd and walk away.



Back to the restaurant I met Duyen and friends from the night before I said hello and just how much fun the night before was. With it being lunch time they asked me what I wanted to eat. With beef noodle available we jumped on their bikes and went around the corner to get some food. With lunch done it was then time for a coffee, so back onto the bike we went to a local Cafe shop they regularly go to. With the notepad out and Vietnamese/English spoken everywhere a few hours went past and I told them I had to head back to District 1. With that said Chinch offered me a left back to my hostel, I was stoked with this as I had no plan on how I was going to get back after the bike issue. From such a shit start with the bike to now hanging out with locals taking me to food and drink and now giving me a lift home I felt the two extreme different sides of the Vietnamese people. While Chinch was giving me a lift home he offered me to give me a lift back to District 7 for dinner and drinks. How could I say no??



The night was great. I had been carrying in my luggage a Saki bottle I bought in Japan waiting to find someone on my travel to drink it with, and what better people to drink it with then locals that have shown me the kindness and worth the Vietnamese people can have in them. This was a great surprise for them and didn't take long to finish the bottle. So from Japan Saki we went to Vietnamese Rice Wine, this is like changing from night to day. The Saki I had was so smooth and the Rice Wine was differently not what you call smooth!! Still it was good and with a few beers to wash it down it become drinkable. So from drinking to food, we had all sorts of plate of food coming out from BBQ frog to sea snail to fresh fruit, it was good. Few hours passing I had my notepad out writing words in English and teaching them how to pronounce them, and also whenever I could understand what they were saying in English i get them to write it down then I'd pronounce for them. I was kind of teaching English, out of all people me, the Dyslexic kid who fail English class in nearly every year of school.



I ended up spending every night I was in Saigon with my new Vietnamese friends, drinking to the early hours of the morning and trying all sorts of foods. I found my limit with food when I tried a Duck egg with a fetus in it..... Yes is it's just as gross as it sounds!!! But the Vietnam love it.. There's nothing they don't eat here.



I ended up buying another motorbike for a Holland couple that had travelled from Han Oi to Saigon. This is the best way of buying a bike with knowing it's done the trip before plus all the extras you get, bag rack, tie downs, maps and all the trips for the journey. So with my $300USD motorbike I packed up my bags, had the hostel receptionist point me in the right direction to Mui Ne and said good bye to my Vietnamese friends and started my Motorbike journey of Vietnam!!! Many more ups and downs to come but I wouldn't want it any other way..

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Photos

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Beer

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Jazza

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Rob

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Saigon Mayhem

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My District 7 Vietnamese Friends

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Fish anyone?

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lots of seafood

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Duck egg with BABY!!!

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Yumm..

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My goodbye dinner

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Couple I bought my bike from

Comments

[Rob]

This is what life is all about, love reading your blogs my son. Stay safe.

[Dee]

Duck with fetus... yuuuuccckkkieee. What amazing experiences you're having though :-) I'm impressed you managed to find the bike store & with your attitude towards the obstacles you've had. Quality blog. Keep safe. xDee