Advertisement
Published: February 1st 2010
Edit Blog Post
Just a short weekend trip to satisfy my (recurring) travel addiction...
2.5 days, 4 different airlines (Tiger/Vietnam/Jetstar/Lion), 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Hue & Hoi An), 2 big cities (Danang & HCMC), X attempts to cross a road with non-stop traffic, and 1790 photos (I only uploaded the best 10%)
---------------------------
After not travelling for 1 and a half months (the half-day trip to Johor Bahru in December doesn't really count), I finally succumbed to my travel addiction again, and decided to go somewhere during the weekend of 22-24 Jan. I only started searching for air-fares one and a half weeks before that weekend, and expectedly flights to everywhere were outrageously expensive. Flights to Bangkok, Manila, Macau, HK, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei, etc were ex(tremely) ex(traordinarily) ex(pensive)!!! Flights to KL and Penang were cheap, but I'm not interested to go there (as I've been there before). Flights to Phuket were cheap too, but Phuket is the kind of destination which suits groups (a Phuket trip would involve lots of cab/tut tut/boat rides) and would not be economical for solo travellers like me. Flights to Indonesia were cheap too, but January is the rainy season in many parts of Indonesia.
In the end, I found flights to 2 destinations at a reasonable price: Haikou (China) and Ho Chi Minh City. Haikou looked attractive to me, but the flight timing was not great (I would arrive on Friday evening and leave on Sunday evening). In my opinion, 2 days were simply not enough to explore Hainan Island. (It's possible to explore Haikou itself in 2 days, but I would rather spend a longer time there and explore the whole island. I would probably wait until the end of this year, when the new Haikou-Sanya railway line opens and cuts travelling time by half.)
In the end, I'm left with Ho Chi Minh City. Since I've been to HCMC before, I decided to go to Central Vietnam instead. Luckily, domestic flights between HCMC and Central Vietnam were affordable. In the end, I booked 4 flights (2 international & 2 domestic) from 4 different operators (in order to optimise my timing and budget) - Tiger Airways from Singapore to HCMC, Vietnam Airlines from HCMC to Hue, Jetstar Pacific from Danang to HCMC, and Lion Air from HCMC to Singapore..... It's pretty crazy to hit 4 cities (Hue, Hoi An, Danang, HCMC) with
4 airlines in just 2.5 days, but with limited time and budget, this was the best arrangement that I could come up with. The trip also serves as a sampler. If Central Vietnam is good, I would definitely go there again (and bring my family or friends along) and spend a much longer time there.
The trip turned out to be much better than expected. In fact it brought back fond memories when I was backpacking alone in Europe. During this trip I had 2 "first" experiences - my first time cycling in a foreign place (other than HK, Singapore or Slough), and my first time travelling on a motorcycle... (The motorcycle ride was probably the longest one in my life too - 30+ minutes from Hoi An to Danang...) I also had the chance to sample some Vietnamese cuisines - Cao Lau (noodle with pork & rice crackers), White Rose (Hoi An's version of Hong Kong's "Har Gau"), filled baguette (Vietnam has the best baguettes outside Continental Europe), Pho (beef noodle soup), etc etc. Despite warnings from my guide-books about potential dangers, crime, and scams in Vietnam, I had the fortune not to encounter any of these. Once,
a museum staff in Hoi An asked me where I'm from. When I said Singapore, he looked surprised because he thought I was "one of them". This is probably why nobody bothered to pester or target me. The locals probably think I'm a Vietnamese (as long as I don't speak). As a result, I didn't spend a lot during this trip. (I pity tourists whose hair is not black. They seem to be frequently targeted by touts...)
I also took a lot of photos (1790 photos & videos for 2.5 days - I admit it's crazy), saw some really impressive sites (e.g. Hue citadel, Hoi An shophouses, etc), visited lots of temples and prayed to lots of different gods and deities (whose blessings proved useful during my 30+ minute motorcycle ride and my numerous crossings across HCMC's roads), and encountered a lot of Chinese words (Vietnamese used to be written in Chinese scripts) and felt that I was in China instead... I was quite amazed how much I managed to accomplish within a short span of 2.5 days. Of course, there were many sights that I missed (e.g. Royal tombs in Hue, Marble Mountains in Danang, temple ruins in
My Son, etc) since I only spent a short time there. However, this will probably give me an excuse to go to Central Vietnam again and "finish" off whatever sights that I missed this time. I'm looking forward to go to Central Vietnam again...
By the way I'll be going to Hanoi and Halong Bay in April with my friends. Hopefully the April trip will be as good as (or even better than) my recent trip to Central Vietnam...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.289s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 60; dbt: 0.0909s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb