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Published: January 21st 2012
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Yesterday we just arrived in HCM city. (Ho Chi Minh City). The first impression wasn't so great. Even though we knew where we want to go (we had the address) but we didn't know the exact place where it is from the bus station. The first person we met was a taxi driver - seemed as really nice one, who offered to take us to the hotel. So that was a
blueTAXI (there are blue and white ones). As we needed to exchange money for vietnamese dong, he to took us to money exchange (it was jeweller-shop as well), where they gave us really bad rate (16.000 dong for one dollar, instead of 21.000 they gave us at the hotel...) Not having any 5 dollars note, we were forced to exchange the 20 dollar one. First suspicious thing: the driver gave us sooo many questions - and the reason was (first we didn't notice), that he has the taximeter connected to a remote control, so he could increase the tax every time he thought we didn't look. Once we told him about it and mentioned the police, the way magically shortened and the taximeter suddenly wasn't so important. Well, at least
bus station
here we arrived we took pictures of them all the next day - we went to a walk the next day at the same time the bus arrived, just in time to see the same taxi drivers to wait for new tourists coming from Siem Reap (and other directions).
Now I learn how to cross the street. As they say, everybody has to die one day - avoiding this here isn't so easy, so I just keep repeating the sentence "keep walking, keep walking", and trying not to stop. So far, it takes me only 3 minutes every time to convice myself to step into the sea of motorbikes, cars and other vehicles of all shapes/sizes you can imagine. This indeed is the motorbike city.
The food - well, now I know why nobody mentioned the food before. I had another "not nice" time in the hotel bathroom, after eating some tofu with tomatoes. (Don't order them. Really.) I should have think about that, as we saw one Vietnamese man shaking his head as he saw it in front of me, but I ate it anyway. Silly me.
We found our hotel via asiarooms.com run by Mrs. and Mr. Hong.
cheater taxi car number
if you see this car, do avoid it. really. Its in the 1st district - first impression was quite scary, as it's hidden in one of the tiny streets about 1,5 meter wide. But Thien Hong is lovely place, with the stuff speaking little English (it's family run) and nice rooms for reasonable price. They have internet (and wi-fi) access, clean rooms, and can help you arrange any kind of trip you wish. And there are two laundries across the street.
As in every big city, keep an eye on your belongings. There are many pickpockets and little thieves here (yes, even the children selling the postcards, or massage girls), so better watch your handbag and use hotel safe.
So far so good, only if it wasn't the Chinese New Year. All the trains/hotels increase the prices and are fully booked. I'm curious how we'll get to our next destination Nha Trang.
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