Blogs from District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 42

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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 April 21st 2010

The weather on our second day at Halong bay had become cold ,so we'd been lucky to have such a good day to see the area in its full glory.'The trip back up to Hanoi was no less scary than the trip down , although we didn't see any accidents. We arrived at the airport about 4 hours before we were due to fly and went to the Vietnam airline help desk to see if we could get an earlier flight. At 16.20 they booked us on to the Denang flight leaving at 17.00 hours and we checked in to our hotel in Hoi An at about 20.00 hours. Had a mooch round the town on our arival-it is full of taylors and restaurants , with an interesting jumble of back alleys of packed dirt running ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 April 2nd 2010

Sin Chow New Zealanders! We woke up around 5.30am this morning to find that again the city looked as though it had not slept. The traffic does not stop all through the night - there is constant revving and tooting from the street below. The people selling food and products on their sandwich boards and cane baskets walk the streets until they find someone who might look interested. The sunglasses men have now made a habit of following our tour group from the bus to the hotel and even as we moved hotels they followed! Unfortunatley I made the fatal mistake of looking to hard at one of their products and so he followed me to the bus and stood outside the window whilst I sat looking the other way. Needless to say most of our ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 29th 2010

I had an interesting night last night where I spent the first part with another guy from OZ and then got talking to a girl from Germany, where we had several drinks and much chinking of bottles. Had my first lie in this morning, I didn't rise until 9.30. and then decided to get my map and go for a walk around Ho Chi Minh. The roads are madness and you just have to walk out in to them and have faith the hundreds of motorcyclist steer around you. Like everyone else I am accosted every 15 yards by someone where I am either offered, Heroin, Cocaine, Marijuana, a young Vietnamese girl for the night (the number of middle to old aged men here for sex tourism is both scary and quite revolting), soft drinks, fake ... read more
The River Saigon
Saigon Opera House
Reunification Palace

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 27th 2010

Day 120:Saturday, March 27th, 2010. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. This morning we were up at 7am and on the road at 7:30am. First up was a great bakery, ABC Bakery, and we all grabbed various yummy bread products to go. Then, we were off to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are the tunnels that were made by the Viet Kong and used during the Vietnam War. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. I guess I just thought we'd see some old tunnels, some collapsed and move on. They have this area set up as a shrine and while I understand that they were on the other side of the war and are proud of a "victory" (not sure if I should call it that), I was quite disturbed to see the glee with ... read more
Front lawn and famous gates of Reunification Palace
Moi and my cyclo driver (whose name I never got.  I suck.)
View from Rex Hotel

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 27th 2010

Not much to report today as I have spent most the time up in the air. I boarded the world’s fastest train (The Maglev) to Shanghai Pudong Airport and then caught my flight. The train topped out at 430 KMH (267mph) and it did feel very fast!! On arriving in Vietnam (which is absolutely boiling) I caught a taxi to my guesthouse. I was led down a small dark alleyway to where I was staying and was initially quite worried but the guest house itself is actually really clean and modern (although I think my trainers have been stolen from downstairs) I showered up and went to a local bar where I got chatting to an Ozzy guy and we made it our mission to go on a bar crawl. I ended up slightly worse for ... read more
Full pelt

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 26th 2010

Day 119:Friday, March 26th, 2010. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. Per Intrepid notes: Days 1-2 Ho Chi Minh City Xin cho! Welcome to Vietnam.
You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where and when this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. The meeting will be followed by an optional group dinner. On day 2, we travel out of the city to visit the former Viet Minh underground stronghold at Cu Chi. The extensive tunnel system here provides great insight into the tenacity and resourcefulness of the Vietnamese people. We return to Ho Chi Minh City in time for lunch and in ... read more
Insane scooter people
Area around the hotel (District 1)
Sheraton Hotel

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 16th 2010

We took a seven hour bus ride to Ho Chi Minh City, or that would be Saigon to most. The bus ride itself was heavenous (yes, that is a word), with extra wide seats, free water and cakes, a/c that worked and annoying Khmer music only some of the time. Crossing the border was hassle free as the bus company handled most of it, the only time we had to make any effort was to get out our bags for scanning which the bus staff apologised profusely for (even though it was regulation). Saigon is a bustling city! At any time of day you hear the roar of motorbikes driving past; plus the occasional bus/car that feels it necessary to beep incessantly at every motorbike on the road....which amounts to a lot of beeping. This all ... read more
Secret Entrance to the Tunnels
Cu Chi Tunnels
Water Puppets

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 12th 2010

In the spring of 2009, Vodnie, a friend and former LanguageCorps student of ours, stopped by the house on her motorbike. She was leaving in two days to study abroad in Australia and wanted to drop something off to leave in our care while she was away. Walking up the stairs, she held a plastic red cup, the sort arranged in V-formation on a table at any collegiate function, and covered the top with her hand. Then, outside Kate’s room, kneeling down, she freed the opening and gently tipped the cup to reveal its content. I remember I was first struck by his hue, an overwhelming green, all sorts and shades, so many greens, with two wicked orange stripes running behind each eye. And his size, or, lack thereof. No more the width of one’s palm, ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 March 6th 2010

Our arrival in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was about 9 PM and still hot. It was not nearly as hot as Phuket, but still a whole lot hotter than home in Minnesota. Our first order of business was to get local currency and we got lucky. The ATM made both of us millionaires! For a chance at the lifestyle of the rich and famous (well, at least rich) we asked for and received 2 million Dong at a total cost of a tad over $100 USD. At least my new-found wealth was short lived as I paid 300,000 VND (Viet Nam Dong) for our taxi ride to the hotel. Oh well, easy come, easy go. At all times of the day and night, the streets of HCMC (which Loren and I know as Hennepin County ... read more
Bees at rest
Tanks for the memories
Map - S. Vietnam

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 February 16th 2010

Went back to Ho Chi Minh... read more




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