5th station Vietnam

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Well the arrival at Saigon started with an upsetting event...since I arrived quite late in Saigon I decided to take a taxi with meter. After arrival at my destination the driver wanted approx. 1 million Dong which is around 100 Dollar for 20 k's...well for someone from a Western country that may sounds not too expensive but for people in Vietnam it is a fortune as many people earn as little as 50 Dollar per month. So I was lucky to had my best friend Lonely Planet with me which said that the fare is around 100,000 Dong...so after 30 minutes of discussion with the taxi driver without solution I got off the taxi and got a third person a nice lady who luckily spoke English very well. One thing I really learnt here even in meter taxi always either negotiate the fare beforehand or check the meter that it's not faulty. Another thing is motorbike taxi driver....never leave lugguage outside where one can't see it when checking the room. Some of them are dodgy and will search your bags or at least don't leave valuables in the cases. I met many people who got their holiday or at least day ruined by that. Especially in areas crowded with tourists this occurs.
However, despite this Vietnam is a very safe country during the day as well as at night and people are super friendly and always help out in case one gets lost.
I especially fell in love with Saigon. When first arriving there I just thought what a chaotic place...10 million people and 5 million motorbikes haha. But on the second look this city is such a charming place. In the Pham Log backpackers area right in the heart of the city backpackers easily can find a cheap room in one of the tiny streets and are landed right in between the daily life. Many locals make some space in their house and rent at least few rooms to foreigners. So it's quite common when walking through the streets that one stands almost right in the living room or kitchen of someone and can really see how the people live, many are still quite traditional for living so central. The city still has preserved some of its French heritage with old beautiful European architecture and typical French baguette and cheese for breakfast...after more than 5 weeks of eating rice a delightful taste.
Motorbikers - well don't expect they stick to any traffic rules except wearing a helmet. They come from the left, from the right, on the wrong side, they don't use indicators, they don't give way and pedestrians better cross the street slowly that they have time winding around them cause they won't stop.
Communism - well for someone like me partly growing up in a Communist country, it felt very familiar to be here. All the Communist propaganda and the lack of 'Western influence' in some parts of daily life. So if one needs a Starbucks and MC Donalds around every corner to survive, Vietnam is probably the wrong country to go as you will rarely find them. That makes the country for me even more charming as the local food is better anyway.
But Vietnam is much more than just Saigon...especially a visit of the Mekong - or how people here call it - the Mighty River is obligatory to see how Vietnamese people live. The river is still the centre of life for many people doing fishing, exchange goods on the floating market, means of transport etc.
Well..one more thing sleeper buses. The idea is great travelling over night and therefore saving costs for accommodation and time...however, not every provider is a good one. Last one I had was 3 hours late...then I got motorbike taxi to a travel agent and after another 30 minutes of waiting I was finally transferred to the bus which was packed with people. Apparently not everyone did book a ticket and therefore didn't get a bed. These people had to sit in the gangway of the bus for like 6 or seven hours from Nah Trang to Saigon horrible and bus driver loved listening to loud music awwwww. So after a night without getting any sleep I finally arrived in Saigon.
Apart from that, Vietnam is a lovely country, my favourite in South-east Asia so far and I just can recommend visiting it for its great food, super friendly people and well people understand English somehow haha.

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