Surviving Vietnam

At our drop-off point

Inside the tourist bus

When I started seeing Manila's beautiful lights against the dark skies as we descended into NAIA, I knew that Vietnam would be well remembered. It is very tourist friendly and there really is a great effort to make Ho Chi Minh City an ideal tourist destination.  No wonder why Vietnam is surpassing the Philippines in foreign arrivals. I am hopeful that time will come when we get to enjoy the same kind of tourism Vietnam and Thailand are experiencing.

For now, I shall bask in my memory of Vietnam and the impressions it has left me.



At the pre-departure airport in Vietnam



My tourist adventure gave me a cumulative time of 12 hours aboard tourist buses. Caucasians who probably earn ten or twenty times more than I do share in my discomfort and delight as we travel through the Vietnam countryside on the bus. Rich and poor tourists had the same glimpse of the plains, rivers,  rice fields and plantations of the country.  The tourist bus, I feel, in this case, is a great equalizer. To experience Vietnam in the same way as the rest was comforting. The tour we had made us taste the same food and eat at the same place. We were, after all, tourists in the same country. The difference in our experience would be is when we retire to our standard accomodation while they rest in their 'starred-hotels.' I didn't mind what our hotel was; Filipinos wherever they may be do know how to party. We were able to jell well with the crowd as we drank our Heineken on the sidewalk while seated on small chairs. Apparently, this is how local folks in Vietnam drink; the drinking session ends at 12 mindnight, though, when the streets are deserted. It worked for us because we began each day in Vietnam at 8 in the morning. Staying out late at night  might just be problematic.

Another good thing happens aboard tourist buses is the opportunity to sell our country to other tourists. We were four in the group, and we befriended a Czech tourist. Just being our-friendly-selves, I believed, we were able to show him how fun our country is. The Philippines has so much to offer; it's just probably the publicity, the negative and the lack of it, that seems to be hampering tourism growth to its fullest potential. We will never know if the Czech guy will ever make it to our shores, but we do know that we made him see how nice and friendly of a people we are.



A Cebu Pacific flight attendant



We landed at NAIA bringing with us immense appreciation for a country who only few decades ago was ravaged in civil and military strife and yet was transformed to become a beauty that it was. Vietnam holds so much promise, and I can't wait to see it again. But by the time I get ready for my next international travel, I will have saved a lot more. Just before leaving the country, I had to shell out P1,600+ on travel tax and P750 on terminal fees. For me, this was without a doubt costly. The fees collected at the airport from an average Filipino traveler can be very discouraging. I feel that our country should encourage traveling and not the other way around.



A Vietnamese temple

When you cannot speak, point!




The tourist boat

Mekong River. This was just a famous river detailed in school books until today when I got to personally experience it for myself. There was no where that the day tour could cover the whole river; in fact, we just had a tiny bit of it and its tributaries. I'm no geography expert but I gathered this information for I tried to listen intently to the local tour guide who spoke in his best English. The river reminded me of our very own Pasig River, though.



The Mekong River



What was amazing was that it was so long that industries seemed to have sprouted along it.We were brought to a honey factory, coconut candy factory and rice-products shops. Floating markets were there, too, although we did not get to see much since it was noon when we got there. The market activities peak in the early morning, we have been told.  The stops that we had in these places were marketing strategies to buy their products. Too bad, I had my eyes on "Saigon Square" which is their version of Greenhills Shopping Center. The goods here are just way cheaper than in Manila. Later, we will be heading there and we will see if it's not a disappointment. But from the looks of it, disappointment seems to be a foreign word to me now like all the words in Vietnamese.

Anyway, they were making plenty of money off tourists for taking the "adventure-seekers" to the brown and murky waters of Vietnam. But it was a pleasant experience. For a river who has breathed life into much of Southeast Asia, it's just proper that due recognition and visit should be given to it.

Later, as it is a little past twelve now, we should be going to the famed Cu chi tunnels. We will all do this without our expat host since he has work. We'll see how pointing to maps and addresses will work for us, commuters, later.

I'm off to bed now. Good night!

A law enforcer in Ho Chi Minh

OK pho sa Vietnam!

Aboard Cebu Pacific to Vietnam

Well, I ended up sitting with my travel mates in the airplane. I learned later on that the passport number was not needed in the online check-in. The plane to Ho Chi Minh was not full. It was 1:30 am when we arrived. In Vietnam, we were greeted by a beautiful airport terminal.This was already starting to be a good sign.

It is my first time to be in a different timezone. I did not change the time in my watch anymore. I'd just have to do a one hour subtraction, something I can very well do. We were met at the airport by a Filipino expat in Vietnam who got us a Toyota Innova for a taxi. The commuter is doing his thing in a foreign land.

With just few hours of sleep, we were treated to authentic pho! Great! This was just what I needed to get this day rolling. After that pho treat at Pho 24 at the tourist district (District 1) of Vietnam, we explored the city center by foot. The enormous number of caucasians made my Asian tourist identity more pronounced. Vietnam, apparently, is getting a large chunk of tourists from the US, France and other western countries.

We did the usual tourist activities in the city center for the most part of the day. To cap my first day  was a dinner at Vietnam House. I took pride in having dined at the same restaurant where the late President Cory Aquino  had dined in 2003. Her photo and that of US President Bush where the only two pictures prominently showed as the restaurant's famous guests. She must have had a great time there also after tasting all those authentic Vietnamese food. 

I shall retire for the night and will wake up to new day in Vietnam tomorrow. It's going to be exciting because I shall be exploring the Mekong Delta! With that in store, I will soon be writing my first ever water-journey experience, I hope. I can't wait. Good night!

There were too many motor bikes!

Welcome to Vietnam!