I can't believe that i visited Ho Chi Min (HCM). It was not my idea at all. A friend of mine (Jeanne), she loves travelling and visiting places, this year she invited me to travel with her to Vietnam. Moreover the costs were still within my budget so i though "why not??" and i am as excited like a crazy women months before the travel date. (*I really want to write this entries earlier after the visit but due to my busy scheduled it being delayed till today. ) So here the story about my visit..
10th Mei 2014 (Touch Down Vietnam : Bien Tham Market)
Arrived at HCM Airport at noon, we grab a cab and show the hotel address to the driver. Jeanne, she was very concerned on the surrounding and gets very extra careful with everything. Even the moment we were about to grab a cab, she extremely concerned on the driver's attitude. Seriously?? lol. While me, i never think negatives to people around me. Why should i? There are a saying "Every dark side, there is a bright side", so mind as well we focus on the positive energy rather than exhausted with curiosity that brings negative impact to us. am i right? Moreover, i believe there are still lots and lots of people who have the "good Samaritan" attitude with them. By now i guess you (readers) knows what type of traveler i am. Hehehe.
Wow!! what a clean country. You can notice it from the background of each pictures? On the way from airport to the hotel, more and more Motorcyclist passing by. Motorcycles were the people main transportation system in HCM. Road were crowded by those motorcyclist and they are all riding like a mad citizen. i wonder if the government ever enforced any road rules to the people.
Yeap!!...finally arrived at our selected Hotel, Hong Hac Hotel. The receptionist was good, polite and very informative. Hotel environment was comfortable, affordable, nice and available with WiFi (Less worry about phone roaming extra charges). Because of the short travel time, we decided to visit Gu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Floating Market with the help from the hotel to arranged everything for us. The trip was so cheap, spent about 600 thousand Dong for both trip.
After some rest, we went for lunch. Frankly saying we don't exactly know where to go for lunch so we simply went in any restaurant that we think is attractive. OMG!! the rumors about Food are expensive in HCM was true!! For meal in the pictures, we spend about RM50. Next opportunity to cpme here, i will rather go for street food than restaurant food. believe me street food are more delicious and save a lot .. But for Muslim, you have no choice but to look for "Halal" Restaurant.
So this is the Market that Mr.Google told about. Bien Tham Market is about 10 - 15 Minutes walking distances from our hotel. Along the way i tries to memories any landmark so that we knows how to return to the hotel. Bien Tham Market was huge and everything inside. Foods, raw foods, flowers, souvenirs, clothes and etc. You need to have the bargaining skills to get the thing that you want in a cheap prices. Frankly saying i am not into Market like this. I kinda hate crowded places...but i have no choices since Bien Tham is listed in our itinerary.
Clothes in Vietnam are well known for the quality and cheap price. Jeanne was so excited to buy ready made "baju kurung" while me i bought back some "telekung"" and "tudung" to sell it back in Kota Kinabalu. i am not the type that fancy about clothes but when it come to business ...buy cheap sell higher, it really were my interest. P/s: Buy more to get low prices and sell it back in your hometown.
Eating street food was awesome, memorable, cheap and delicious. We need to be smart though. Choose to eat food along the street where people are coming and going. The more people sitting, eating and buying indicates the food were delicious and safe to be eat. I am like "wow!!" trust me you will come and look for that street food again the next day after u tried it.
HCM night market is held every night. It is situated around Bien Tham Market. It was advisable to get clothes and souvenirs from the night market because you can bargained till the lowest price. Some will insists you to buy and even some will force you to buy.
Who loves to eat chicken head?? ... you can found it here in HCM. Normally chicken head is not famous in Kota Kinabalu .. in fact you will never found this at any streets or food stalls in Sabah. Amazing huh!! my parents would love this hahaha.
*p/s : i publish this without checking for the grammatical error.Sorry. Will continue with cu chi tunnels and Mekong floating river experiences soon.
