Vietnam Visit

From 24 – 29 dec, I was in Vietnam for holiday. Usually the places would be different. But this time, it is the tour that differs more.

Vietnam isn’t a very fascinating or unusual place. Some parts are just like Singapore back in the 1970s and others like rural and modern china. The only thing different abt that place is that motorcycles outnumber cars at least 10 to 1. Even at winter season, the air temp is higher than in Singapore. The time there is 1 hr behind SG and the sun sets at about 6pm, which means sunset occurs simultaneously in the 2 places. The local food is also very much like Chinese food. Just an occasional new style of cooking. If u talk abt a Vietnamese cuisine in whole, it’s a rather limited one. And on the average the dishes don’t require as much skill as Chinese cuisine dishes. U don’t find nicely furnished cyber cafés there. But theres a few internet centers around. Slow internets and comps, lousy envt, no games, but very cheap – only 30 cents per hour.

The tour package for the Vietnam trip was quite a relaxed one. Lots of free time and traveling time. Included a few unwanted visits to temples. Only traveled between Saigon and Vungtau. And the sightseeing was not very splendid either.

Day 1 – arrived in Vietnam n check in the hotel by late afternoon. Rest of the day was free. Spent some time at the LAN shop n after that watched TV in the room. It had cable TV channels like nat-geo and MTV. My parents went around the streets for shopping.

Day 2 – first thing in the morn, travel to Cu-chi to visit the warzone during the Vietnam war. There were remnants of the war like bomb shells, American tank rubble, traps set up by the Vietcong and the tunnel network. They purposely made the tunnels real small so that those fat American soldiers cant go in!
After that, made a trip to Vungtau n rested at a seaside hotel overlooking the south china sea. Unlike the beaches in SG, u cant see any islands in the sea horizon background. Just plain blue sea. Had dinner in a restaurant where a wedding dinner was going on. The couple greeted us at the entrance, unaware that we r not one of their invites. Ppl took turns to go on stage to sing karaoke. So loud n noisy that we cant eat in peace.

Day 3- visited the nearby Jesus statue. It was about 8 stories tall n located on the top of a hill. Had quite a bit of exercise climbing up the hill n statue. 2 ppl at a time can stand in the outstretched arms to gaze at the scenery below. After that, we made our way back to Saigon. Another long n boring coach ride.
Dinner was held on a cruise ship in the Saigon river. Throughout the cruise, there were performers singing along with a band, and also a firedance. We rested at the same hotel as the 1st day.

Day 4 – went to the Mekong river for a sampan ride. Visited the villages there, where theres homemade candy and fruits fresh from farms for sale. Had an idea of the rural villager’s lifestyle there. After that, we were dropped at a large market to shop for 2 hours. We had dinner at a nearby hotel before going back to our hotel. Rest of night is free time.

Day 5 – had more free time till 11am. Spent it doing more shopping to use up all the Vietnam money before we return to SG. Then, we packed our stuff n boarded the bus to the airport. Time to go home! Those 5 days went by really fast. Perhaps cos we dint do much during the trip.