Evelyn Loreto

How to get lost in Vietnam Have you ever wondered what it looks like to be lost in a place you know nothing about? Have you tried going to a place with so much little information and depends only on the travel guides you saw and read over the internet? It’s pretty exciting but nail-biting! Getting there! Book a flight going to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Depending on your budget and itinerary, you may choose to book flights via Cebu Pacific, Air Asia, Philippine Airlines and other airline companies you want to book from. Check Tips on how to book low-cost airline ticket. In our case, I book the ticket from Traveloka (Air Asia). Note: I chose this flight schedule so we still have enough time to finish our tasks for the day. Took a cab going to Terminal 3. I suggest to be at the airport 3 to 4 hours before your scheduled departure to avoid last minute delays due to long queues at the immigration counter. If travel tax is not yet included on your ticket, pay it before you line-up in the check-in counters. Present your ID, passport, airline ticket and receipt of travel tax to the checkin counter attendant for verification and issuance of your boarding pass, taking note of your boarding time and gate. As soon as done, head over to the immigration counter for clearance. Don’t forget to bring with you (printed) the detailed itinerary, hotel reservations, airline tickets (back and forth), passport and company ID (if you are currently employed). Tip: relax, don’t panic and answer all questions from immigration officer truthfully to avoid being offloaded. Make sure to be at the designated boarding gate before your scheduled departure. Just landed! So, we’ve finally arrived at the Saigon International Airport. It was midnight already. We decided to book a grab since it’s cheaper than that of the regular taxis. Although most of the establishments in Vietnam accepts dollars as mode of payment, grab and regular taxis accept local currency only. It took us 20 to 30 minutes to get to our hotel. It was located at 195 Bui Vien Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City – it’s actually a busy street at night. Our original plan was to stay at the airport until dawn to save at least 1-day hotel accommodation but later on decided to checkin early to get some sleep/rest before we start our city tour. Good thing was, it was cheap and their breakfast was great! I totally recommend this hotel. Day 1 City tour We slept for about 4 hours. It was raining so we decided to book a grab to take us to the city. But because of the weather, we only get to see and visit the War Remnants Museum. But it definitely was worth it. I recommend to visit this museum when you decided to go to Vietnam. It’s actually a war museum relating to the war between the US and the Vietnamese. You get to see the shocking history of the so-called Vietnam War. Graphic photographs and weapons used during the brutal war are being displayed in this museum. In the afternoon, we went to Cu Chi Tunnels (bought the joiner’s tour ticket via Klook). In this tour, you will get to discover the different kind of underground tunnels created by Vietnamese people. Stories of how Vietnamese hardly fought the US troops will be told by your tour guide. If you are passionate about history, this tour will definitely be one of your to-visit place in Vietnam. On your way to Cu-Chi tunnels you’re tour guide will drop you at the souvenir shop. Souvenirs were mostly handcrafted by talented PWDs. After the Cu Chi tunnel tour, bus driver dropped us off at the famous Ben Than Market were authentic Vietnamese food are being served. This should be your must-go-to place when you’re in Ho Chi Minh. There are varieties of food to choose from and I’m sure you’ll going to love it. We chose to just walk going back to the hotel just to stroll a little bit. BUT, we lost! Hahaha! Although we have our map, it’s not as easy as we think it was. We end up taking a cab going back to the hotel. Day 2 – Mekong Delta Tour I bought the tour ticket online via Klook. Tour guide fetched us at the hotel. Before embarking to the Mekong River, we also get to visit the Vinh Trang Pagoda. It was a wonderful experience, from the gardens to the amazing structures of the Pagoda. I personally loved the laughing Buddha and the design of the Pagoda. Finally, the Mekong Delta River tour. We took our lunch there – not included on the package. Food is great. Tip: bring with you a bottle of water because it’s a bit pricey. Rate is in USD so make sure that you have enough dollars in your wallet otherwise, you’ll have to bear the low exchange rate there. Lol! At night, we went to Bitexco Financial Tower for The World of Heineken tour. It’s was really worth it. Before the tour starts, you can roam around and go to the Skydeck and see the beauty of Saigon at night. By the way, package also includes English Speaking tour guide of TWOH. You’ll get to discover the journey of Heineken, the world’s famous beer brand (as what have been told to us by the tour guides). You will also be given a free souvenir bottle of Heineken and of course a club-like experience where you get to drink Heineken beers as much as you want 😊. After that, we went to Ben Than Market again to buy some souvenir items but because it’s a lot expensive and we still have 2 more countries to visit to, we decided to just eat and go home. But I regret not buying coffee. Day 3 – check out and travel to Cambodia We booked the ticket through our hotel and we will travel via bus. The schedule is morning so we still have enough time to roam around Phnom Pehn in the afternoon. Someone fetched us up. Unfortunately, when I was about to fill out the immigration form, I noticed that my cellphone is missing! Bus has travelled for about an hour so imagine how far we were already. Asked the lady conductor if I can borrow her phone so I could call the hotel (good thing there was a phone number in the sticky note I took from the hotel) and dang! My phone was left at the receiving area of the hotel. We get off the bus somewhere (we don’t know exactly the location because it seemed to be a province already). After minutes of trying to get a taxi, we failed. We walked and asked but it seems that that day was not my lucky day. People we asked were either not familiar with the location we are talking or they wont talk to us because of language barrier. Good thing, my friend was able to talk to a guy who speaks English so well and he actually lend us his phone to book us a grab. Bingo! We headed to the hotel. To compensate the hassle with my friends, I pay for the bus ticket going to Phnom Pehn and just like that, not only did we miss to stroll around the city, I also lost money. But its’ fine if compared to losing my phone :D