Xin Chao Saigon!

July 30, 2011

Xin Chao Saigon!

I don’t want to be surprised and get short of cash while on my holiday in Saigon coz I just came off from a 3-week holiday back home and my atm is totally wiped out so I promised myself to just try out the local transport first and no taking taxis on the first day!

It was a pretty straightforward arrival. No arrival cards to fill in. All you have to do is to line up at the Immigration counters and give your passport to the officer. Finito! This is a first for me! I’ve never been in a place where they don’t ask you to fill out an arrival/departure card. As in, sure kayo???? Lol

And then my moment of happiness at the currency exchange counters……”I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad”……..hahahahaha

Loaded with Vietnamese dong with a lot of zeroes on it, I went out of the Arrivals Hall and went looking for bus #152, the airport bus which goes to the backpacker ghetto of Pham Ngu Lao in District 1. I found the bus driver sitting and lounging on the pavement chatting to some other drivers and when I asked if it’s the correct bus, he just signaled for me to get in. And what a cheap way to go, the fare is only 4000 VND (exchange rate is U$ 1 = 20,550 VND)! No need to pre-arrange your airport transfer for 10-15 usd as some hotels are charging, unless you arrive after 10pm that is!

Going by public bus is for me the best way to get over my intro to the city of Saigon. I need to get de-sensitized to the traffic jams that are daily features in the streets of Saigon, so I won’t keep on harping about it for my entire trip.

I am also lucky that a few days before my trip I got in touch with another Filipina travbuddy who is also travelling to Saigon on the same day. She offered to share her booked room with me so I don’t have to go around lugging my backpack and looking for a place to stay around Pham Ngu Lao. Thank God for generous people like her! Thanks Jean! I owe you one!

For 16usd, we had a clean twin-sharing room with AC and a spacious T&B. A real bargain yes, but when I first arrived and had to look for it, I had to walk a few blocks around Pham Ngu Lao street till I found #241, then some guys from a nearby hotel pointed towards a small dark alley…… oh oh, I was really hesitant to go in at first then decided to head on…… Ly Loan Guesthouse is really a surprise! A bit unnerving coz of the surroundings but it comes with a smiling house owner as a bonus!

I went out for dinner (a tasty pork dish then washed down by a pot of jasmine tea....i'm in heaven!), met up finally with my new roommate and also booked our next day’s trip to the Cu Chi tunnels with the Sinh Tourist agency.